Postgraduate Course: Makers and Making in Insular Art (Ireland and Britain, AD 600-1100) (HIAR11128)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines how art objects were made in the Insular period (early medieval Britain and Ireland, c.AD 600-1100) as well as how artists' creative agency and conscious choices shaped their making processes. Students will engage with a range of topics, including evidence for artists' social status and identities, early medieval techniques, materials, technologies and mathematical approaches to geometric ornament, and how modern art-historical and archaeological methodologies can either enrich or limit our understanding of Insular making. |
| Course description |
Insular art - a term which refers to art made in early medieval Ireland and Britain, c.AD 600-1100 - was characterised by eye-boggling geometric patterns and rich iconography in a variety of media, such as carved stone, manuscript illumination, textiles, and metalwork. This course introduces students to how Insular art objects and monuments were manufactured, as well as how artists' conscious choices and interactions with each other shaped their making processes. Classes will focus on a range of interdisciplinary topics and practical learning, from pattern drawing workshops and in-class demonstrations of activities such as tablet-weaving and embroidery, to analyses of early medieval techniques and materials, mathematical approaches to geometric ornament and composition, makers' legal and social status, the role of women artists, disruptions and innovations during the Viking Age, and the ways in which methodologies from art history and archaeology have both enriched and limited our knowledge of Insular making. We also will place Insular making in a global context through comparison with other art traditions around the world in this period. By the end of this course, students will gain a thorough grounding in Insular art and a critical understanding of why focus on makers and making is crucial for our knowledge of this period and its wider importance in the fields of art history and archaeology.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 13 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 x 4000 word essay 100% - submitted weeks 8-11 |
| Feedback |
Students are given feedback on FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT as follows:
Students will submit a mid-semester essay plan (c.500 words) and annotated preliminary bibliography. Written feedback on the student plans will be provided with the opportunity for a one-to-one follow-up meeting.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Written feedback on student essays will be provided, in addition to the opportunity for a one-to-one meeting towards the end of semester.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of Insular art, in particular its principal techniques, materials and geometric patterns.
- Demonstrate a historically informed approach to the analysis and interpretation of Insular art, displaying some measure of critical independence.
- Critically examine art histories of this period, and the contribution of other disciplines including archaeology.
- Analyse Insular art in relation to its global context.
- Articulate the significance of attending to the role of makers and making in scholarship of this historical period.
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Reading List
Celts: Art and Identity, eds. Julia Farley and Fraser Hunter (British Museum & National Museums Scotland, 2015)
Alexandra Lester-Makin, The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: The Sacred and Secular Power of Embroidery (Oxbow Books: 2019)
Cynthia Thickpenny, 'Abstract Pattern on Stone Fragments from Applecross: The Master Carver of Northern Pictland?', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 148 (2019), 147-176
Heather Pulliam, 'Eyes of Light: Colour in the Lindisfarne Gospels', in eds. J. Ashbee & D.J. Luxford, Newcastle and Northumberland: Roman and Medieval Architecture and Art (Maney Publishing: 2013), p. 54-72
Stephen Walker, 'The Kerbschnitt Technique on the Ardagh Chalice', in eds. Conor Newman, Mags Mannion, and Fiona Gavin, Islands in a Global Context: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Insular Art, Held at the National University of Ireland, Galway, 16-20 July 2014 (Four Courts Press: 2017), p. 233-241
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Visual and critical analysis; Clear thinking and the development of an argument; Independent research; Presentation and communication skills; The ability to articulate ideas clearly in writing; Organisation and planning; Teamwork through group discussion |
| Keywords | Insular art,Medieval,Pattern,Geometry,Manuscript Illumination,Craft |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Cynthia Thickpenny
Tel:
Email: cthickpe@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Nathan Ross-Hammond
Tel: (0131 6)51 5880
Email: nrossha@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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