The Technology of Desire – Perspectives from The Artist’s Road

The Technology of Desire

Perspectives from The Artist’s Road

Statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene  Late 2nd Century B.C.E.
(Creative Commons)

   Modern colors represent, more than anything else, technology. Until quite recent times, artists had to know all about the chemistries involved in making pigments in order to have any with which to paint. They had to know where to get the raw materials and how to process them into suitable materials to combine with suitable glues or binders so they would stick to canvas or board. They also had to know how to make a coating for that canvas or board which would accept and hold onto the precious paint they would apply. Beyond the considerable cost of these materials, the hours they spent making paints, binders and coatings were immense. To add another layer of difficulty to this, some of the formulas for making pigments and paints were kept secret from the public and jealously guarded by guilds of artists and craftsmen. In short, pigments and paints were not only highly valuable commodities traded world-wide, but the technology needed to make and use them was restricted to a very few.

   To lucky modern artists, this seems incomprehensible. Free access to every color imaginable, coupled with relatively low cost and access to knowledge, is just our way of life. These factors have spurred an explosion of creativity in the visual arts, much like the blossoming of art during the Renaissance, when a similar set of circumstances occurred. But up until that time, the world of colors and pigments was closed, restricted to a few, rare and very expensive. In fact, recent discoveries and new research indicate that it was the trade in pigments and ceramics which powered the early international trade routes, such as the famous Silk Road. We now know that human desire for colorful decoration goes back to Neolithic times and beyond. Once the essentials of food, clothing and shelter have been met, the next item on the list seems to have been color and decoration. Whether in carving, painting or useful vessels, the desire for decoration is a fundamental feature of humanity. So it is no surprise that human made and manufactured objects and goods needed this decorative distinction to become widely desirable, and the most basic and attractive alteration of an object would be pigmentation. The technology of pigments and decoration drove a big part of the economies of the ancient world and still drive a big part of ours today.