I wonder sometimes if the whole of human development hasn't been a quest for the freedom to be creative. Even before we made the transition from hunter/gatherer to settled agricultural society we were creating art. Many of the examples of rock art found around the World, from the cave art in Western Europe, to the petroglyphs in South America, to the aboriginal art on Australasia depict hunting scenes and may well have been markers to wandering communities passing through the area, but many seem to have no clear relevance to the conveyance of anything other than "We were here". If we consider the prevalance of hand and foot paintings found, and consider also the discoveries of very early rock carved figures and images that seem to serve no purpose other than to be objects in and of themselves it would appear that we have an inbuilt desire to create art.
We have been striving since our earliest development to find more and more efficient ways to do the things that must be done for survival, thereby freeing up more time for creativity. This creativity comes in the form of art, music, literature, theatre and more recently film and computer games. It is as if we can't stop ourselves, and I wonder why that is. In general terms, creativity beyond practical considerations is not a strong survival trait. We can think perhaps of Bower birds where mates are selected on the quality of their nests, and the nests certainly to our eyes appear full of artistry but they serve a purely practical function, protecting the eggs of tree climbing snakes. I am certain that there must be an evolutionary reason for the desire to create art, but I can't quite get my head around what this might be. I will have to muse on it further....
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