Making Worlds with Artists & Archaeologists

This talk reflects an engaged, creative, political exploration of digital methods for archaeological worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is a concept that has been used to describe the creation of immersive landscapes in fiction and games and is deeply resonant with archaeological knowledge construction. I argue for worldbuilding in archaeology as a creative intervention that encourages an exploration of archaeological data throughout the process of creation, interpretation and dissemination to create past worlds, shaped through community storytelling. Through the examples of Çatalhöyük in Second Life, Other Eyes and the Avebury Papers projects, I explore a playful practice that closely interrogates reuse of archaeological data and encourages lateral thinking amongst students and other archaeological storytellers.

Colleen is the Senior Lecturer in Digital Archaeology and Heritage in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. She is the Director of the Wolfson Digital Archaeology and Heritage Lab, the MSc in Digital Archaeology and the MSc in Digital Heritage. Colleen has an established international reputation as a leading scholar in critical digital archaeology and heritage. Her research contributions fall in three main areas: 1) bringing digital archaeology into conversation with current theory drawn from feminist, queer, posthuman, and anarchist approaches 2) multisensorial interventions and digital embodiment, with a focus on avatars of past people created from bioarchaeological data 3) issues surrounding craft, enskillment and pedagogy in analogue and digital methods in field archaeology, including photography, videography, and drawing.

The talk is in person, free and open to all. Refreshments will be provided, to register please email: nastassja.simensky.20@ucl.ac.uk

Address:
Slade Art Research Centre
Woburn Square
London, WC1H 0AB

Location:
Google Maps

Location:
https://what3words.com/feels.react.lifted

Access
/ Directions to Space
This space is on Floor 5 of the building which also houses The Warburg Institute. Once you arrive, there are steps leading up to the entrance of the building. Once inside, the Slade Art Research Centre can be accessed via stairs or via the lift going up to Floor 5. (The lift itself is old and requires one to move a steel door to the side before entering and when exiting.) When you arrive on Floor 5, you walk through the full length of the ‘suite’ of spaces (dedicated to MFA Painting) and the spaces dedicated to the Slade Art Research Centre are at the very end of this.

The Archaeology-Heritage-Art Research Network examines the varied ways in which archaeology, heritage and art converge across a broad range of concepts and practices, from artistic interventions in the museum space to archaeological interpretations which deploy and take inspiration from contemporary art.

Image credit: The Avebury Papers