The Alchemy of Paint - Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages - Spike Bucklow
Metallic Blues: The Powers of the Planets
The Alchemy of Paint - Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages - Spike Bucklow
Spike Bucklow [+]
Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge
Spike Bucklow trained as a chemist. He synthesized sex pheromones for cockroaches, then developed materials for use in special effects. His latex creations feature in films including Indiana Jones, Greystoke, Little Shop of Horrors, Princess Bride and the 1980s satirical show Spitting Image. He then studied Artificial Intelligence and briefly worked in technical management consultancy where he discovered art conservation. He gained a PhD in art history, and is now a Senior Research Scientist and Teacher of Theory based at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge. He has written about pigment use in art for a number of journals and draws on a wide range of experience to develop his ideas.
Description
An appreciation of medieval metallic blue pigments requires a deeper immersion into the artists’ mindset. Ultramarine showed that the artists’ world was different from the modern one, but at least it was securely anchored in the realm of the senses. Vermilion showed how the traditional and modern points of view differ – the shared world of sensations was accompanied by another world, one populated by ideas. This chapter explores the relationship between the world of things and the world of thoughts.