Cary Esser: Natural Language

Cary Esser: Natural Language




If you are willing, and able, it is possible to go deep into the interior of the Grotte de Niaux and behold the sophisticated, confident drawings of our Magdalenian ancestors. 14,000 years ago, they gathered in the Salon Noir (Black Gallery) to draw their story. You will walk as they did and bend low, and step carefully. Whipped cream stone drips up and down. You will be mindful of the undulating floor, and your head. If you carry on, carefully, eventually at the end of the 800-meter incline you will be rewarded. Your guide will explain these manganese paintings are no longer considered a desperate homage to the gods for a lucky lunch. Humans are the only animals that die with their eyes closed and the arrows are pointed in the wrong direction. These animals are not dying. They might be dreaming.
About you.