The First Man Was An Artist | Barnett Newman

Hello everyone! Today I give a brief introduction to
Barnett Newman, assuming you haven't seen my other videos on him, and read his short essay which is the title for this video. This was written in 1948 and published in his own Magazine called The Tigers Eye.
Please let me know what you guys think and if you think Newman was onto something here?
#abstractexpressionism #essay #philosophy

[@simeonkovacevic4576]

the parts of your video where you talk about how similar we are to animals are most interesting to me. i think saying that we are smarter or more capable because of things like language is just ignorant. we truly dont understand animals. but there is probably an argument to be made about art separating us from animals.

[@UniqueArtsCostcoPicasso]

Thanks for the comment. I was largely trying to express what I think Newman would say, although I tend to agree with him here. We are similar to other animals because we are animals! Art is what separates us, per Newman, and although it could be argued that Animals can attempt art as well, perhaps as the example you mentioned of howling at the moon, I think Newman would still separate us from them because it's hard to argue that that they do much beyond biological necessity and when they do, it comes after the necessity is met. Newman would argue that it's the opposite for humans, making us different from all other animals. That is: we desire and pursue the creative before we think of mere survival. The urge to create and imitate the divine is innately human and is the driving force for our endeavors. Hence why he would say we would build an altar(art) before we proceed to the hunt(animal needs).
Specifically pertaining to language, perhaps I wasn't clear but he was saying that language is essentially an animal capability in that it doesn't separate us from them. The human in language is literature and of course he would argue that we're the only animals that make literature.

[@simeonkovacevic4576]

and also WHY DOES THE WOLF HOWL AT THE MOON??? is our understanding of transcendental and spiritual really that unique?