Book of Kells, art or design?

The subject in which separates art and design is very debatable.  Many designers may consider themselves artists but very rarely does an artist consider themselves a designer.  A work of art stems directly from a view, opinion, or an emotion.  The artist makes a creation to share with viewers which allows them to be inspired or learn from the piece.  In relation to this, a designer always tends to have a starting point in any piece they do.  A designer’s job isn’t to invent something new, it is to communicate or change an IDEA that already exists. To be an artist you need talent, to be a good designer you need some type of skill.  Many designers create pieces that are visually attractive.  Artist intensions are not to produce something to sell but to get their expression across.  They do their work over long periods of time.  To argue this point further, if art is an item that generates a response, and design serves a purpose, would art be a subject of design?  An example of this argument is the Book of Kells.

The book of Kells contains many historical and artistic facts, mainly having to do with the catholic religion.  Jesus’ story can be seen throughout the entire book, also shown throughout the book is the Virgin Mary and Child.  It is a culmination of Irish and Celtic art and calligraphy.  The book of Kells is an illumination codex- which is “a form of printing to add colored elements to page: to add color, letters, illustrations, or designs to a manuscript or the borders of a page” (Merriam- Webster).  A codex is a form of manuscript.  It contains and is divided into four gospels, Matt, Mark, Luke, and John. The Book of Kells was “written and richly adorned for use in the conduct of public worship. In its taste and delicacy, in its originality, and in its elaborations of coloring and design, The Book of Kells must be placed among the wonders of the world” (www.liu.edu).  The book was most likely displayed by the monks on a church altar.

“In the opening page of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the painter transformed the biblical text into abstract patterns, literally making God’s words beautiful” (Kleiner pg414).

Looking at the images closely it is very hard to determine whether this is art or design. It may possibly be impossible to choose one side of this argument.  The images within the book all tell a story which may have been used for inspiration to influence others to fallow this particular religion.   As mentioned before, the purpose of art is to represent a view or opinion which this most certainly does.  Therefore, since it is fulfilling the definition of art, it then fulfilled its purpose which leads into the meaning of design.

Nothing in the Book of Kells was just put in places without a reason for doing so.  It is a book, and books tell stories therefore can it be art? It is very clear that each and every little detail represents something and it is made beautiful to grasp some ones attention.  If this was meant to just show emotion it probably would not look as neat and organized as it does and would not encourage others to pay close attention to the story being told.  This is clearly a example of design.

 

 Work cited

Kleiner, S. Fred.  Gardener’s Art Through The Ages. Boston Massachusetts, 2009.

 Jewell, Jarron “The Book of Kells.” Long Island University.             http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/sc/kells/kells.htm

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