Abstract

Is archaeology a science? Is archaeology a humanity? What are the politics of spectatorship and archaeological representation? These initial thoughts form the basis for our archaeological explorations. Within current archaeological discourse, there are a growing number of requests for expressions, which illuminate and expose the interpretive and artistic qualities of presentation and narration. Yet few scholars actively utilise expressive practice to explore these philosophical issues. As such, we feel that this is an opportune time to intervene in the visual and textual discourse by issuing a manifesto for our project, building upon our previous works (e.g. Cochrane and Russell 2007). We call for the development of a critically reflexive practice of visual archaeological expressionism, which seeks to contest traditional modes of thought and action.

Ian Russell & Andrew Cochrane 

Andrew Cochrane is an Associate Lecturer at the School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University. His research interests include human origins, prehistoric Europe, Irish passage tombs, art and visual culture, philosophy and archaeological theory. 

Ian Russell is a postdoctoral researcher with the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin. He directed and curatred the Abhar agus Meon contemporary art exhibition series for the Sixth World Archaeological Congress. His research interests include visual and material culture, contemporary art, intellectual history and archaeological theory. 

Cochrane and Russell are collaborative founders of ‘Visualizing Archaeologies’ and IRAC, two ongoing projects exploring arts practice as a process-focused method of generating innovation in research. More information and images of their work are available at: irac.html and visualizingarchaeologies.html.