Evolution of Man 1981

Curator: The artwork before us is entitled "Evolution of Man," created in 1981 by Don Ivan Punchatz. He rendered this in what I would consider to be a realist drawing style. Editor: Well, hello there! Talk about a direct statement. It's humorous, isn't it? Stripped down to basics and laid out like a visual algorithm. The human at the end almost looks embarrassed by his ancestors. Curator: I find it intriguing how Punchatz visualized this widely understood but complex scientific concept. The material of the drawing itself emphasizes the constructed nature of the narrative around human progress. He made an aesthetic choice. Editor: Precisely! Each figure almost seems caught mid-stride, or mid-thought. Notice how the progression of the items they're holding adds to the story: a banana, a bone, and then, nothing but ourselves. It feels strangely vulnerable, like shedding layers, material attachments. Curator: Exactly! The tools, objects, even the poses suggest a specific understanding of labour and purpose tied into historical and economic implications about where labor occurs, what are the effects of labor, how tools become symbols for progress... Editor: I also can't help but feel this... longing in the piece? Maybe it’s my own human baggage, but the "end result" looks somewhat lonely. Maybe the picture should have a person holding an iPhone or a tax form or some equivalent modern burden... Curator: I appreciate that reading. This image clearly provokes conversation, not only about where we came from, but also about what truly constitutes progress when all material supports and markers fall away. The simplicity, starkness even, forces reflection. Editor: Absolutely. So much of this is in my blind spots normally, but by reducing it down to material objects that it makes me see past the surface of what a picture represents...it starts me into reflecting on progress on a personal scale rather than an abstract ideal. Thanks for drawing it to my attention.