Holes in the Archive - to fill or to leave, that is the question...

The essay features in an issue of Bright Light dedicated to the idea of the substrate, and began as a paper in one of three symposia exploring the various interpretative investigations of the substrate, and how it impacts on, and informs different practices.

Abstract:
Holes in the archive - to fill or to leave, that is the question facing the researcher. The archive contains holes caused by lack of information. The dilemma of what to do when there is a missing link or a hole in evidence, generates new lines of thinking for knowledge production. Lacking hard facts leads to different research tactics, following hunches, reflexive and critical stock taking, asking questions and undertaking interviews. In conducting this process anecdotes surface. These accounts are often perceived to be trivial and of marginal research interest. In contradistinction, I assert the reverse, these hand-holds conjure the possibility of new animations. Penetrating the substrate or as I prefer 'substrata', is like plummeting the archive. This paper presents case studies from Peter Townsend's editorial archive of Studio International magazine where I have employed tactical and dynamic investigative processes.

About Bright Light 2: Thinking the Substrate

The Bright Light series of publications focusses on the latest debates in the arts and design. Issues such as the environment and technology, as well as socially-engaged practices and identity are looked at through the lens of current arts and design practice. Bright Light provides a way of seeing how practitioners are providing a fresh perspective on key questions facing designers, fine artists, lens based media practitioners, curators, archivists and critical theorists.

Our second issue, Thinking the Substrate, is dedicated to the idea of the substrate. It began with a series of three symposia hosted by the Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon (CCW) Graduate School in Spring 2014, where we thought about what a substrate could be and if the substrate might be an interesting way to speak cross-disciplinarily about practice. This publication lays out some of what we discovered.

Edited by Dr Dan Sturgis, the issue features articles by Simon Morley (Dankook University), Neil Cummings (CCW), Adrian Glew (Tate Britain), Richard Layzell (WCA), Dan Sturgis (CCW), Pia Gottschaller (Courtauld Institute of Art) and Jo Melvin (CCW).

(Source: http://events.arts.ac.uk/event/2015/3/27/Bright-Light-2-Thinking-the-Substrate/)

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