Call for Papers: Material Metamorphoses

A special session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies Kalamazoo, Michigan May 8 - 11, 2014 Organizers: Rachel Danford (Johns Hopkins University) and Chiara Valle (Johns Hopkins University) Application deadline: September 15, 2013 Description:
This session explores the theme of the transformation of matter from one state into another in the Middle Ages, focusing especially on medieval visual and material culture. It is concerned with both processes of transformation and the traces that objects bear to evince the transformations they have undergone. Medieval works of art must be understood as fluid and flexible, not static or stable. Meaning was derived from moments of transition, when the appearance, function, or material identity of substances was altered. Afterward, it was essential that such ephemeral moments of transformation be permanently commemorated on the objects themselves. Objects had to show their itineraries (to borrow Philippe Bucs words), to bear evidence of the metamorphoses they had undergone so that such changes could continue to be meaningful in the future. The session will consider material tranformations that occured naturally, technologically, miraculously, or imaginatively in the mind of the beholder. First, physical transformation of matter could take place in nature. For example, since Antiquity, it was widely believed that rock crystal was water that had frozen so deeply that it had permanently changed from a liquid to a solid state; and knowledge of rock crystals natural origins often impacted how the material was used in medieval works of art. Equally, material transformations could be enacted artificially when human artisans shaped raw materials into something new and marvelous. Indeed, the skill of gifted artisans could be valued above the cost of the material alone, as Abbot Suger famously implored viewers of the bronze doors at St. Denis: Marvel not at the gold and expense but at the craftsmanship of the work. Furthermore, as Caroline Bynums research has recently stressed, physical transformation could also result from divine action, as with the miraculous transformation of the Host or the creation of acheiropoietic images. In addition to transformations at the moment of production, medieval materials could also undergo significant changes at the moment of reception, when beholders imaginatively transformed what they were seeing in their minds eyes. The challenge faced by many viewers of medieval art was to look at precious objects and mentally convert the physical into the spiritual. Ideally, we will accept three, twenty-minute papers with thirty minutes reserved for discussion at the end. Although the session was initially conceived from an art historical perspective, papers dealing with the theme of metamorphosis in literature, history of science, and other disciplines are welcomed. Conservators of art are also encouraged to submit.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2013 Please submit: 1. One-page abstract of proposed paper 2. Completed Participant Information Form: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF 3. CV with contact information Proposals should be sent to both organizers: Rachel Danford: rdanfor2@jhu.edu Chiara Valle: cvalle2@jhu.edu