the three figurines (artistic communication across millennia)
Recently, while browsing tumblr, I happened upon this picture of three little clay figurines.
A search with Google Lens led me to the website of the British Museum. Apparently the figurines are exhibited in the rooms featuring artifacts from the Ancient Levant. They are dated between 3300BC and 3100BC and were excavated in Bab edh-Dhra (Jordan).
I think what drew my eyes to these figurines was their deceptive expressiveness. In Japanese, there's the term "heta-uma", which means "bad-good" or "bad but good." It's used to describe drawings or other work of art that at first glance seems crude or badly made but actually has some aesthetic appeal, either by design or by accident. These figurines feel very "heta-uma" to me, although their arrangement and the lighting also play an important role. Despite their bad condition and primitive make, they almost seem to tell a story.
The figurine on the left looks sad and forlorn, the lighter clay under its eyes reminiscent of tears. The one on the right (aside from reminding me of the golden face of Taro Okamoto's Tower of the Sun) has a surprised expression of sorts, with its arms outstretched as if to accentuate its disbelief. The middle figurine seems to be a mediator of sorts, attentively looking at the "sad" companion to its right. When I continued to look at the photo, I started to see three friends walking home in the evening, after some mysterious event that left one crestfallen and another agitated. The mood is somber. Maybe it was the sudden passing of a loved one? Or some personal misfortune?
Of course, this is all just my interpretation. Who knows what the real intention or goal of the artist (or artisan) was. But I find it fascinating how easy it is to read emotions and stories into even the most crude depictions of humans, and how art can create some kind of connection between people who are separated by thousands of years.