THE MOTIF DEFICIENCY

By the end of Morris’ work with Congo, he was certain that Congo had achieved the “diagram stage” of human pictorial development.⁵⁵ The few small circles that he was able to “snatch away” from Congo before they were obliterated and the strange phenomena of the “reverse fan” convinced him that Congo could form a mental image before executing it: a motif.⁵⁶

But is that what was actually happening? Certainly apes have the constituent skills to create paintings and drawings with motifs and symbols: communication, abstract understanding of symbols, access to drawing equipment. But the evidence that Congo was actually doing this is anecdotal at best. The fact that drawings needed to be removed from his possession seems to indicate that a symbolic representation was not the final intended form of the composition. And there is very little evidence that any other ape has created representational drawings. What accounts for this difference between humans and apes?

When humans begin to draw as children, their motor and communication skills are developing in tandem, so that just as they begin to master the fine motor command to create shapes, the “diagram stage,” they are also learning that shapes can have a symbolic meaning. Apes, on the other hand, possess greater dexterity at a younger age, allowing them to create images without the necessity of imposing representative frameworks onto the compositions.

Perhaps, then, we should reconsider the comparison Morris was making. Apes have the ability to create and experience a purely aesthetic form, unencumbered by symbol and meaning. Humans lack this ability. In point of fact, the motif deficiency could be said to be ours.

⁵⁵Morris, p. 134.

⁵⁶Morris, p. 98.