Playing with the archive, piercing the archive

Carson, JR; Miller, RA

Abstract

“…it is the element that rises from the scene, shoots out of it like an arrow, and pierces me.” (Barthes, 1980)

Collaborative artists Carson & Miller’s project with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) utilises their established practice of play. The project explores the physical and conceptual spaces of this museum’s archive. Carson & Miller’s play encompasses a variety of games; between themselves, as well as games that have drawn in visitors and staff. These games have proven to be a fruitful strategy for piercing the archive – its physical presence, its mass and meaning, its availability to the visitor.

These archive games have opened up opportunities for interaction, handling and touch, and it is the notion of touch - in its physical, sensual and intellectual sense, and informed by Barthes’ punctum - that Carson & Miller will investigate in this paper using their work with SNGMA’s Archive.

Citation

Carson, J., & Miller, R. Playing with the archive, piercing the archive. In A. Koval, T. Sirove, & A. Terry (Eds.), Museopathy Revisited : Artist Interventions in Canada and Beyond. McGill-Queen’s University Press. Manuscript submitted for publication

• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2015
• Book Title: Museopathy Revisited : Artist Interventions in Canada and Beyond
• Additional Information: Funders : McGill-Queen’s University Press