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The State of the Field - Overview--John Winter
Pages 1-11

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From page 1...
... The State of the Field
From page 3...
... Even the word "art" does not help much, since any familiarity with the field reveals people working with what is usually termed self-conscious art, with decorative art, or with functional objects regarded for the purpose as art. For the most part, scientists who choose to do this kind of research do not seem to trouble themselves overmuch with how artistic the art is.
From page 4...
... Then there is a less easily defined group of scholars and professionals who are trained in fields other than the sciences but who perform and apply research to problems in their own field: art historians, conservators, and archaeologists may fall into this category. Most major branches of physical science have much higher numbers of researchers than is the case with us, and modern science has as a consequence a considerable social structure, for want of a better term.
From page 5...
... This state of affairs, of a conceptually large research field populated by relatively small numbers of researchers using techniques borrowed from elsewhere, led one colleague, Irwin Scollar, (actually with reference to archaeological science) to suggest that this was equivalent to conducting guerrilla warfare using captured weapons (Olin, 1982, p.
From page 6...
... The National Gallery in London commissioned reports on the condition of its paintings in the 1850s (Brommelle, 1956) , and the British Museum consulted outside scientists on conservation problems well before setting up its own facilities (Watkins, 1997)
From page 7...
... that may be aroused, we are adopting the token or image point of view. Seeing the work as a physical object is, I believe, self-evident in meaning, and doing so is not confined to the research scientist or conservator; however, to study a work of art using scientific methods means scrutinizing it as a physical object to a greater depth and from more points of view than would be done with any other approach.
From page 8...
... It is reasonable to ask how far this can affect our own interest in the same objects of study and how far there can be intersections in the frames of reference. ART AND TIME Apart from the fact that we study works of art rather intensively as physical objects, what other commonality can be discerned to make us think that the scientific study of this huge mass of disparate cultural assets can form a coherent subject?
From page 9...
... Committed professionals in our field may soon find themselves with some research specialty defined in terms of the works of art themselves; my own, for example, happens to be East Asian paintings. The professional researcher then finds that studying the works of art as physical objects within his chosen area, whether limited or broad, requires the application of
From page 10...
... What are the connections between scientific studies and considerations of aesthetics, the original intent behind creating something, and the connections to questions of intended use? This colloquium was never intended to cast light on problems of this nature, but if we have a serious intellectual discipline underpinning what we do, the more fundamental questions implied by its pursuit should at least be recognized to exist.
From page 11...
... Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press. English version of Philosophie der Kunstgeschichte, Oscar Beck, Munich, 1958, pp.


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