The Optics of Abstract Art in the Aesthetic Evaluation of Megalithic Monuments

The study of megalithic art is greatly complicated by its antiquity and lack of data for research. The unprovability of any theories about the origin of megaliths, as well as the motives and artistic goals of their creators, creates an almost insurmountable barrier to the interaction of the modern viewer with these monuments. This paper proposes a research approach that actualizes the value of megalithic art for the modern artistic process and partially overcomes the problem of unknowability. It is based on the direct visual experience of meeting megaliths, which makes it possible to interpret them through a system of fundamental categories of aesthetic perception known today. The study provides a look at the stone monuments of the past through the prism of modern aesthetics. In the logic of formal analysis, the objects under consideration are compared with abstract compositions of the 20th—21st centuries in order to determine the fundamental properties of a large-scale, fascinating artistic image; for this purpose, their common expressive means and features are highlighted. The accumulated visual experience contributes to the interpretation of megaliths within the framework of the modern artistic process. In the course of the work, actual expressive techniques and solutions appear in the photographic images, which are not noticeable outside the modern context. In an alternative way, this brings the viewer’s consciousness closer to ancient art, allowing them to actualize and rethink its legacy for the current generation. Although the problem of the original, historical and genetic interpretation of megaliths remains open, work with universal categories of aesthetics establishes some models of perception of ancient artifacts that allow us to bridge the time gap in modern consciousness.