This is a call for a papers to be included in a proposed forum discussion in the "Journal of Contemporary Archaeology." It is based on a conference session "Beautiful Machines/Dead Planet," which was held at the Theoretical Archaeology Group conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: "Convergence," May 23-25, 2014. Our intention in this call for papers is to broaden the scope of the discourse obtained in the original session.
Ariadne's Gift: The Archaeological Record of Industry
The persistence of industrial archaeology within archaeological discourse suggests that industrialization was a very particular event, whose unique features have warranted its own discipline of study. Moreover, this line of inquiry offers something very unique, for it speaks quite directly to an affective connection with machines and technological systems and processes. The convergence of industrial zealotry with environmental catastrophe has resulted in the present aporia of representation (as a form of honoring) without theoretical analysis on one hand, and analysis without praxis on the other. The subject of this forum discussion poses the question: can the industrial sublime be reconciled with what remains of a life sustaining planet? Is it possible to simultaneously honor and critique the accomplishments of industry?
Archaeological investigations of a very particular location and time can result in epiphanies and insights that have qualities of timelessness and universality that cannot be reached through generalizations. The archaeological record of industry has formed a vitally important archive, and its retracing may allow for a possible egress from the labyrinth of the anthropocene.
The goal of this forum discussion is to broadly address the legacy of industrialization and all of its traces in the contemporary and historical archaeological record. Writers, thinkers, archaeologists, artists, historians are all invited to contribute. Some suggested topics are:
Theories of beauty, the seduction of the material, the kinetic, the surface.
Labor and wealth.
Archaeological evidence of: Luddism, escape, technology as religion, machine worship.
The stratigraphy of the archive, the catalogue.
Accounts, stories, research findings from excavations of industrial sites.
The allure of ruins, urban exploration, situationism, psychogeography.
Archaeological evidence and history of re-use, adaptation.
The machine/garden utopia/myth
Please send abstracts of 400 words or less to "[log in to unmask]" by January 15, 2016.
Cordially,
Jeff Benjamin
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