ANST - authenticity vs

[dennis grace]

Greetings, Cosyns,

Lyonel, aisai.

In resopnse to my
>>I concur with His Excellency's analysis of the catapult, but the catapult is
>>usually judged on its merits as a bit of siege engineering.  I would
>>classify this as a science. (Note, His Excellency refered to the catapult
>>builder as an "artisan," not an artist.)  I know--this is a difficult call.
>>A brilliant bit of engineering can be a work of art in and of itself.
>>Generally, though, I think we're talking about a bit of mechanical
>>engineering--the straightforward application of physics--a subject pretty
>>well rooted in the sciences.

Lord Stephan says
>But we are talking about arts and SCIENCES displays. Not an arts display.
>We should be judging such items on how they fit and display the sciences
>of the day. And "sciences" includes crafts and technology not just the
>pure sciences. We should not be judging such items on whether they are
>pretty but on whether they do the job intended in a way that a medieval
>person would comprehend or use.

Hmmm.  Seems I didn't make myself clear.  I concur.  In fact that was part
of my point.  Catapults, I am contending, belong in A&S competitions
*because* they're exemplary of a medieval science (siege engineering).  I
was responding to Baron Bors' presentation of the concept of catapult as
"art."  I agree that, generally speaking, we shouldn't be judging such items
"on whether they are pretty."  (If a catapult builder demonstrated, however,
that mangonels during a particular period were typically adorned, then I'd
say we should judge this attribute as well as the functionality of the critter.)

lo vostre por vos servir
Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace
_____________________________
Dennis Grace
University of Texas at Austin
English Department
Recovering Medievalist
amazing at mail.utexas.edu

Micel yfel deth se unwritere.
                           AElfric of York

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