Carpenter, Benedict Andrew (2019)Understanding material and content in made things, with particular reference to the art medal. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University. Downloaded from: http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/622590/ Usage rights: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva- tive Works 4.0 Please cite the published version https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk Understanding Material and Content in Made Things, with particular reference to the art medal Benedict Andrew Carpenter A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Volume I – Text Volume II – Images Design Research Group, Manchester School of Art Research Centre, Manchester School of Art January 2019 Understanding Material and Content in Made Things, with particular reference to the art medal Benedict Andrew Carpenter A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Volume I – Text Design Research Group, Manchester School of Art Research Centre, Manchester School of Art January 2019 Abstract This research investigates the relationship of material and content in art and craft practices to ask not what things mean but how they mean. The principal object of analysis is the art medal, a form of small-scale, biface sculpture, normally bearing portrait images that was developed in fifteenth century Italy, and that is still practiced today, worldwide. Through the close analysis of a number of art medals, this research investigates the way in which materiality relates to content, and the processes through which meaning is generated. A synthetic methodology is used. This is based on the key methods and beliefs that can be found in numismatic study, in particular connoisseurship, iconography, and - in more contemporary and especially in university study - ideas of agency. This research presents a synthetic analysis of the most canonical expression of these ideas, by Berenson ([1902]1920), Panofsky ([1939]1955), and Gell (1998) respectively. These are set within a broader intellectual framework through analysis of theories of language (Peirce 1960, Saussure 2006), theories of perception (Böhme 2017, Benjamin [1936]2008a), and contemporary writing on meaning and surfaces (Ingold 2017, Bruno 2014). In this way, the art medal is both the principal object of study, but it also provides the lens through which new understanding is approached, this lens being set within a broader epistemological framework to establish the generalizability of the research findings. There are two objects that are studied in depth. The first of these is the Limbourg Brothers’ medal of Constantine the Great. Using the method and ideas developed in the early stages of the thesis, fresh understanding is developed of the role of this medal in the collection of the Duke of Berry. A significant contribution to numismatic knowledge is developed in the demonstration of the medal’s dependency on the iconography of Baldwin II, the last Latin Emperor of Constantinople. As a result of this new finding, it is possible to understand the role of the medal within its broader system of other objects, from which multiple meanings are developed through juxtaposition and material handing. In order to bring the generalizable insights of this research into view, the thesis closes with an analysis of the exemplary craft practice of David Pye. It is shown that meaning emerges through a system of movement in which the hand’s faculty of touch plays a constructive role. In its conclusions, this research develops knowledge in relation to the intelligence of making as an emergent process within technical systems of humans, materials, and tools. This research challenges future study to direct attention towards the constructive and generative role of touch in art and craft practices. These insights will be vital as we develop new digital technologies of making. Contents List of Figures i Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction to the Thesis 1 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Brain Activity 5 1.2 Art Education: Art or Craft? 7 1.3 Art Medals: not Art, not Craft 12 1.4 The Thesis 18 1.4.1 The Research Question 18 1.4.2 The Research Process 18 1.4.3 The Structure of the Thesis 21 2 Art Medals 28 2.0 Introduction 28 2.1 What is a Medal? 29 2.1.1 The Medal of Constantine the Great 29 2.2 The History of the Early Medal 33 2.2.1 Pisanello’s Palaeologus 33 2.2.2 Coins 34 2.2.3 Leone Battista Alberti 36 2.3 The Visual Language of the Early Medal 37 2.3.1 The Morally Idealised Portrait 37 2.3.2 Imprese 40 2.4 The Ambiguous Status of the Constantine 42 2.5 How the Medal is Studied: a Literature Review 45 2.6 Conclusion 56 3 Contemporary Contexts 58 3.0 Introduction: the Context for Research 58 3.1 The Separation of Art from Craft 60 3.1.1 The Distinction of Art from Craft: a Literature Review 61 3.2 Alexandre Charpentier: Knowledge versus Culture 65 3.3 The Medal and the Hand 74 3.3.1 Cathie Pilkington 76 3.3.2 Felicity Powell and Chloe Shaw 82 3.4 Nicholas Hilliard: Making and Meaning 90 3.5 Conclusion 94 4 Meaning and Content 95 4.0 Introduction 95 4.1 What is Interpretation? 96 4.2 What is Meaning? 98 4.3 Meaning: Surfaces 103 4.3.1 Meaning: Face and the Head 104 4.3.2 Intention 107 4.4 Writing: Mimesis and Alterity 113 4.5 Key Texts in Numismatics 117 4.5.1 Bernard Berenson: Rudiments in Connoisseurship 118 4.5.2 Irwin Panofsky: Iconography and Iconology 128 4.5.3 Alfred Gell: Art and Agency 131 4.6 The Methodology 140 4.6.1 Human Experience 148 4.7 Conclusion 153 5 Constantine and the Duke of Berry 156 5.0 Introduction 156 5.1 The Material Image 157 5.2 The Dependency of the Constantine on the 162 Iconography of Baldwin II 5.2.1 The Berry Medals: a Literature Review 162 5.2.2 Contribution to Numismatic and Iconographic 164 Knowledge 5.2.3 The Iconography of Baldwin II as Prototype 168 5.3 The Constantine as a Component in a Larger System 173 5.4 Conclusion 179 6 Craft in Practice: David Pye and Making 181 6.0 Introduction 181 6.1 Making 183 6.2 David Pye, in Theory 184 6.3 David Pye, in Practice 190 6.4 Bodily Cognition 200 6.5 Conclusion 204 7 Summary and Conclusion to the Thesis 206 7.0 Introduction 206 7.1 Summary 206 7.1.1 The Research Question 206 7.1.2 Chapter 1 207 7.1.3 Chapter 2 207 7.1.4 Chapter 3 209 7.1.5 Chapter 4 211 7.1.6 Chapter 5 214 7.1.7 Chapter 6 215 7.2 Conclusion to the Thesis 217 7.2.1 The Thought of Touch 218 7.2.2 Contribution to Knowledge 222 7.3 Future Research 223 Appendix 225 References 229 List of Figures Some figures are repeated in-line as thumbnails for ease of reference. Larger and better quality reproductions are included in the separate volume of plates that accompanies this text. These are listed below. 1 David Shrigley, I’m Dead, (2010), 70mm x 15mm, taxidermied puppy, wooden sign and acrylic paint. Photograph © Linda Nyland, image used with kind permission 2 David Shrigley, Life Model, (2012), dimensions variable, polyester and mixed media. Photograph © David Shrigley, image used with kind permission 3 Chelsea College of Art and Design in April or May 1997, showing Henry Moore, Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 1, (1958). Photographs © Penelope Davis, collaged by the author, images used with kind permission 4 Authenticated contemporaneous copy of the Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV, (1356), made for the City of Frankfurt in 1366, Institut für Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt am Main, Privilegien 107. Photograph © Uwe Dettmar, image used with kind permission 5 Limbourg Brothers, Constantine the Great, (1402), 88mm diameter, silver repoussé, obverse and reverse. British Museum Inv. M.269. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum i 6 Limbourg Brothers, Heraclius, (1402), 98mm diameter, cast bronze, obverse and reverse. British Museum, Inv. 238. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum 7 Pisanello, John VIII Palaeologus, (c.1438-1442), 103mm diameter, cast bronze, obverse and reverse. British Museum, Inv. G3.NapM.9. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum 8 Gold coin of Holy Roman and King of Sicily, Emperor Frederick II, (c.1231), 20mm diameter, struck gold, obverse and reverse. British Museum, Inv. C.2809. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum 9 Leon Battista Alberti, Self-Portrait, (c.1435), 201mm x 136mm, cast bronze, uniface object. National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA. Samuel H. Kress Collection Inv. 1957.14.125 Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington 10 Matteo de’Pasti, Leon Battista Alberti, (c. 1446-1450), 92.5mm diameter, cast bronze, obverse and reverse. British Museum Inv. G3,IP.1. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum 11 Pisanello, Leonello d’Este, (1444), 68.5mm diameter, cast bronze, obverse and reverse. British Museum Inv. G3,FerrM.27. Courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum 12 Alexandre Charpentier Masons, (c.1905), 60mm x 75mm, biface plaquette, struck bronze. Photograph © the author ii 13 Alexandre Charpentier, Duval Janvier, (1902), 53mm x 60mm, struck bronze, obverse. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. A.32-1978. © Victoria and Albert Museum 14 Alexandre Charpentier, Duval Janvier, (1902), 53mm x 60mm, struck bronze, reverse. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. A.32-1978. © Victoria and Albert Museum 15 Alexandre Charpentier, Muller Stoneware Manufactory, (1897), 914mm x 645mm, glazed stoneware, uniface plaque.