Science, Art and Machines
Name
2024-04-23_ScienceArtAndMachines_FINAL.pdf
Description
visibility:open
Size
549.37 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
4qdPpzT/Fgs=
Resource type
Conference paper (unpublished)
Creator (person)
Russell, Ben
Date published
2019
Abstract
This has been a rather troubling paper to write, and it is very much a work in progress. It initially arose because I was asked to write a short chapter for a book on the subject of the sculptor, inventor, and modeller Benjamin Cheverton, who played a notable role in the 19th century history of sculpture. The Science Museum has in its collection Cheverton’s sculpture-copying machine, built in 1826, and sitting firmly in the hinterland between art and technology, and both man and machine have always been deeply enigmatic. The book is to be the first full study of Cheverton, the machine was developed and operated in secret, and what sources survive are fragmentary. The chapter was requested to focus closely on the machine, less on its context, and this has caused me a minor existential trauma. In this paper I will contextualise the machine with regard to its historiography, both written and in my interactions with colleagues working in the world of sculpture, investigate the machine itself, its development and use, and then try [emphasise ‘try’] to draw some conclusions.
Please note that the attached file is a draft copy.
Publisher
Science Museum Group
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright