Art History and Practice, 6/11/07
There are no extra art supplies on hand, today, just a large slide projector aimed at the white board at the front of the room and a stack of handouts.
And, well, Tregarth, of course.
"Today we're going to focus on an element of traditional art work that has endured for thousands of years, and continues to be popular today. That is, of course, the Celtic knot. Now, the Celtic knot was, in fact, first introduced to the Celtic tribes of the British Isles by the Vikings, or, at least, that's one of the many theories on the subject. Very little is actually known about it pre-Christian times. The knotwork itself, etched into stones on ancient burial sites, is something of a marvel of primitive technique, since, naturally, the Celts were not able to erase any guidelines or planning marks from the stone once the patterns were etched in. There are a number of theories as to how they accomplished this early work, most of which is remarkably geometrically structured, but we won't go into most of those in class, today. I do have some reading material up here should any of you be interested.
"One of the most famous instances of Celtic knotwork used in history is in the Book of Kells, a Christian manuscript in which the designs were used extensively to illuminate the text." Tregarth hit some buttons on a remote, and cycled through a number of sample images. "These designs are far less mysterious when it comes to how they were created . . . however, there are still a number of theories and methods in use today when it comes to recreating them. These range from the very basic to the computer program. If you ask me, the latter is cheating. I have here the instructions for one method believed by some to be the one favored by the ancient scribes. I'd like you all to take out your drawing tablets and pens and try out a few knots of your own. See what you can come up with. It's a simple way to add an air of . . . antiquity and tradition to any piece of art."
[ooc: I tried, but it seems that the method I use, from a text I purchased in Ireland, is not online. Which sucks, because it's wicked easy. . . . OCD is a'comin' up.]
And, well, Tregarth, of course.
"Today we're going to focus on an element of traditional art work that has endured for thousands of years, and continues to be popular today. That is, of course, the Celtic knot. Now, the Celtic knot was, in fact, first introduced to the Celtic tribes of the British Isles by the Vikings, or, at least, that's one of the many theories on the subject. Very little is actually known about it pre-Christian times. The knotwork itself, etched into stones on ancient burial sites, is something of a marvel of primitive technique, since, naturally, the Celts were not able to erase any guidelines or planning marks from the stone once the patterns were etched in. There are a number of theories as to how they accomplished this early work, most of which is remarkably geometrically structured, but we won't go into most of those in class, today. I do have some reading material up here should any of you be interested.
"One of the most famous instances of Celtic knotwork used in history is in the Book of Kells, a Christian manuscript in which the designs were used extensively to illuminate the text." Tregarth hit some buttons on a remote, and cycled through a number of sample images. "These designs are far less mysterious when it comes to how they were created . . . however, there are still a number of theories and methods in use today when it comes to recreating them. These range from the very basic to the computer program. If you ask me, the latter is cheating. I have here the instructions for one method believed by some to be the one favored by the ancient scribes. I'd like you all to take out your drawing tablets and pens and try out a few knots of your own. See what you can come up with. It's a simple way to add an air of . . . antiquity and tradition to any piece of art."
[ooc: I tried, but it seems that the method I use, from a text I purchased in Ireland, is not online. Which sucks, because it's wicked easy. . . . OCD is a'comin' up.]