Paul J. Oaren
I
Course in Department of Art Marvville Colleae Maryville, ~ennessee37801
I1
Art md Chemistry
M u c h has been written recently about the need for "relevance" in science courses, meaning, among other things, that more attempts should be made t o relate scientific truths and values to the broader ranges of truth and value found in human experience. Experimentation with such goals has often been carried out within the framework of introductory college or university courses, e.g., in general chemistry or in interdisciplinary science courses (1-4). A different valuable format for this type of effort is t.he singlecourse, short-term session which has been increasingly incorporated into college calendars (5, 6). This term, emphasizing a continually changing offeringof subjects limited only by faculty imagination, often affords unique opportunities for exploring relationships and areas not touched in the normal curriculum. We wish to present and discuss our experience during a short term with an interdisciplinary course in chemistry and art entitled "Structure and Color in Art Media." There were several motivations in offering such a course. Perhaps the simplest arose from our realization that often interdisciplinary courses relating sciences and the arts are offered in the science bailiuick: for example, in this type of course, the student might focus on principles of science and then use these to analyze the physical aspects of an art form, such as sound in music. I n contrast to this, we wondered how things would work if the science were offered in another environment, and in our case, the work of the students focused primarily on art projects in ceramics or glass blowing. Lectures were then given on the underlying
scientific principles of color and structure being used in this work. Other motivations came from our interest in the broad relationships between science and art (7). For example, it is undoubtedly true that if man's artistic sense were as well developed as his scientific sense, then we would not have nearly as critical an environmental problem today. In a different vein, pefhaps the broadest similarity between the areas lies in their values of creative explora'tion. As eloquently expressed by Bronowski, both place highest value on the discovery of hidden likenesses, whether of physical or aesthetic aspects of our world (8). From a chemical viewpoint, the strongest ties to art forms appear to lie in the areas of ceramics and sculpture; accordingly, these areas were stressed in our course. The table contains an outline of the material presented to the group as a whole. At the beginning of the course, introductory class work with art media was carried out. As the course progressed, students focused on individual projects ranging from wheel work in pottery and sculpture in clay, glass, or plastics to production of laboratory glassware and experimentation with different oxidation states of glaze coloring agents produced by firing in an inert atmosphere. The level of chemistry presented in such a course necessarily depends on the background of the students; our group was generally at a beginning level in both chemistry and art. Consequently, presentations of the material shown tended to be more empirical than theoretical; for example, discussion of hybrid orbitals was deleted entirely. The use of models
Volume 48, Number 10, October 1971
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Structure ond Color in Art Media*
variable valence
IV. Introduatory Pottery and Glass Working Techniques (3-IS)
V. Color: The relationship between lizht and electron energy levels VI. Transition Metal Colors A. Ligsnd field splitting of d-electron levels
B. Effects of ligsnd and geometry ohanges on color VII. Prsotioal Glare Iiormulation (15-15)
VIII.
The Struoture and P r o ~ e r t i e sof Solids A. Metsls (181: Close-packed arrangements. Alloys. Structure~ r o p e r t yrelationships: deformation. fatigue, alloy properties, ete. D. Glare msteiisls (15-16. 1 n : Strilelures of soma ionio salts: close-packed hniona and interstitial oations. The soinel and inverse-spinel hiraneementa. Alumina structures: o* and 7AhOa. Silios. Structure-property relationships: ~ o l o r sof the glare oolorhnts Cr.0~.FenO.. CoaO,; edoining: eto. C. Clay (lS-.el). Silioates and aluminum silicates. Natural d a y formation. Kaolinite. Properties: (a1 Wettability and layering: relationship t o particle size and shape: (1,) Firing properties: o h e r n i d dehydration: (cl Miscellaneous: oorositv. s t o n e ware formation, porcelain, variations in clay body. D. Glass: Struotures hnd properties (#%BE) E. Plastics (671. Additional polymeriration. Common polymers. Aorylres.
Refereoees are provided for material not readily found in most recent freshman ehemistrv terthooks.
for many of the complex structures was indispensible. This course was quite enlightening for the instructors as well as the students since everyone mas involved to some degree in a new area of study. Attempts to find structures related to empirical formulas found in ceramics books provided interesting challenges at many points. The relationships between the subjects turned out to he surprisingly close in some instances, as in the case of the close-packed structure theme underlying the subjects of hoth metals and glaze materials. The few students who had had some college chemistry expressed appreciation for the offering of chemistry in this art context. However, it is difficult to form a complete judgment on the merits of offering chemical material in the context of an art course on the basis of our experience thus far. It was questionable at times how much of the material was clearly assimilated by the students, but this problem is characteristic of most courses. The interest and considerable progress shown by the students in their individual projects did appear to provide a sound basis for introducing relevant chemical ideas on structure and properties. Perhaps even better connections between chemistry and ceramics could have been established by a few more group projects relating
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Journal of Chemical Education
to the lecture material; for example, normal and Raku glaze firings (28, 29) could have been used to illustrate the differences in oxidative and reductive firing conditions. There were a few other problems associated with the course. Glass work was restricted to projects which could be handled with an oxygen torch with limited immediate annealing. Projects in metal working or enameling could easily have been added. I n many locations, field trips would make a valuable addition to the experience. The broader motivations of creativity and values mentioned earlier were not explicitly stressed in the course. Perhaps the chance to work creatively in an area which was clearly exciting to hoth instructors may have been the best possible experience for the students in this regard. I n summary, we feel that on balance this type of short-term course was very worthwhile, and hope that our experience as set forth here will encourage and help others to develop related ideas. Literature Cited ,I, Fonrurr. 1.1.. J.CHLM.UYUC.,47.749 I(J:O). (2 \I'OLKL, It. L.. I. C s r ~ F. n l c . 4 7 , 788 (19701. .3) T)'.\rn!r J Gu.mntar. 4.. r x n l o e u m o s n , J . . I . Csru. Eouc.. 47. 10h 1170. (41 Y O U N ~ .D. P.. J. CHEW.EDYC.. 47, 580 (1970). ( 5 ) Chem. En& News, 47 (131,53 (19691.
.
(61 NBITX*MER,R. W., HATALA, R . J.. AND F E R ~ U B OP N . R.. , J. CREU. Eouc., 46, 659 (1969). (71 KELLER, E.. Chemidtry,49 (111. 17 (1969). (81 B a o m w a ~ r J., , "Soienoe and Human Values" (Rev. Ed.), Harper and Row. New York, 1966, p. 19. (91 K e ~ x r J. , B., "Ceramic Design." Chilton B o o b . Philadelphia, Ps.. 1963, p. 192. D.. "Clay and Glazes for the Potter," Chilton Books, Phila(101 RHODEB. delphie. Pa.. 1967. (111 NELSON,G. C., "Cer&mic8: A Potter% Handbook" (2nd Ed.), Holt. Rinehart and Winston. New York, 1966. (121 H ~ r n ~ e s m x nJ.. E., AND S ~ n o ~ C. a . L.. "Creative Glassblowing:' W. H. Freeman. SanFranoisoa. 1968. (131 Reference (91, Chapter 15. (141 Referenoe ( I l l . Chapter 5 8 . (151 Reference (101. part 2. (161 G x m e m x , E. S., "Fundamental Concepts of Inorganio Chemistry." MeGraw-Hill Book Ca.. Ino., New York, 1968, pp. 203-15. G. W., "Advanced Inorganic Chem(171 COTTON,F. A,. A N D WILXINBON, istry" (2nd Ed.). Wiley Intersc~enoe.New York. 1966, pp. 48-52,
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-.
dl0 -- ,A-*R-L O
(I81 Referenoe (In. DD. 469-74.
(251 (261 (27) (281 (291
B m m , R. H., Sci. Amer.. 109 (51,120 (1963). DALTON, R . H.. J. CHEW.EDUC.. 40,9Y (1963). M * n ~ . H . F . . S e i . A m r r . .197 (31. 81 11957). Reference ( I l l , pp. 174-5. Reference (101, pp. 19%3.
