Substance, Memory, Display: Archaeology and Art (McDonald Institute Monographs)

Contemporary art and modern archaeology are increasingly seen to share much common ground yet their interactions have yet to be fully investigated. This innovative volume explores key themes, including the role of display in art, in the practice of archaeology and in daily life, and the material transformations which underlie the physical reality of the archaeological record as much as the creative processes of the contemporary artist. Prominent practising artists Simon Callery and Antony Gormley provide seminal papers considering the role of materiality and embodiment in their own work, exploring issues that are directly relevant to current archaeological thinking. They are joined by archaeologists actively involved with visual approaches, including Anwen Cooper, Christopher Evans, Steven Mithen, Joshua Pollard, Nicholas Saunders, Aaron Watson and the editorial trio. The book is lavishly illustrated in colour.

Table of Contents

Introduction: art as archaeology and archaeology as art (Colin Renfrew et al); Art for archaeology (Colin Renfrew); Making and display: our aesthetic appreciation of things and objects (Chris Godsen); The art of decay and the transformation of substance (Joshua Pollard); Segsbury Project: art from excavation (Simon Callery); Making space for monuments: notes on the representation of experience (Aaron Watson); The pot, the flint and the bone and House Beautiful (Anwen Cooper et al); Unearthing displacement: surrealism and the 'archaeology' of Paul Nash (Christopher Evans); Art of war: engaging the contested object (Nicholas J Saunders); Art as process (Anthony Gormley); Contemporary Western art and archaeology (Steven Mithen).