TAG-On-Sea: Bournemouth hosts the 2013 conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group

Last week I attended the 35th annual TAG conference, held over three days in Bournemouth University. I was presenting a research poster (below) which introduces my PhD research and outlines my ongoing practice-based enquiry.

My Poster for TAG-On-Sea 2013 (click for pdf)

The poster focused on the theoretical concerns that aerial photography and computer generated imagery raise, such as the danger of dehumanisation and detachment from the lived experience of built heritage. Examples of my visual work included high and low aerial photography as well as a still from my animated CGI film "Jarlshof".

The poster survived the 500 mile journey to Bournemouth!

Highlights from the conference included a session on "Researching Audiences in Archaeology"organised by Donald Henson and Chiara Bonacchi from the Centre for Audio-Visual Study and Practice in Archaeology, UCL, where the problematic area of audience research was discussed.

Bournemouth seafront and pier during a brief period of sunshine.

The visualisation session, entitled "Seeing, Thinking, Doing: Visualisation as knowledge Creation", featured some fantastic experimental projects including a talk by Mhairi Maxwell on the "Creative Spirit" exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. Art-practice and Archaeological collaborations were also discussed during the session "Archaeology with Art: Space, Context, Fabrication and Gesture". Another highlight was a session re-evaluating the idea of "Taskscapes", opened by Tim Ingold (below) who first introduced the term in his 1993 paper "The Temporality of the Landscape".

Tim Ingold exploring the evolution of the idea of "Taskscape".

My first experience of TAG was of an relaxed and discursive environment that I look forward to catching up with again. Over just three days I have a host of new ideas and avenues to pursue, as well as new reflections on my work so far.