Illustrating Object Biographies

Illustrating Object Biographies

Dr. Stuart Dunnstuart.dunn@kcl.ac.uk@StuartDunnCeRch

The notion of biography is one that leads us to think comparatively about the accumulation of meaning in objects and the changing effects these have on people and events. This central thread of comparison however makes the variety od relationships between people and things in different cultural contexts even more apparent.

Gosden C. and Y. Marshall. 1999

Object biographies

Image source: http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/rpr/index.php/objectbiographies/

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Chaîne opératoire

Chaîne opératoire André Leroi-Gourhan, 2006

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• ‘Life history’ approach

• Biographical approach

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• Static objects (e.g. monuments, buildings)

•Moveable objects (e.g. artefacts)

Cretan

Late Minoan

Late Minoan IB

Marine Style

Octopus

Date – more ambiguousLBA – ca. 1500-1450 BC

Pilgrim flask

Repair history

Palaikastro

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Iconic images…

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Image source: Frank Anderson, https://www.flickr.com

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Image source: www.heraclitanfire.net

“The Sacred Made Real”

“Digital repatriation”

Image source: http://www.mhm.ucl.ac.uk/mhm-research/western-solomon-islands-war-canoe.php

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Image source: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/ElginMarbles.html

The Parthenon

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The Parthenon

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The Parthenon

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Image source: W. St Clair, ‘Lord Elgin and the Marbles’, 1998

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Image source: W. St Clair, ‘Lord Elgin and the Marbles’, 1998

Images = objects = connections

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Biography of a bridgehead

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Some conclusionsObject biography can allow us to think in greater depth about objects…

…BUT they implicitly enforce textual narrative structures…

..SO imagery is essential…

…BUT ONLY IF IT IS PUBLISHED DIGITALLY!