the aesthetics of the archive

Abram (Stern) was through at Stanford last night talking to our Mellon Workshop in New Media about net.art – here is the talk in his wiki – [link] There are many interesting matters for an archaeologist – net.art’s focus on broken bits of computer code, frequent nostalgia for older art forms, reuse of media fragments….

Michael Casson – studio potter – 1925-2003

In class this morning I ran a google search for a picture of Mycenaean marine style pottery, and it turned up an obituary for Michael Casson, the studio potter. He was a giant in the world of craft pottery, a pioneer of 20th century studio ceramics, and a lovely man. He died last December. We…

More on Dennis Oppenheim and the Stanford art collection

Thanks to Colin Renfrew for his reaction to the decision to cancel the acquisition of Dennis Oppenheim’s “Device to root out evil”. [Link] [Link] [Link] (Colin, Lord Renfrew, chaired the committee that designed the art component of the UK National Curriculum (it was a wonderful revolution in arts teaching) and has long been a champion…

archaeology, Classics and contemporary art – the connections

The interest in the decision to cancel a Stanford acquisition of Dennis Oppenheim’s sculpture “Device to root out evil” is growing.[Link] [Link] Yesterday and today the New York Times has been pressing for interviews and comment – Is this censorship? What does the decision say about Stanford’s commitment to the arts? How does the art…