103146 | GREAT BRITAIN. "The Fruit of Knowledge" cast bronze Medal.

103146  |  GREAT BRITAIN. "The Fruit of Knowledge" cast bronze Medal. Issued 1989 (62mm, 110.01 g, 12h). By Gordon Summers [then studying jewellery and silversmithing at Loughborough College of Art and Design] for the British Art Medal Society.

 

Upper torso of male figure (representing Science), with chain upon each wrist, one of which is connected to his neck, about to eat an apple; below, small male pulling upon rope that is looped around tree and connected to the neck of Science // Lower nude torso of the same male figure (Science), with the Tree of Knowledge to left (visually similar to a stylized nuclear explosion). Edge: Plain.

 

Attwood 58 & pp. 40-41; The Medal 14, p. 92. As Made. Olive-bronze surfaces. A rare and provocative issue, with an output of just 27 pieces.

 

In The Medal 14, Gordon Summers wrote about this design, stating that "...this medal concerns man's lust for knowledge and the possibility of the fruits of this desire being used for evil ends. The large figure represents the man of science, readily craving after knowledge and being pressurised to make that fatal move which may lead to disaster. The man is trapped between the two possible outcomes of his search: good and evil. On the reverse I have pictured the tree of knowledge with the intention of confusing it visually with a nuclear explosion. Knowledge is not wisdom. We must therefore use our own wisdom to control its results." Interestingly, while the threats of nuclear war were more front-of-mind when this medal was created in 1989, one could see a more current pursuit, that of artificial intelligence (AI), as our trapping of two outcomes today. As the author of this medal stated, "knowledge is not wisdom," and one can easily argue that artificial intelligence is neither intelligence nor wisdom, and we hopefully will retain enough wisdom to control its results, lest it begin to control us.

 

Upload: 1 April 2025