Traditionally shadows were ugly and heavy so they weren't spoken about often - when discussing a piece of art. The Greeks believed a shadow to be a soul of the body near it or escaping from the body, so often representational of death. To caste a shadow is to not have the full truth (this is referring back to plato's idea of shadows), a shadow has something to do with the origin of knowledge. A shadow is the absence of light, a dark spot to ourselves. Shadows were also hardly used (not just because they were ugly), but because they held such representational power. You had to be careful what you placed in these paintings with shadows. Young children struggle with understanding a shadow and where it comes from, mostly struggling that it is a double of your own body. A mirror reflection deals with 'I', whereas a shadow deals with the 'other'. In west old symbolic culture, the shadow represented the enemy and guilt. Artists would draw peoples projected face shadows, almost in a way to capture the symbolism of someones soul. “Do not see the devil outside, do not seek him in the Bible, he is in your heart.” it is in your soul, which is in your shadow. In paintings, Christ tends to have a light, or white shadow. The story of Peter Schlemihl selling is shadow to the devil, no one trusted him afterwards - he lost his identity.
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/24/stoichita.php
look at christian boltanski and shadows?
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/24/stoichita.php
look at christian boltanski and shadows?