In my development mountain valley exercise, I concluded that I want to look into different eras in order to create evolutionary progress lamps.
In this blog post, I will be researching and concluding which five eras I want to continue with my research with. I will not go into great detail about these eras now as I am planning on closely examining them in future blog posts to see how I can relate them to my own designs.
Before proceeding with the research, I want to classify what evolutionary progress means to me. I will not be going into modern eras. I want to really focus on primitive eras in the past. This will make the collection look more cohesive and it will make more sense.
These were the eras I found:
The first era I will be adding into my collection is the Stone Age. This era was the primary inspiration behind this project.
However, the stone era was divided into 3 parts.
-Paleolithic era (old stone age)
- Mesolithic era (middle stone age)
- Neolithic era (new stone age)
I could use these 3 different parts to create 3 lamps.
During the Paleolithic era (2.5 million years ago to 10,000 BC), humans survived in caves by hunting down animals for a food source. They used bone and stone tools.
'They used basic stone and bone tools, as well as crude stone axes, for hunting birds and wild animals. They cooked their prey, including woolly mammoths, deer and bison, using controlled fire. They also fished and collected berries, fruit and nuts.' (Kennedy, 2019).
Therefore, I can draw inspiration from the bones, stones, crude axes and the different animals in order to form my first lamp. I will be studying this in greater depth so that I know more about this era.
During the Mesolithic era (10,000 BC to 8,000 BC):
'Humans used small stone tools, now also polished and sometimes crafted with points and attached to antlers, bone or wood to serve as spears and arrows. They often lived nomadically in camps near rivers and other bodies of water. Agriculture was introduced during this time, which led to more permanent settlements in villages.' (Kennedy, 2019)
From this claim, it is evident that wood was introduced in this era. I can draw inspiration from wood, agriculture or their camps to form this lamp.
During the Neolithic era (8,000BC to 3,000BC):
'They domesticated animals and cultivated cereal grains. They used polished hand axes, adzes for ploughing and tilling the land and started to settle in the plains. Advancements were made not only in tools but also in farming, home construction and art, including pottery, sewing and weaving.' (Kennedy, 2019)
This is the period where I want to consider the art. They started using different forms of art which I want to further explore and implement in my designs.
The next era I want to include in my designs is the Bronze age:
During the bronze era (3,000BC to 1,300BC) copper, tin and alloy were discovered. These can be the materials used for this lamp. Their weapons were improved by using these materials to create them.
The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids during this time. I can closely examine that and use it as an inspiration.
'This time period also brought advances in architecture and art, including the invention of the potter’s wheel, and textiles—clothing consisted of mostly wool items such as skirts, kilts, tunics and cloaks. Home dwellings morphed to so-called roundhouses, consisting of a circular stone wall with a thatched or turf roof, complete with a fireplace or hearth, and more villages and cities began to form.' (Kennedy, 2019)
I can definitely consider the advances in art and architecture and combine them with more elements of this era.
The last period I will include in my collection is the Iron age:
The iron age was between 1,300BC to 900BC. This is where metal was considered better than gold.
'Along with mass production of steel tools and weapons, the age saw even further advances in architecture, with four-room homes, some complete with stables for animals, joining more rudimentary hill forts, as well as royal palaces, temples and other religious structures. Early city planning also took place, with blocks of homes being erected along paved or cobblestone streets and water systems put into place.' (Kennedy, 2019)
I can draw inspiration from the weapons and the further advancements in art. I may be using iron to create this lamp.
Alphabets also began to emerge during this period, so I can also closely examine their communication and draw inspiration from that.
Conclusion: This was a short post in order to establish the eras I will be diving into in more depth. I am going to start researching these eras and features of each era in the next blog posts in order to start forming my initial sketches.
Some people thought that I was going to jump through many eras when I explained that I was going to create an evolutionary lamp collection. However, I think that this is more appropriate as the next era starts when one finishes and shows a more smooth transition in time, within the primitive concept. I really like this concept and I cannot wait to start looking closely into the eras:
To summarise, the eras I will be researching are: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze era, Iron era in order to create 5 evolutionary lamps.
I will be considering the advancements in the specific era and combining it with other elements and materials to form unique outcomes. I may also add a touch of modern to each era to make them more visually pleasing.
References:
Kennedy, L. (2019) The prehistoric Ages in order: How humans lived before written records. Available at: https://www.history.com/news/prehistoric-ages-timeline [Accessed: 29/04/21]
So your next step is to consider how this will be realised, particularly in terms of using materials you have already researched.
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