TERROIR DIG 3000
Terroir Dig 3000, imagine an archaeological site in 976 years from now. What are the things an archaeologist might find unearthing this dig? Possibly an skeleton of a male with a set of headphones over his skull, there are other objects such as musical instruments, mobile phones, gym weights, broken bicycle frames, an skull of a long-horn cow among other objects.
This is the 30th Century, a rooftop of the 20th C. was found. I have to describe and explain a building, the upper storey of which was erected in the 19th C. the ground floor dates from the 16th C. and a careful examination of the masonry discloses the fact that it was reconstructed from a dwelling-tower from the 11th C. In the cellar we discovered Roman foundation walls and under the cellar a fill-in cave, in the floor of which stone tools are found and remanants of glaciar founa in the leyears below. Inspired by my readings of Geroge Perec, Species of Spaces and other Pieces.
Terroir is a French term used to describe the environmental factors
that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming
practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. My archealogical dig might present soil with interesting and complex compositions which can tell us much of the people who inhabited this ruin. Some of the
Archaeologists speak of this process as 'getting your eye in'... Archaeology is still a profession dominated by drawing still, most diggers do not consider their work 'artistic', and when people speak of the 'creative arts' they rarely mention Archaeology.
The creativity of Archaeology works though an established set of practices; practices that combine digging and drawing so that they can hardly be separated, practices that allow us to imagine past worlds but in this case a hypothetical future presence or scenario. What king of 'eye' is that we archaeologists 'get in'? How are we 'creative'? Take a closer look at how we draw.
Readings: Helen Wickstead in Drawing Archaeology (2008).
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