Aimee Burnett
The world we inhabit is a living archive made up of layers created by each culture, generation and individual; comprised of the remains of times, places and civilizations. These layers form traces of the past and include rubbish which can be elevated to the status of objects of knowledge for its ability to inform the present of the past. Traces of the past become objects of knowledge through the process of archiving; collection, preservation and display; allowing an epistemological system to be formed in which new knowledge is gained through their discourse.
Utilising and adapting processes of the archive I use materials that are commonly thrown away; plastic bags, cigarette ends, books and newspapers; turning them into objects of knowledge to create a system of epistemology.
Objects carry within them knowledge of the time or place they are from. By using the waste products of our culture knowledge can be gained from what is thrown away but is also the most abundant material of our time, therefore the most likely to remain in bulk after humans are gone to tell the story of our culture. By archiving these materials I am investigating civilization through its remains to form an epistemological system in order to understand the past through their remains.
By looking at the present as the past, I manipulate these objects, turning them into artefacts, archived into a contemporary epistemological system as seen by a distant future. The aim of this is to explore the means by which knowledge is obtained and what can be known through objects of knowledge.
Utilising and adapting processes of the archive I use materials that are commonly thrown away; plastic bags, cigarette ends, books and newspapers; turning them into objects of knowledge to create a system of epistemology.
Objects carry within them knowledge of the time or place they are from. By using the waste products of our culture knowledge can be gained from what is thrown away but is also the most abundant material of our time, therefore the most likely to remain in bulk after humans are gone to tell the story of our culture. By archiving these materials I am investigating civilization through its remains to form an epistemological system in order to understand the past through their remains.
By looking at the present as the past, I manipulate these objects, turning them into artefacts, archived into a contemporary epistemological system as seen by a distant future. The aim of this is to explore the means by which knowledge is obtained and what can be known through objects of knowledge.