Bison Reliefs at Tuc d'Audoubert

Thinking Through Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)’s “The Origin of the Work of Art”

These clay bison reliefs, nestled deep within a cave, exemplify Heidegger’s idea of earth as that which resists disclosure yet grounds the world. Sculpted in a space hidden from sunlight, these figures exist not to be seen by many but to participate in the ritual unconcealment of being itself. The bison are not representations but emergences—beings set-into-work.

Heidegger reminds us that truth is not a correctness of statement but an event. These reliefs do not declare truths about nature—they let being happen. The moist clay, still bearing the imprints of fingers, is not "used" in a technical sense. Rather, it participates in a letting-be, wherein the earth offers its own form—not used up, but illuminated. The world evoked is one of hunted animal, sacred spirit, seasonal rite—a world where human Dasein co-exists in an intimate struggle with nature.

The tactile immediacy of these forms, molded by hand, collapses the distinction between maker and made. The cave is not merely context—it is earth as sheltering concealment, while the bison are the thrusting-forth of a primordial world. In this interplay, art is born—not from aesthetic desire, but from the necessity of letting being appear.