Morning performance:
This one went much better than the session on Monday, I was a lot more confident in what I was saying and had spent some time thinking about what histories I could create for the objects. It was still a bit cursory though and I think the whole idea needs more development to give it authenticity and a feeling of depth. Speaking to Jen afterwards she recommended going into more detail about the objects and my findings, talking about why I came to the conclusions I did and also incorporating world building into the narrative; e.g. referencing a dig done three years ago in another part of the country.
Afternoon Performance:
This was definitely the best one yet, I felt so much more confident in what i was saying and who I was. I also tried to build on what Jen said about giving the objects more in-depth backgrounds, I think that I could still refine that aspect but that’s something to take forward into the rest of the term.
One thing I am realising as I’m repeating the sessions and embroidering the stories more each time, is that I really like the idea of finding things and interpreting them from the perspective of a future archaeologist. When I go down to the river estuary I want to take record some footage and maybe incorporate that into a field diary style narrative. Jen suggested making a ‘finds table’ like actual archaeologists would and using that to consider what actions would result (like cleaning/restoring objects). I could also play with the documentation of both the fictional work and the coursework.
There’s also the spiritual aspect of the work; I don’t think I should be trying to invent customs and beliefs at this point in the course because they’re so time consuming. Instead I think I should try and adapt existing traditions such as well-dressings and reimagine them in my proto-future. I feel like it would also be helpful to think more about folk art/culture, things made by ordinary people for their own use or the enjoyment of others, rather than conjuring a hugely complex belief system that would probably not be as easily taken up by the population – mainly because it’s just so hard to make that feel authentic. This would build on my focus on traditions last term, especially if I concentrate on the spiritual aspects of folk traditions rather than an all-encompassing spirituality.
As a side note, everyone’s been very positive about the sound collage and I think that’s definitely something to keep working with, especially if I can make video alongside and push digital decomposition in both formats – Jen suggested being an archaeologist in the near future and then review the footage from the far future for example.
LFlynn Research Blog 