Glass, Pattern, and Translation: A Practical Exploration of Decorative Idiom and Material Mistranslation using Glass Murrine Owen Thomas Charles Johnson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Royal College of Art for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2015 Royal College of Art ! 1 “This text represents the submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal College of Art. This copy has been supplied for the purpose of research for private study, on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgment.” ! 2 Abstract Can creative material translation reshape artistic appropriation to escape the cycle of mimicry and mockery linked to contemporary visual art practice? To explore creativity in material translation, my project has been divided into three case studies, each translating a different pattern, from a different context and material, into my chosen pattern-making language of glass murrine. In the first case study I translate a Moorish plasterwork pattern from the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain. This pattern has been copied before: a translation of fidelity printed by Owen Jones in his publication The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.1 Jones’ pattern and my patterns will be used to examine fidelity and infidelity in material translation. In the second case study I translate Paisley, a Kashmiri textile pattern appropriated and adapted by western manufacturers in the 19th-century. Paisley's history of adaptation will be examined in relation to my translation, to compare the two methods in the context of a single decorative idiom. In the third case study, I translate a stamp- printed furnishing textile pattern designed by Bernard Adeney in the 1930s. This translation will be an isolated interaction between two makers, a similar position to the critique of contemporary visual appropriation, allowing for a comparison between infidelity and appropriation. Murrine has been chosen as my material language because of its ability to create patterns with colour, depth and unlimited variation. The murrine technique involves the heating up and stretching of canes or sheets of coloured glass, arranged in designs that become very small when elongated. These stretched lengths are then cut in cross-section to form mosaic tiles. Developed by the Greeks and Egyptians, the murrine technique has been under constant development for the last 2000 years. I have further refined the technique, incorporating new methods such as waterjet cutting. I have made final artworks from each set of murrine in the format of flat glass panels, each exploring its pattern in a unique way. An examination of each artwork, its process of translation – including drawings, computer models, photomontage and other designing methods – and its material and contextual change will forge the link between making and writing in this project. 1 O. Jones, The Grammar of Ornament (1856), London: DK Publishing, 2001. ! 3 My original contribution to knowledge is the exploration of a practical act of visual translation, analysing material change and creativity. The project serves as a model for material translation, questioning the contemporary act of appropriation in both art and culture. The project developed through my rejection of contemporary practices of appropriation, along with my passion for the spiritual nature of pattern and the glass technique of murrine. My theoretical framework is built around the linguistic concept of ‘creative translation’. Linguistic theorists such as Jorge Luis Borges ‘treated translation as a creative force in which specific translation strategies might serve a variety of cultural and social functions’.2 My project will adapt this linguistic concept to visual practice, investigating its relevance to material language. ! 2 L. Venuti [Ed.], The Translation Studies Reader, London: Routledge, 2000, p.11. ! 4 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................ 5 List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 19 Introduction ................................................................................................... 22 0.1. Personal Context ........................................................................................... 22 0.2. Hypothesis of Project. .................................................................................. 24 0.3. Important Terminologies from the Hypothesis .......................................... 24 0.3.1. Pattern: Repetition of Design or Motif ....................................................... 25 0.3.2. Appropriation: Mimicry and Mockery in Visual Culture ............................. 27 0.3.3. Translation: From Linguistics to Material Culture ..................................... 29 0.4. Project Framework: Material Mistranslation ............................................... 30 0.4.1. Mistranslation: Borges’ Concept of Creative Translation .......................... 30 0.4.2. Material Mistranslation .............................................................................. 32 0.4.3. Material Language .................................................................................... 32 0.4.4. The Material Language of Glass Murrine ................................................. 33 0.5. Project Methodology and Dissertation Structure ....................................... 42 0.5.1. 1st Chapter and Case Study ..................................................................... 42 0.5.2. 2nd Chapter and Case Study .................................................................. 43 0.5.3. 3rd Chapter and Case Study .................................................................... 43 0.6. The Project’s Outcome through Practice .................................................... 44 Chapter One: Fidelity or Infidelity ..................................................................... 46 1.0. Introduction ................................................................................................... 46 1.1. History, Material Methods and Contexts ..................................................... 48 1.1.1. The Pattern’s Original Visual Structure ..................................................... 48 1.1.2. The Pattern’s First Material Method: Moorish plasterwork ....................... 50 1.1.3. The Pattern’s Second Material Method: Chromolithography. ................... 52 1.1.4. The Pattern’s Third Material Method: Glass Murrine ................................ 56 1.2. An Analysis of Owen Jones’ Translation .................................................... 58 1.2.1. Fidelity and Jones’ Translation of Pattern One: ........................................ 59 1.2.2. The Possibility of Kinship Between Material Languages .......................... 61 1.2.3. The Spirit of Ornamentation ...................................................................... 61 1.2.4. The Afterlife of a Material Translation ....................................................... 63 ! 5 1.3. Analysis of My Mistranslation ...................................................................... 64 1.3.1. The Infidelity of My Mistranslation ............................................................ 65 1.3.2. The Mistranslation Method. ...................................................................... 69 1.3.3. Each Completed Artwork and its Mistranslation ....................................... 70 1.3.4. The Colours of Mistranslated Artistic Outcomes ....................................... 73 1.3.5. The Internal Geometry of Mistranslated Artistic Outcomes ...................... 73 1.3.6. Summary of My Material Mistranslation .................................................... 74 1.4. Kinship Between Makers in Material Translation ....................................... 75 1.4.1. Spirit in my Material Mistranslation ........................................................... 76 1.4.2. Becoming Part of the ‘Life’ of a Pattern .................................................... 77 1.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 78 Chapter Two: Mistranslation and Adaptation ................................................. 80 2.0. Introduction ................................................................................................... 80 2.1. History of Pattern Two .................................................................................. 82 2.1.1. European Imitation of Pattern Two ........................................................... 83 2.1.2. European Adaptation Of Pattern Two ....................................................... 84 2.1.3. European Printing and the Adaptation of Pattern Two ............................. 86 2.1.4. Pattern Two in the 20th-Century ................................................................ 87 2.2. Framework of Pattern Two’s European Adaptation ................................... 87 2.2.1. Method of Development One: Material Development and Colour ............ 88 2.2.2. Method of Development Two: Aesthetic Development and Colour .......... 89 2.2.3. Method of Development Three: Aesthetic Development