MEDIA AND THE ARCHIVE: Motions and Transformations

The Affective Archive

Header image: Allyson Mitchell, "A Girl's Journey Into the Well of Forbidden Knowledge" installation (2010). http://www.allysonmitchell.com/html/girls_journey.html

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In An Archive of Feelings, Ann Cvetkovich describes such an "archive of feelings" as

an exploration of cultural texts as repositories of feelings and emotions, which are encoded not only in the content of the texts themselves but in the practices that surround their production and reception. 

This unit explores the archive through its affective layers of meaning-making and knowledge production. How are feeling, sense, and emotion archived? How does the affective get displayed not only through the archive's content, but also in the ways the archives are made, produced, and shared? What intersections can we find with Diana Taylor's notion of "the archive and the repertoire"? 

We will think about the importance of the affective as something that usually gets left out of traditional notions of the archive, and explore the use of soundscapes, images, narrative, etc. in achieving a rich, multimedia, and multi-sensory form of knowledge production in the archive.  

Readings/Viewings

Ann Cvetkovich with Allyson Mitchell, "A Girl's Journey Into the Well of Forbidden Knowledge"


The Lesbian Herstory Archives: http://www.lesbianherstoryarchives.org/

Golan Levin, Kamal Nigam, Jonathan Feinberg, The Dumpster

Recommended: Erik Loyer, The Knotted Line, Strange Rain, Public Secrets

Further Reflections

Subjectivity and Interactivity in the Archive by Kevin Tian

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  1. Key Quotes

    "She joins a younger generation of lesbian artists who have been not only using the archive for inspiration but making art as a way of making an activist archive" (605).

    In regards to "Deep Lez": "It is taking the most relevant and capable ideas and using them as tools to create new ways of thinking, while still clinging to more radical politics that have already happened but definitely aren’t over yet" (607).

    "[The titles] also suggest the passion inspired by the Lesbian Herstory Archives as a repository of not just books but lesbian lives" (603).

    "Far from being superficial, this decorative surface enhances the meaning of the books and suggests that the visual environment of libraries, both public and private, is central to their appeal. Even when books are not actively read, they add to the atmosphere of a room and constitute an 'archive of feelings' that represents a collector's knowledge, passions, and history" (604).

    "Artists re-creating queer archives to bring them to affective life beyond the closed stacks and to create new publics" (605). 





     

    Thoughts & Reflections

    Cvetkovich describes Mitchell's work as a "cover version" of the Lesbian Herstory Archives -- Mitchell, in effect, is not only re-creating the LHA, but also transforming it into a different thing, an art installation and experience. 

    Cvetkovish also points out that this project is another version of Mitchell's other works that produce "utopian spaces" (603).

    A form of unflattening the archive? 

    What stood out to me in reading and viewing the "Deep Lez" curation was the notion of the “simulated” archive. The library drawn onto the walls was clearly a simulation of a tangible archive or collection of books however the titles and spines of this collection of works added another dimension to the exhibit as also stated on page 604. 

    It is interesting how simply just the titles of curated works can create a unique archive all their own that can create a one of a kind experience for every individual. The covers of the archives send a message that can be interpreted differently than the works themselves. -Heather Duncan

    Discussion Questions

    "Deep Lez can offer alternative ways of imagining the world and who we are" (608).
    Even though though Allyson Mitchell is speaking about a philosophy, can't the same mentality be applied to archives? How can and should archives resonate with the people who interact with them?

    What changes in Mitchell's "cover version" of the Lesbian Herstory Archives? What is gained and lost? What gets transformed?

    How it Mitchell transforming the notion of the Archive (with a capital A) into something larger/different?

    How is Mitchell's project a "utopian space," as Cvetkovich suggests?

  2. Thoughts & Reflections

    How do the multi-layered narrative function in this visualization?​​​ 
    How do sound, image, and text work together in this piece? 
    What is this piece doing affectively?
    What patterns do you see (or not) from the visualizations?
    What role does the interactive nature of the visualization play?
    What social/cultural/political dimensions are highlighted here?

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    Combination of a design that causes reflection next to the real stories of strangers that draw empathy. I can appreciate how well the website is designed and be impressed by the interactive nature, but the moment I read real anecdotes from anonymous voices is the second, for me, that these struggles and injustices become real.

    Does the interface of the line reflect the accessibility of the subject? 










     

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