Online Rock Art Lectures

July 9: 2022: Move! Rock art profile and trace-view narrative images  Drs Livio & Patricia Dobrez    Register

In North America, Plains Biographic art offers an impressive body of images rightly termed narrative. What captures the attention of a visitor from Australia is the way this tradition incorporates two story-telling practices: profile together with plan or “trace-view” depiction. Livio Dobrez examines what it is that enables the perception of movement in a profile “scene,” while Patricia Dobrez, drawing on foot, hoof, and paw print examples from the United States and Australia, looks at the narrative efficacy of pedal sequencing, i.e. line-ups of tracks indicating motion across terrain. A key question is raised by both: how do we perceive motion in a still?  Visual examples are drawn from around the world.