Artifact analysis
Name
Institute
Artifact analysis
The drawing features animals in the jungle and their way of life where they depend on each other for survival. Through the drawing, the artist strives to demonstrate how animals among other factors have contributed to the extinction of some world species around the world. The artwork was selected for this assignment because of the vital message that the artist is trying to pass across, the high levels of reality and accuracy of the image, and also the high levels of passion about the image (Read, 2009). The reason is that as a person I am passionate about the environment and all that is involved in it and more so, the environment need attention from all people so as it can be conserved. The main challenge is that the environment is suffering massive imbalance as a result of vegetation clearance to create space for other purposes and also animal extinction.
The subject is of great importance because it directly or indirectly affects the present generation. The reason is that a balanced ecosystem should have animals, vegetation, and people and they should learn and develop ways that the three would accommodate each other. Nevertheless, due to imbalance, some animals' species have been forced to turn on other species leading to the extinction of the species that is being fed on other animals (Read, 2009). Again, due to human activities of clearing forests and thickets, the animals no longer have ample shades and areas to hide from their prey hence making it easy for them to be caught and fed by their predators. For instance, looking at the image, a carcass is on the ground and two animals that feed on meat are fighting to dominate the meat. One animal that looks like a lion and another like a wild dog is angry at each other in efforts to outdo the other so that they can have the entire animal.
The competition for the meat is also stiff as meat-eating birds are within in efforts to also have a bite. This is a clear indication that extinction is really taking place in the jungle and the limited that is available is being competed upon by different meat-eating animals and birds for survival means. Again, the artist makes use of realism and naturalism style of painting to paint and demonstrate the reality of the situation (Read, 2009). This is the reason why the art appears real like the action is taking place in a real-life situation. For instance, the animal on the ground is still to indicate that it has fallen prey and has been killed a situation that allows the other two animals fighting for meat to have the time and opportunity to do so. The fighting between the two animals is intense to the extent of keeping the birds at bay despite their desire to have a share of the meat. In real life, the lion is known to be the king of the jungle and this reality is also being demonstrated in the artwork (Daniel & Wisenbaker, 2018). The reason is that the lion is occupying the big part of the dead animal’s body and still using its strength and push other animals away. This is a true picture of the life of the jungle where dominators have all the power, the other animals strive to survive despite the strong defense from the strong animals while as the animals being extincted and extremely vulnerable.
1024px-Smilodon_and_Canis_dirus.jpg
Figure 1 Life in the Jungle (Daniel & Wisenbaker, 2018)
References
Daniel, I. R., & Wisenbaker, M. (2018). Artifact Analysis. University Press of Florida.
Read, D. W. (2009). Artifact classification: A conceptual and methodological approach. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Williams, G. C. (2008). Adaptation and Natural Selection.