Books by Theodor Barth
Artistic practices and archaeological research, 2019
Printed ISBN 9781789691405. Epublication ISBN 9781789691412.
Artistic Practices and Archaeologic... more Printed ISBN 9781789691405. Epublication ISBN 9781789691412.
Artistic Practices and Archaeological Research aims to expand the field of archaeological research with an anthropological understanding of practices which include artistic methods. The project has come about through a collaborative venture between Dragoş Gheorghiu (archaeologist and professional visual artist) and Theodor Barth (anthropologist).
This anthology contains articles from professional archaeologists, artists and designers. The contributions cover a scale ranging from theoretical reflections on pre-existing archaeological finds/documentation, to reflective field-practices where acts of ‘making’ are used to interface with the site. These acts feature a manufacturing range from ceramics, painting, drawing, type-setting and augmented reality (AR). The scope of the anthology – as a book or edited whole – has accordingly been to determine a comparative approach resulting in an identifiable set of common concerns.
Accordingly, the book proceeds from a comparative approach to research ontologies, extending the experimental ventures of the contributors, to the hatching of artistic propositions that demonstrably overlap with academic research traditions, of epistemic claims in the making. This comparative approach relies on the notion of transposition: that is an idea of the makeshift relocation of methodological issues – research ontologies at the brink of epistemic claims – and accumulates depth from one article to the next as the reader makes her way through the volume.
However, instead of proposing a set method, the book offers a lighter touch in highlighting the role of operators between research and writing, rather entailing a duplication of practice, in moving from artistic ideas to epistemic claims. This, in the lingo of artistic research, is known as exposition. Emphasising the construct of the ‘learning theatre’ the volume provides a support structure for the contributions to book-project, in the tradition of viewing from natural history. The contributions are hands-on and concrete, while building an agenda for a broader contemporary archaeological discussion.
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Preface (Theodor Barth):
THE ANTHROPOGENIC IMAGINATION:
A SYNOPTIC VIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGNS IN T... more Preface (Theodor Barth):
THE ANTHROPOGENIC IMAGINATION:
A SYNOPTIC VIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGNS IN THE AESTHETICS OF EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
In these reports, the flyers are like the cat in Georges Perec's essay Species of Spaces: that ta... more In these reports, the flyers are like the cat in Georges Perec's essay Species of Spaces: that talent of the cat, in Perec's account, which resides in that it never fails in finding its way to a view that reveals an unexpected potential in the space where it currently happens to be. The cat constantly surprises itself.
Reports by Theodor Barth
The flyers compiled in this volume were originally made to be circulated one by one; for this rea... more The flyers compiled in this volume were originally made to be circulated one by one; for this reason, they are conceptually self-contained and each one developed for indi- vidual readability. When compiled, connections are created between the flyers that were non-existent, or weak, at the time they were written and circulated [one a a time].
Nevertheless, the flyers were written at a regular pace—1/week in the first series, in preparation of the event, and 1/day during the project-period—and with the legal de- posit as a regulatory idea: i.e., that everything published is automatically deposited in an archive, to be publicly available for future consultation, study and analysis.
In this sense the present volume constitutes a project archive published—and made available—as a compendium. However, the reader should be aware that the flyers are developed according to a method in which the flyers become bundled in small collec- tions, each containing 5 flyers. Featuring 5 different concepts of recapitulation.
Thus, when the flyers in each collections are tagged with 1] attempt; 2] try again; 3] do something else; 4] return with a new perspective; 5] unlearn, these are also the names of the operation, or job, of each flyer. Each flyer has a job in recapitulating a topic, or a daily even, and recapitulate the preceding flyer completeing a full cycle at #05.
The categories used for the 5 successive «recaps» are based on the notions of: 1] sketching/drawing [attempt]; 2] failure in Samuel Beckett’s Worstward Ho [try again]; 3] othering in Robert Filliou's fluxus [do something else]; 4] of coupling in Deuleuze and Guattari’s rhizômatics [return with a new perspective]; 5] intention [unlearn].
As the reader will notice, there are 5 collections of the 5-groups iterated by applying this method. Which, of course, is an invitation to the reader to tag the collections ac- cording to the same system as is used on the flyers individually. The dividers in the compendium have been included in order to facilitate such an experimental read.
The background for this suggestion lies in the traditional invitation of an archive, which is to ask the question—«what have we here?» to allow oneself a first acquaintance with the material. In a second line of inquiry, the invitation is to follow up with the question— «how can it be?» pursuing a critical inquiry and to querying intercepted potentials.
A third line of inquiry—according to the same traditional invitation—is to find some well timed connections between what one finds, trailing individual documents in an archive, and patterns identified in larger compounds. Which is why, for simplicity, it is suggest- ed here that the 5 flyer collections could be tagged in the same way as each flyer.
The 5 collections have been categorised as follows: 1] the weekly flyers from week 40 to to week 44 [attempt]; 2] the flyers from the first week 44 of the PUBspa project [try again]; 3] the flyers from the second week 45 of the project [do something else]; 4] the artistic research series [return with a new perspecive]‚ 5] anthropology [unlearn].
In this way the reader is invited to work with the flyers. But as with Julio Cortázar’s novel Hopscotch the reader allowed—indeed encouraged—to make his/her own con- nections. The volume thereby invites and exploration of what Umberto Eco [1979] has called an open text, and at the same time explore Foucault’s notion of apparatus.
As an open text, the archive is located between the constraints of the apparatus and the empowerment of discourse [Foucault]. Much of the creative and reflective activities of an art school is arguably located in this between-space. In the PUBspa project we located this query in the corridors of the school-facilities, to underscore this grey-zone.
The flyer archive also includes the description of the interventions developed by the students during the 2 weeks, as well as our interaction with members of the technical staff. There were exhibited in a white cube space, during a public event in week 45. [October 2015]
Metadesign can be described as a process of designing change and designing design that seeks syne... more Metadesign can be described as a process of designing change and designing design that seeks synergistic effects. A process was designed for the context of the SRVD (Socially Responsive Design) project with the first year MA Design students at KHiO, in the form of a seminar. The students were given a brief to research potential meeting-spaces for the local inhabitants at Romsås. Through a series of presentations and workshops the students were introduced to an extended notion of design and to develop their roles as designers beyond their traditional expertise. Using a range of metadesign tools the students were encouraged to engage with their initial understandings of, and assumptions on Romsås. Working in transdisciplinary teams they created both their team identity and language as well their collective design process. By staying in an active cycle of reflection and action they were encouraged to search as designers through design to focus their further research and prepare them to formulate a creative brief. The aim of metadesign is to enable emergence and seek opportunities for context-led solutions rather than focus on 'problem solving' and prescribing plans.
Talks by Theodor Barth
ATMOSFAERER -GRUNNLAG FOR EN MATERIALISTISK ESTETIKK theodor.barth@khio.no 28.0912 Innledende 1. ... more ATMOSFAERER -GRUNNLAG FOR EN MATERIALISTISK ESTETIKK theodor.barth@khio.no 28.0912 Innledende 1. Bestillingen jeg har fått av Holger er at jeg skal dra opp et spor som-med utgangspunkt i Gernot Boehmes atmosfaerebegrep-kan danne et erfaringsnaert grunnlag for en materialistisk estetikk. 2. Det jeg mener med å dra opp et spor er at dere skal sitte igjen med et materiale-etter forelesningen-som er relevant også i forhold til kunstneriske valg. Det er forutsetningen for at en estetikk kan kunne kalles materialistisk. 3. Et, etter hvert, svaert vanlig kategorimistak er at man setter et likhetstegn mellom estetikk og kunstneriske valg: jeg vil argumentere for at det slett ikke er gitt at vi kan slå de to i hartkorn. Ikke uten videre. 4. I utgangspunktet definerer jeg estetikk som laeren om det skjønne-altså en teori med utgangspunkt i filosofiske og snarere enn i kunstneriske forutsetninger-som også er teorien om hva man kan laere gjennom sansene. 5. Dette er slike ting som den greske antikkens to store filosofer-Platon og Aristoteles-var opptatt av: hva er det vi kan laere om det sanne og det ene gjennom oppfattelsen av skjønnhet, og også hvordan. 6. Med opplysningsfilosofien til Kant blir estetikken tematisert i forhold til hver enkelt av oss: subjektets møte med objektet. Mange vil hevde at dette gir en bestemt inngang til oppfattelsen og verdsettingen av kunstarbeid. 7. I Bourdieu's sosiologiske estetikk-som er en kritikk av Kant-får vi f.eks. en inngang til hvordan det Kant definerer som den enkelte, nok er en temmelig borgerlig konstruksjon. Estetikk har noe med gruppe og tilhørighet å gjøre. 8. Estetikken-nå definert som laeren om det skjønne i forskjellige folks øyne-er praktisk, språklig og ikke minst kroppslig konstituert. Dette er f.eks. ganske tydelig når det gjelder subkulturer: det er miljøet som bestemmer hva som er vakkert. 9. Dick Hebdige har f.eks. skrevet en veldig kjent bok om subkulturer i England som tar for seg estetikken med utgangspunkt i gruppen, eller det kulturelle miljøet, og dens etniske identitet. 10. Men det finnes også andre tilnaerminger til dette, som f.eks. er mer 2. Det vi kanskje kan diskutere etter forelesningen er om estetikken til Gernot
Det 3. rommet-kunstmottak i stille sone Nicolas Bourriauds avleggere-opptak og avspillinger i den... more Det 3. rommet-kunstmottak i stille sone Nicolas Bourriauds avleggere-opptak og avspillinger i den reaktiverte utstillingsmaskinen * FØRSTE DEL
•Slide 3: Quest & Queries •Slide 4: Dummy Document •Slide 5: Presentation of Mickey (plot) •Slide... more •Slide 3: Quest & Queries •Slide 4: Dummy Document •Slide 5: Presentation of Mickey (plot) •Slide 6: Mickey's problem •Slide 7: Mickey's question •Slides 8-15: Storm Room Design [story board, Slide 9: pilot objects] •Slides 16-20: Storm Room Execution (Algorithm) •Slide 21: Summary -The Storm Room as an Executable Procedure •Slide 22: Sequences & Con-Sequences •Slide 23: Scaling Up/Down •Slide 24: The Homing Model as a Compact Space •Slide 25: Bibliography
1 -I met Camilla Eeg Tverrbakk at the Sensuous Knowledge conference, organised by our colleagues ... more 1 -I met Camilla Eeg Tverrbakk at the Sensuous Knowledge conference, organised by our colleagues in Bergen (KHiB), in September 2009. In the course of two rainy days on the Norwegian West Coast -at Solstrand Hotel -we found that were were engaged in projects with a certain number of overlaps: Camilla related her early experiences from the MSM project, and I related our plans for a project in SRVD at Romsås -in the Oslo suburb -which was still in the pipeline at that time.
Posters by Theodor Barth
Monday 10th through Friday 14th September (week 37, 2007), the Oslo National Academy of the Arts ... more Monday 10th through Friday 14th September (week 37, 2007), the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO) -the Design Faculty -launched a project on experimental use of a community-portal, in a week traditionally devoted to the integration of BA-freshmen and first year MA-students. At Dean Dori Gislason's initiative, it was decided that Social Networks and the Use of Digital Networks (SNUDN) was to be the theme of the week. During this week, all the students from the 3-year BA-course and the first year MA worked together in groups put together by Magnhild Sygnestveit (MA), who graduated from KHiO Design in the spring (2007), with a trans-disciplinary project in fashion-and graphic-design. KHiO Design offers specialisation in three different disciplines: costume & fashion, interior & furniture and visual communication. As a crafts school KHiO Design has a larger ratio of teachers/student than in universities and colleges. Lectures are often given with a practical relevance to ongoing and emerging activities. During the launch of this year's Faculty Week (henceforth SNUDN) Per Gunnar Tverbakk (KHiO) gave a key-note lecture on relational aesthetics, that primed the students on a method of working with art, in which the users become involved and inscribed into the art-work (Bourriaud, 2002).
portfolio by Theodor Barth
•Slide 3: Quest & Queries •Slide 4: Dummy Document •Slide 5: Presentation of Mickey (plot) •Slide... more •Slide 3: Quest & Queries •Slide 4: Dummy Document •Slide 5: Presentation of Mickey (plot) •Slide 6: Mickey's problem •Slide 7: Mickey's question •Slides 8-15: Storm Room Design [story board, Slide 9: pilot objects] •Slides 16-20: Storm Room Execution (Algorithm) •Slide 21: Summary -The Storm Room as an Executable Procedure •Slide 22: Sequences & Con-Sequences •Slide 23: Scaling Up/Down •Slide 24: The Homing Model as a Compact Space •Slide 25: Bibliography
Vision for Design (Commissioned) by Theodor Barth
FormAkademisk, Volume 11, No 3, 2018
Drawing as Performance-The Greenroom: A New Perspective on Empowerment through Education. The obj... more Drawing as Performance-The Greenroom: A New Perspective on Empowerment through Education. The objective of the present article is to rework and radically reframe a case study on drawing presented at the E&PDE conference, hosted by OsloMet in the early autumn of 2017. The case study was experimental-involving a drawer, a furniture designer, an MA student (at the time) and an anthropologist. The present article ventures to draw certain learning outcomes from the experiment. These are presently relevant in the context of the heritage of a drawing school founded in 1818 and in the wake of the current activities in artistic research (AR) at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO). The focus is on the educational aspects of 'doing research'. The article queries the relation between drawing, writing and field research in the history of the school and currently in AR. Continue reading on page 44. Når tilskueren tegner-Minnehandlinger og formidling av sensitive emner i det 21. århundre. Etter 2. verdenskrig har vitnebeskrivelser og fotografier dominert spredningen av kunnskap om holocaust. Bakgrunnen for artikkelen er utfordringer rundt formidling av disse hendelsene i vår tid. Innledningsvis poengteres viktig-heten av å opprettholde formidling av holocaust. Teksten henter eksempler fra resepsjonsteori, og etterspør nye måter å fremme tilskuerens aktive engasjement. Den historiske bakgrunnen forklares. Gjennom en serie workshoper utprøves en fenomenologisk tilnaerming gjennom tegning for å minnes ofre av holocaust. Tre eksempler fra workshopene viser ulike deltakeres tilnaerming, samt mulige utfordringer. Resultater av workshopene, observasjoner og tilbakemeldinger dis-kuteres underveis. Artikkelen vil ta opp utfordringer ved prosjektet og mulige feilkilder man kan støte på. Observasjoner av og tilbakemeldinger fra deltakerne i workshopene ser ut til å bekrefte at en innpakket stein med et nummer fungerte forløsende for flertallet fra posisjonen som passiv betrakter til aktiv, etterforskende tegner. Les mer på side 38. Hvordan øke bevisstheten om den førspråklige dimensjonen av det kroppslige naervaeret i tegning? I tillegg til dialogen som organismen fører med den ytre verden ved hjelp sansene, finnes det under tegneprosessen en uartikulert førspråklig kobling mot de stimuli, som kommer fra den «ikke synlige» indre fornemmende kroppen. Forskningsspørsmålet jeg har valgt å arbeide med i artikkelen er: Hvordan øke bevisstheten om den førspråklige dimensjonen av det kroppslige naervaeret i tegning? Dette under-søkes i dialog med Merleau-Ponty sin tenkning rundt kroppsfenomenologi, Derrida sitt syn på teg-neren som blind, psykolog Stern sin tenkning om vitalitetsaffekt. Likeledes inspirasjon fra forskere som Petitmengin med sin mikrofenomenologiske metode, Berger sin pedagogiske tenkning og studier av kroppens rolle i vitenskapelig forskning og ulike forfattere innen kroppskognisjonsteori som frem-hever betydningen av det førspråklige i tenkning. Forskningsspørsmålet vil også bli belyst ut fra min erfaring som kunstner og som tegnelaerer på Institutt for landskapstegning ved NMBU. Les mer på side 23. Participation in Hybrid Sketching. In the age of digitalisation, the role of the sketch has taken new forms, but it still works as a mediator between people who work to create something together. There is, however, a lack of knowledge about how the sketch can be used as a strategy to increase participation and collaboration in creative processes. Participation in various types of sketching was explored through a case study with a participatory design approach in a public art project for a health centre. The study demonstrated how hybrid materialisations of a sketch have value as a communicative medium. Essential concepts emerged from collaborative learning in fieldwork that created shared understanding based on drawing experiments. The concepts contribute to a typology of hybrid sketches used as creativity skills in the expanded field of art. Continue reading on page 34. Striper-sett i lys av Schillers ideer om menneskets grunn-drifter i form. Striper blir i denne studien undersøkt gjennom Friedrich Schillers konsepter om menneskets tre grunndrifter i form; formdrift, stoffdrift og lekedrift. Schillers teoretiske begreper brukes til å fokusere på forskning om form i forhold til menneskets trang til, og ønske om, å forme. Gjennom å vise konkrete eksempler av striper som er materialisert på ulike måter i kunst og design blir striper utvidet som typologi med å vise eksempler på sammenbindende striper, monomane striper, striper som tidsakser, striper og materialitet, trafikale striper, markerende striper, merkevare-striper, flettede striper, romskapende striper, striper som optiske illusjoner, organiske striper, hybride striper og likeverdige striper. Studien viser sammenheng fra estetisk praksis til mønsterdannelser i kvalitative forskningsmetoder. Studien viser hvordan Schillers begreper kan vaere relevante for å skape økt forståelse for verdien av estetiske undersøkelser. Les mer på side 29. Tegneundervisning og (poly)tekniske idealer-europeisk utvikling i norske forhold. Tegneskolen i Christiania ble opprettet i 1818. I undervisningen stod tegneopplaering sentralt. Fra oppstarten i 1818 var dette etter modell fra de euro-peiske kunstakademiene. Dette endret seg mot slutten av 1800-tallet, i takt med den teknologiske utviklingen i Europa som satte nye krav til tegnefaget. Idealene ble hentet fra École Polytechnique i Paris. Les mer på side 8. Experimental Psychology and Visual Artwork: Notes from the Laboratory. This article explores ways in which modern experimental psychology can provide information about aspects of the processes involved in the creation of visual art. Many areas of research in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive neuropsychology yield information that can be used to develop techniques to benefit the production of art. Several phenomena are discussed to provide a comprehensive perspective on the psychological, behavioural and physiological processes that influence the creation of artwork. Continue reading on page 19. Modelling as a Foundation for Creativity. The overall setting around this investigation is the writing of a PhD thesis 'To see the visually controlled' (Frisch, 2010), where my aim was to document, describe, analyse, compare and theorise formal (teacher-initiated) and informal (children-initiated) visually controlled drawings, also called modelling drawing processes, among 9-12-year-olds. The modernist narrative in art education presented by Wilson (2004) claims that modelling in drawing among children is uncreative. My investigation shows how creative processes can be detected by using Vygotsky's creativity theory and Kaufmann and Beghetto's (2009) 4c creativity model within a sociocultural theoretical tradition. The acts of creative processes done by moving modelled elements in a drawing around has not been thoroughly seen as a central strategy in children´s drawing processes. This article is an attempt to shed light on these processes often found when looking at children's informal drawing processes. The importance of these 'shifting-around' processes are not always regarded as valuable and related to both modelling and creativity. The relation between modelling in drawing and creativity as part of children´s drawing learning is explored in this article. Continue reading on page 15. Begynnaropplaering i teikning-ein analyse av teiknemetodar. Artikkelen har begynnar-opplaering i teikning som tema. Ved å studere fagstoff om teikneopplaering nytta ved norske grunnskulelaerarutdanningar, utviklar denne teksten tre ulike teoretiske kategoriar som skildrar teiknemetodiske tilnaermingar. Kategoriane er forma med støtte frå lese-og skriveopplaeringsfeltet og omgrepa analytiske og syntetiske tilnaermingar, samt kunnskapsteoretiske og laeringsteoretiske posisjonar. I tillegg blir omgrepet progresjon ved Ralph Tyler (1948) nytta for å utdjupe det som kjem fram. Bidraget er meint å vere ein forsiktig start på å utvikle ei teikneteoretisk plattform til støtte for dei institusjonane som utdannar laerarar for dei minste i skulen. Les mer på side 10. Nøkkelord. Tegneundervisning, kunstakademi, École Polytechnique, geometrisk og deskriptiv tegning, tegnemetode, Kunst og håndverk, begynneropplaering, analytisk tilnaerming, syntetisk tilnaerming, fenomenologisk inngang, vertikale og horisontale forhold ved progresjon, lese-og skriveopplaering, laeringsteori, collaborative learning, participatory design, artistic research, drawing in the expanded field, management of creative processes,
Using the visual arts (illustrations, drawings, sketches, and craft such as pottery, carving, or ... more Using the visual arts (illustrations, drawings, sketches, and craft such as pottery, carving, or printmaking) enables students to gain better eye-hand coordination, visual representation skills, communicate ideas, and deeper understanding of the process of discovery. Each of these areas contributes to the development of thinking, creating, problem solving and expressing thoughts through symbols.» [«Design anthropology does not place separate emphasis on values, or design, or experience, which are the domains of philosophy, academic design research, and psychology, respectively. Rather, design anthropology focuses on the interconnecting threads among all three, requiring hybrid practices. The outcomes of design anthropology include statements providing some deeper understanding of human nature as well as designed communications, products, and experiences.» [Dori Tunstall, http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/tt_tunstall.html]
Thesis by Theodor Barth
Articles by Theodor Barth
"a guest + a host = a ghost" 1 I boken Estetikkens politikk (2000) tar Jacques Rancière for seg f... more "a guest + a host = a ghost" 1 I boken Estetikkens politikk (2000) tar Jacques Rancière for seg fordelingen av det sansbare: til dette temaet knytter det seg et tvetydighet, som også på norsk er gjenspeilt vårt begrep for hva som er ʻdeltʼ. En delt opplevelse kan vaere 1) felles -f.eks. med utgangspunkt i folkeansamlinger -eller 2) vanlig i betydningen utbredt, alminnelig, eller med en statistisk høy forekomst. Ofte slås disse to betydningene i hartkorn. Her inviterer Rancière til en nyansering: offentlige møteplasser er samlingssteder som danner det direkte utgangspunktet for våre erfaringer av fellesskapet, mens det vanlige, eller utbredte, har utgangspunkt i ting vi gjør hver for oss, i privatlivets hverdagslige omgivelser. Det siste er noe vi deler som medlemmer av en kultur, om det så er som medlemmer av en global konsumentkultur. Møteplassene er derimot noe vi deler som politiske vesener: det her måten vi lever på fremstår som livsformer -som det finnes alternativer til, som diskuteres og er gjenstand for kontroverser. Ifølge Irit Rogoff (2009) finnes det i dag 146 biennaler på verdensbasis, og i kjølvannet til biennaler kan det oppstå almenninger med differensierte funksjoner. Momentumdesign er et eksempel på det siste. Som kritiske praksiser har moderne kunst-og design inngått på følgende måte i delingen av det sansbare: mens den moderne kunsten stilte seg kritisk til samtidens livsformer -og selv representerte en alternativ livsformpåtok moderne design seg oppgaven å bringe alternativene hjem til folk (jf. Bauhaus, De Stijl osv. ) 2 . Derav den kritiske overgangen fra 1) livsform til 2) livsstil via kommersialisering. Det oppstod en varegjøring av den modernistiske kritikken, fordi kunst og design ble adskilt snarere enn forbundet av det kommersielle mellomleddet. 1 1 Ved åpningen av William/Bill Copleyʼs utstilling i 1953, trakterte Marcel Duchamp med drops som var pakket inn i sølvpapir med denne påskriften (og signert Marcel Duchamp). 2 Leseren bes merke seg at dette skillet var kontroversielt og langt fra en selvfølge innenfor f.eks. Bauhaus -som hadde røtter i den russiske produktivismen -og manifesterte seg i form av interne spenninger under skolens ulike ledere. I produktivismen -som var en avlegger av den russiske konstruktivismen -var det nettopp et poeng å ikke skille mellom kunst og design: gruppen var representert v/b.a. Alexel Gan, Alexander Rodschenko, Varvara Stepanova, Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Liobov Popova; den distanserte seg fra konstruktivister som Naum Gabo og utforskningen av abstrakt rom og rytme. A B
The Complex Adaptive Systems View of the World 22
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Books by Theodor Barth
Artistic Practices and Archaeological Research aims to expand the field of archaeological research with an anthropological understanding of practices which include artistic methods. The project has come about through a collaborative venture between Dragoş Gheorghiu (archaeologist and professional visual artist) and Theodor Barth (anthropologist).
This anthology contains articles from professional archaeologists, artists and designers. The contributions cover a scale ranging from theoretical reflections on pre-existing archaeological finds/documentation, to reflective field-practices where acts of ‘making’ are used to interface with the site. These acts feature a manufacturing range from ceramics, painting, drawing, type-setting and augmented reality (AR). The scope of the anthology – as a book or edited whole – has accordingly been to determine a comparative approach resulting in an identifiable set of common concerns.
Accordingly, the book proceeds from a comparative approach to research ontologies, extending the experimental ventures of the contributors, to the hatching of artistic propositions that demonstrably overlap with academic research traditions, of epistemic claims in the making. This comparative approach relies on the notion of transposition: that is an idea of the makeshift relocation of methodological issues – research ontologies at the brink of epistemic claims – and accumulates depth from one article to the next as the reader makes her way through the volume.
However, instead of proposing a set method, the book offers a lighter touch in highlighting the role of operators between research and writing, rather entailing a duplication of practice, in moving from artistic ideas to epistemic claims. This, in the lingo of artistic research, is known as exposition. Emphasising the construct of the ‘learning theatre’ the volume provides a support structure for the contributions to book-project, in the tradition of viewing from natural history. The contributions are hands-on and concrete, while building an agenda for a broader contemporary archaeological discussion.
http://archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={BAAF7F21-9F73-4A38-AACC-AD0DD3A5B31C}
THE ANTHROPOGENIC IMAGINATION:
A SYNOPTIC VIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGNS IN THE AESTHETICS OF EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Reports by Theodor Barth
Nevertheless, the flyers were written at a regular pace—1/week in the first series, in preparation of the event, and 1/day during the project-period—and with the legal de- posit as a regulatory idea: i.e., that everything published is automatically deposited in an archive, to be publicly available for future consultation, study and analysis.
In this sense the present volume constitutes a project archive published—and made available—as a compendium. However, the reader should be aware that the flyers are developed according to a method in which the flyers become bundled in small collec- tions, each containing 5 flyers. Featuring 5 different concepts of recapitulation.
Thus, when the flyers in each collections are tagged with 1] attempt; 2] try again; 3] do something else; 4] return with a new perspective; 5] unlearn, these are also the names of the operation, or job, of each flyer. Each flyer has a job in recapitulating a topic, or a daily even, and recapitulate the preceding flyer completeing a full cycle at #05.
The categories used for the 5 successive «recaps» are based on the notions of: 1] sketching/drawing [attempt]; 2] failure in Samuel Beckett’s Worstward Ho [try again]; 3] othering in Robert Filliou's fluxus [do something else]; 4] of coupling in Deuleuze and Guattari’s rhizômatics [return with a new perspective]; 5] intention [unlearn].
As the reader will notice, there are 5 collections of the 5-groups iterated by applying this method. Which, of course, is an invitation to the reader to tag the collections ac- cording to the same system as is used on the flyers individually. The dividers in the compendium have been included in order to facilitate such an experimental read.
The background for this suggestion lies in the traditional invitation of an archive, which is to ask the question—«what have we here?» to allow oneself a first acquaintance with the material. In a second line of inquiry, the invitation is to follow up with the question— «how can it be?» pursuing a critical inquiry and to querying intercepted potentials.
A third line of inquiry—according to the same traditional invitation—is to find some well timed connections between what one finds, trailing individual documents in an archive, and patterns identified in larger compounds. Which is why, for simplicity, it is suggest- ed here that the 5 flyer collections could be tagged in the same way as each flyer.
The 5 collections have been categorised as follows: 1] the weekly flyers from week 40 to to week 44 [attempt]; 2] the flyers from the first week 44 of the PUBspa project [try again]; 3] the flyers from the second week 45 of the project [do something else]; 4] the artistic research series [return with a new perspecive]‚ 5] anthropology [unlearn].
In this way the reader is invited to work with the flyers. But as with Julio Cortázar’s novel Hopscotch the reader allowed—indeed encouraged—to make his/her own con- nections. The volume thereby invites and exploration of what Umberto Eco [1979] has called an open text, and at the same time explore Foucault’s notion of apparatus.
As an open text, the archive is located between the constraints of the apparatus and the empowerment of discourse [Foucault]. Much of the creative and reflective activities of an art school is arguably located in this between-space. In the PUBspa project we located this query in the corridors of the school-facilities, to underscore this grey-zone.
The flyer archive also includes the description of the interventions developed by the students during the 2 weeks, as well as our interaction with members of the technical staff. There were exhibited in a white cube space, during a public event in week 45. [October 2015]
Talks by Theodor Barth
Posters by Theodor Barth
portfolio by Theodor Barth
Vision for Design (Commissioned) by Theodor Barth
Thesis by Theodor Barth
Articles by Theodor Barth