Saturday Archaeology Workshops

2012-02-19T23:31:00.001-08:00

Artefacts, Arts & Craft

Grayson Perry - The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman - Review

I wanted to see this exhibition by artist Grayson Perry at the British Museum, as I had heard good things about it from several sources, including a recommendation from our Arts Award moderator. As an artist who has undertaken an arts residency in a museum myself, I was interested to see how an artist who had won the Turner Prize (2003), had responded to the British Museum’s collections.

Perry was given access to the stores of the British Museum, where he selected a number of artefacts that attracted his attention and piqued his interest. The resulting exhibition comprises a selection of these artefacts paired with artworks in a variety of media, that he has produced in response. The sculptures, ceramics, works on paper and textiles that he created, are all very well made and incorporate text and images that make pointed commentary on the world in which we now live.

The exhibition is organised into four areas coming under the lose grouping of, our dealings with death and remembrance, mapping and pilgrimage, fertility and, life as a journey.

Perry seems to be interested in how much our world is overwhelmed with ‘products’, the amount of things we seem to need for our daily existence in comparison with the times of our ancestors and predecessors. He dramatically shows this in his creation of ‘father’ and ‘mother’ pilgrim figures, made of cast iron and shown carrying an inordinate amount of ‘clobber’ - not usual for those travelling long distances on foot.

I admire his wit and re-working of the craft and tradition of pot-making, using his ceramics to mark events, make comments and made as ‘souvenirs’, but in a contemporary context, though I don’t actually like his aesthetic, I think I feel ‘less is more’... It’s something about the works being over rich, it’s just my opinion, but to me they are over elaborate and lacking balance and beauty, - probably exactly how our image-overwhelmed world should be represented.

Texts with the exhibits come in the form of very personal comments explaining why he chose the artefact and what it means to him. Written as spoken, Grayson Perry has a distinctive voice and it was like having him standing alongside you as you looked at the exhibit, as if he was like a friend accompanying you to the exhibition, sharing an aside.

What’s important I think, is that by putting the British Museum’s items in a art exhibition context, their prime presentation is re-defined (at least temporarily), as cultural objects created by people, rather than artefacts forming part of a national collection. Interestingly, the artefacts don’t loose anything for being exhibited in this way, if anything their inherent power was strengthened next to Perry’s works, by the very simplicity of their forms.

I was looking forward to buying a copy of the exhibition catalogue, my usual souvenir of a ‘pilgrimage’ to an engaging exhibition, but I was disappointed. My impression of the catalogue was of a large book of poorly ‘cut out’ images with bad colour reproduction - it didn’t tempt me at all! If there was another version of the catalogue, I didn’t see it and all the merchandise felt rather ‘thin’; I would have preferred to have seen a well-produced, large image reproduction booklet, showing each of the artefacts paired with their artworks, rather than this over-blown orange-tinged tome.

I enjoyed seeing this personal evocation of meaning, but it didn’t change my life, (I’ve been to exhibitions that have), but it did make me think what artefacts I would choose and it did bring the hidden maker to mind. More importantly, the exhibition that shows art and artefact side by side in a museum, made me think again about our definitions of ‘art’ and ‘craft’, how the meanings are different in museum and in gallery contexts. It also made me question how we see artefacts away from their place of origin, as well as where in fact, contemporary ‘art’ as we know it, has come from.

Susannah

http://bri.mu/r0v6jH

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx

Exhibition closes 26th February, 2012.

2012-02-16T09:58:00.000-08:00

SAW 5 Achieve Their Arts Award

It gives me great pleasure to announce that all 5 SAW Arts Award candidates, achieved their Bronze Arts Award on Saturday 11th February. Very well down to Aidan, Charlie, Jack, John and Oliver for completing the challenge and producing such unusual, exciting and individual portfolios!

2012-02-02T05:25:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 25th October 2011 My trip to Aylesbury, and the Samurai exhibition.

I went to Aylesbury on the 25th of October 2011, we went because of the Samurai exhibition, as I thought it would be useful, as for my project, I am studying medieval Japan and Leather working, and as the Samurai incorporated both into their armour it was a win-win.
I found the Samurai exhibition very interesting, as although we could not take photographs, II drew many of the exhibits. They had a great deal of Japanese artefacts, Including full sets of Samurai armour, Katanas (swords), Kabutos (Helmets), and many more.
The displays were very well laid out, allowing almost unrestricted vision to the cases and their artefacts, and this was good as it allowed me to see all of the artefacts and exhibits.

I liked all of the exhibits, but my favourite was the Katanas, as they had quite a lot of these, and some of them were in pieces, which allowed us to see how they were made up, which I found fascinating. I also learnt a lot about leather armour, and how samurai armour was the first ever example of bullet-proof armour, as it contained a “sandwich” effect of leather-steel-leather.
I also purchased a book, which told me all about the exhibits as well as giving me lots of information on Ancient Japan. This also proved useful, as it had some good information of how the Japanese tanned their leather, as well as how they made it into armour.

Veni, vidi, Pompeii!

2012-01-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

Oliver's review of his visit to the historic Bay of Naples, in October.

Frozen in time.

Last half-term I had a holiday to the Amalfi coast, or the bay of Naples where Pompeii and Herculaneum is. On the first day I visited the very famous Pompeii and was amazed at the quality and quantity of what remained. I thought that, compared to British archaeology was very impressive. The highlight of Pompeii was the incredible bathhouse which was brilliant to see how a bathhouse really looked.

Pompeiian street with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

On the second day we went to the National Museum of Archaeology in Naples. Naples was not a very nice place to say the least ! When we finnaly got to the museum I was a little disappointed. Many of the things I wanted to see, I could not because the Italian way of keeping a museum is very different to a British way. If they want to they just close off a gallery which is really annoying when you have gone there to see specific things.

Naples Museum

But on the third day was the highlight, when we went to Herculaneum. I thought that Herculaneum was alot better than Pompeii because the level of preservation was so much better. The wood was still all there. A olive press, rope and a pair of partition doors still remained from 2000 years ago. It was not as big as Pompeii because they have only excavated less than a quarter of the town.

I really enjoyed my holiday to Pompeii and would suggest it to anyone who wanted to go, but I would not suggest the National Museum of Naples because of the city and the Italian atitude to keeping a museum.

Oliver

Now Yule Be Ready For Christmas

2011-12-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

...If you came to SAW last Saturday!

We did some practical cultural and historical background research - in other words we did lots of Christmassy things!
Wiebke explained what Advent really means and how it's celebrated in some European countries. We made and decorated stockings, pomanders, straw stars and woven paper sweetie bags and then eveyone had a hot Chrismas drink and celebratory food.

Thanks to all Santa's little helpers and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

See you in 2012 - new season dates to follow soon. In the meantime, you might like to look at a few pictures from 2011.

Gallery

All best wishes,
Susannah

Knots and Pongs!

2011-12-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Dyeing and Weaving session at Priory Coutry Park Visitor Centre, led by Chris Dobson.

It's no wonder dyers and tanners used to live on the outskirts of the town! At SAW in November we took a whiff of some of the pongs created by natural dyestuffs and the 'mordants' - natural salts, such as alum, that were used to make the colour permanent - to me, wool soaking in a weld solution smelt a bit like drains and old socks combined!

Chris showed us all the colours you can make from a small number of plants: Weld, a plant with little yellow flowers produces striking yellows through to mild greens; the root of the Madder plant makes deep reds to red-browns; onion skins create a range of warm browns and tans; but what is most magical, is watching as wool which has been soaking in woad solution, is lifted out of the water and turns from a murky green into strong blue.

We all helped Chris to prepare the woad plants by ripping up the leaves by hand

which left us all 'green-fingered'!

Everyone got the chance to create their own dye pot to take home - the longer it's left the stronger the colour - we wait to see who leaves their pot the longest!

Then we got weaving!

Chris showed us examples of different hand looms and 'heads' which twist the threads to make more complicated patterns - some heads are made of wood and some of leather and they come in different shapes with varying numbers of holes.

Most people got themselves in a bit of a tangle trying to understand the deceptively simple craft of 'stick-weaving' - that is using a stick to hold the ends of two colours of wool, in order to hand-weave a braid. It's not as easy as Chris made it look!

On top of all this activity Aidan was filming the session , finding out how everyone was getting on - so we can't wait to see his results.

Despite the knots and pongs, everyone seemed to have a good time, so we say a big 'Thank You' to Chris for all her superb information and for passing on her skills and 'thank you' to Jane and everyone at Priory Country Park for letting us use your facilities and to all the helpers, including 'Jim-the-Camera'.

Next session Saturday, see you there!

Wrapped-up in Paper

2011-12-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Charlie's Frogmore Paper Mill visit Review.

My visit to Frogmore Paper Mill was a very enjoyable and interesting one. I found out lots of information including how they make handmade paper, how old the mill is and what they put in the paper.

In the 1200's the mill was a corn mill called Covent Mill and they only know this from written records. In the 1700's the mill started making paper by hand and then by machine in 1803. They still make handmade paper and this weighs up to 600grams. Paper made by machine weighs 110 - 350 gsm. An approximate calculation shows that they make about 250,000,000 sheets of A4 paper a year.

On our tour we got to see and make handmade paper. First of all they mix minced paper with water and then drain the water away. This mixture is known as 'crumble'. They then get a big tub and add the crumble into it the mixture is then made complete by adding 90% of water. They then get frames that are made out of wire and wood and sift the solution onto them till the whole of the frame is covered. They then sponge the water out and tip the paper mixture onto the mat which is made out of felt. The mat then gets put onto a heater and turns white paper into even whiter paper. You then have to get another mat and leave it there to dry. Your paper is now finished.

Sometimes the mill adds Banana skins, wild flower seeds, denim jeans, petals, Elephant dung and sometimes bank notes that are shredded up into the paper mixture.

LAARC - 2

2011-11-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

Aidan's Review

We recently visited the LAARC in London. I found this trip very good and informative as I had never looked in the stores of a museum before. We saw lots of things such as where they store all their finds and the glass and pottery store. Edward and Sian took us round and explained how they deal with the finds and what records they keep. I was amazed to see a bottle of castor oil from the early 1900s still full of cstor oil! Later in the day we went to the London Museum where we saw many awesome things such as the Savoy elevator from the 1950s and the first Apple computer which was massive compared to their ipad! I really enjoyed the day and hope we can do more visits like this.

LAARC-ing Around - Our visit to the London Archaeological Archives and Research Centre

2011-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Jack's Review

Saturday was an amazing day. We visited LAARC (London Archaeological Archives and Research Centre) as well as going to the Museum of London.

First we had a tour of LAARC by two very enthusiastic guides. This consisted of visit to the artefact stores where in ‘filing cabinets’ thousands (if not millions!) of artefacts from 1972 to the present day. We could not go round all of the archive though as it is the largest archives in Europe!

After this visit we went to the Museum of London. In there we looked around the most of the main museum (not forgetting the shop!). my favourite part was definitely the Roman section - sadly this is being taken away soon.

Digging, Graves and Dyeing!

2011-09-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

STOP PRESS
The new season of Saturday Archaeology Workshops is published here.

If you are interested in graves and dyeing this season should hold some interest for you. We are going to be reviewing our excavation from the summer, learning how to survey and record a site, which happens to be a graveyard and discovering through practical activities about how different people have created and coloured the textiles for their clothes in the past, (very smelly)!

In the meantime, take a look at our Gallery and see just a few of the things we've been up to in the last few years...

Mud pies and boar sausages!

2011-07-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

What a glorious weekend!

On Saturday eight SAW children undertook the challenge of excavating a test area adjacent to a very old boundary ditch in the middle of Priory Country Park in Bedford. Research undertaken previously in Bedford Borough Council's Hiatoric Environment Record, had shown the children that there was evidence, in the form of photogrphs, maps and records of earlier excavations, to indicate that there had been a Roman villa or farmstead nearby under what is now the lake!

Priory Country Park lake, looking south.

The children were very excited at the prospect of conducting their own dig to see if this area remained undisturbed and perhaps held further Roman remains...

The ground was broken early on Saturday morning amid light showers and intermittent sun, but by 9.30 the rain, which varied from downpour to torrent, had set in for the day! Archaeologists, Rangers, SAW staff and mud-plastered children battled-on valiantly, but by 12.30 we beat a retreat to safety, though having discovered some Roman roof tile fragments and some intriguing variations in the ground.

Sunday and 'The Making of Bedford' event.

The weather looked as unpromising as that of the previous day, but with good heart and tremendous help from SAW parents, Albion Archaeologists, Rangers and Education volunteers, we set up three event stalls, a viewing position for the excavation and an Iron Age living history display with cooking food (including boar sausages!), spinning and weaving and a display to mark the roundhouse project. The children looked splendid in the costumes they had made and 'had had made'!

When they were not being Iron Ages dwellers the children resumed the excavation of the boundary ditch site and were rewarded by finding more roof tile, 'St Neot's ware' potsherds, a fragment of a mortarium and what was identified as a flint core.

Everything was recorded on site and the archaeologists are now trying to piece together all the evidence and later the shildren will have to help compile a report of the excavation.

Many thanks to all for a very special weekend.

The Show Will Go On!

2011-07-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

"The completed roundhouse was due to form the centrepiece of the living history contribution to ‘The Making of Bedford’ event, to be held on Sunday 17^th July, involving cooking, spinning & weaving and a range of other crafts. This event will still run, despite recent circumstances.

Cllr Doug McMurdo, portfolio holder for Leisure and Culture, at Bedford Borough Council, said: “Everyone’s passion and enthusiasm for this project is evident as the participants are keen to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and carry on with their planned iron age living history display. I am sure the occasion will continue to be a popular one that generates just as much interest, thanks to the spirit of all those involved.”

The project is part of the national ‘Festival of British Archaeology’ and will host results of an excavation of the burn site and provide a display of the roundhouse construction process - visitors will even get the opportunity to have a go at wattle and daub construction!"

Bedford Borough Council Communications Team - Press Release. 4/7/11

Sad News

2011-07-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

In contrast to the happy faces in the last post, everyone will be less pleased to see that due to the unwelcome attentions of 'persons unknown', our nearly completed 'iron age' roundhouse, has been destroyed by fire today. Somebody lit a fire at the back of the building causing the thatch to catch light, after which the roof and some of the wattle walls had no chance.

We will be consulting as to the best course of action as to whether to rebuild and if so where this can be.

I'm sorry to have to post this news but I hope the people concerned will realise something of the distress they have caused.

Hot Daub Day

2011-06-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Saturday Archaeology Workshops' blog!

A big thanks to everyone who was able to come and help with the roundhouse contruction yesterday - I hope no one got too much sun on the hottest day of the year so far!