The Case for Hand Stencils and Prints as Proprio-Performative

Abstract

Hand stencils and prints are found globally in rock art, reflecting the sine qua non role of the hand in human evolution. The body itself is the tool, and it affords the registering, in the form of a trace, of what perceptual psychology terms an “ecological self”. More than a “signature”, a hand mark is uniquely “proprio-performative”, combining inscription of individuality with direct address. The first part of this paper looks at what might get in the way of a universally readable primary meaning by methodically addressing issues of technique and cultural specificity. Having cleared the ground, it proceeds to make its argument for hand stencils and prints as constituting a special category of rock art imagery. It does this by having recourse to ideas currently under discussion in cognitive psychology: awareness of self-agency and body-ownership, as well as the notion of perceived looming in pictures. Finally, an appeal is made to the claim for a key mirror neuron role in communication. Because they are traces of actions eliciting mirror-neuronal responses, hand marks are seen as affording a readily accessible external term in an exchange of meaning on which a system of graphic communication might be built

Hand Traces: Technical Aspects of Positive and Negative Hand-Marking in Rock Art

“…In this regard it is worth noting that an Arnhem Land painter on barks reported to Brandl that, when making a Rainbow Snake image on rock, he used his mouth as a receptacle for water and ochre and sprayed the mixture onto the image to create spots ( [20], p. 105; cf. also McCarthy [9], p. 35); compare, as a matter of interest, the reputed technique of making spots on the famous horses of Pech-Merle, France [6,7], p. 479), and for mention of further Australian ethnographic sources recording blowing from the mouth see Dobrez [3]). …”

“…Might not the architecture of the brain itself, the product of long-established patterns of interacting with the world, dispose the human organism to pre-set sequences with neural underpinning from those localized areas of the cortex coordinating control of face and hand? We might look to Broca's area, the motor site for speech, which recent studies have implicated in the development of language-readiness through an already existing gesture recognition apparatus [3].…”

“…Importantly, the hand mark possesses what I term act-identity-alongside author-identity accessible if the maker is known. Act-identity, unlike author-identity ("signature"), is universally readable ( [3], p. 296). I have chosen to distinguish these aspects of the hand mark image because what is described as "signature", viz the identity of a particular maker, is only decipherable through cultural knowledge, whereas "act-identity" is immediately accessible to any comer as a trace of an originatory action.…”

“…Cultural meanings will differ from place to place, but the act of leaving a direct and recognisable trace of a hand provides a universal starting point for denotative elaboration. For details and citations I refer the reader to my argument set out at length in "The case for hand stencils and prints as proprio-performative" [3], the companion piece to this article. A "proprio-performative" image is defined as one which addresses the viewer directly and in a way which conveys information about the artist-agent.…”

“…In the context of the argument I put forward in the companion piece to the present article, it emerges as a form of iconic representation of the ecological self in action, a very particular kind of action which ultimately opens out possibilities for a visual language. See especially Sections 6.2 The "Ecological Self"; 6.3 The Rock Surface as Rudimentary Mirror; 6.4 Performative Images; 6.5 The Looming Effect and Representational Momentum; 6.6 Mirror Neurons and 7.2 A Definition in Dobrez [3].…”