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Uffington White Horse »
uffington horse and the sun
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thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat
6209 posts

Re: uffington horse and the sun
Aug 20, 2017, 09:21
That's a very small element of th ways in which I was told I was wrong. What I was told was wrong, repeatedly, was that the horse doesn't align with any point on the horizon where the sun sets, therefore it could not possibly be interpreted as heading towards the sunset. The emphasis was very much on refuting any possible interpretation or perception because of a measurable orientation. You stated that possible artistic intention could not be considered as relevant and that appearance is "meaningless", because it doesn't match your orientation of the horse as not being aligned with the sunset.

This assertion is based on you deciding how to align the horse. To do this, you must have chosen to view the horse as aligned or orientated in some way. Did you choose to do this by reference to its back, or its head, or its tail? Each is aligned on a different angle to the other elements. Why did you choose that particular feature and ignore the other features of the carving? I didn't challenge this, although it seems to contradict your view that any attempt to choose a particular angle to view or do anything from to the exclusion of others is meaningless and only used to suit an agenda. You also gave your opinion that the horse appears to be heading uphill, towards the barrow and hillfort. You have chosen to interpret the direction the horse is going in order to reach that opinion. I don't know where the horse is going, I haven't asked it. I offered the posssibility that it could be runnnng along the crest of the hill. In my view this is a possible interpretation. Unless we can ask the artist, or the horse, we'll never know what it's heading for. I'm open to the possibility it is doing either, or neither. You are not open to the possibility that it is running along the crest rather than your preferred option that it is going up the hill towards the barrow/fort. You said it was "not moving around the edge of the hill but continuing up what is left of the slope, prancing or galloping , it is unlikely to do such a sharp right turn when all the hard work has been done coming up the shoulder and the castle and barrow just straight ahead". This is a perfectly reasonable opinion, but it's not the only possibility at all. Personally when walking on the downs I rarely head for the top of the hill and routinely follow the top of the escarpment round, following the line of the contour round the tops of dry valleys.

You maintain that interpreting the horse through perception or appearance is wrong: "others who were also using their perceptions and relying on the appearance got it wrong ." I do not accept that your perception is more or less right or wrong than anyone else's. It's their perception.
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