Family Ties, In Progress, January 2012

Looking forward to Family Ties: Recollection and Representation and getting this chance to develop discussion further from @NancyProctor’s Connecting the Dots back in September… I have been thinking on how the transition of the family photograph, from physical to digital artefact, arguably allows a certain generosity on the part of the collaborator towards the artist. The exchange, however, also raises questions of authorship, in practical, aesthetic and philosophical senses. I want to consider the digital artefact as a form of ‘gift,’ a notion that has been investigated by across the disciplines of anthropology and material culture (Mauss, Levi-Strauss, Hyde, Purbrick). This ‘gift’ carries ethical and political responsibilities directly connected to a living subject and family memory. Currently reading the very insightful The ‘do it yourself artwork’ edited by Anna Dezeuze….

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