The first visual manifestation of human presence and expression of individual ‘mark-making’, was the creation of hand-marks; negative prints of hands, on caves or mountain slopes in chalk. This territorial behaviour evolved into graffiti and tags in the modern urban environment. The same iconography was used for Contemporary Cavepaintings to re-introduce the implementation of basic signatures to delimit territory and preserve human presence forever. Modern city ‘caves,’ such as hideouts under bridges or abandoned parking lots, were marked by spraying white spray-paint over a hand on the wall. This left an empty space, a negative being, a human void. The gesture questions originality and authenticity and visualizes the quest for the consolidation of human presence in the environment.
