Books by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
Throughout the thesis I take symbolic communication and visual metaphors as starting points for d... more Throughout the thesis I take symbolic communication and visual metaphors as starting points for developing a contemporary picture of diverse Craft practices in a small corner of Scotland. As a result, this thesis is both an ethnography of Craft and a craft object, explicitly made to be a theory-laden object of material culture.
Both in its analysis and its subject matter, this thesis aims to question a variety of epistemological regimes found not only in anthropology, but also in the North-East of Scotland. The main argument of this thesis is that in order to understand something about Craft and the experiences of its makers it is important to have an understanding of the ways in which they create that world as meaningful: that is, an understanding of the thirdness (or symbolism) that is an active, generative force in that world. In the following chapters I argue two interwoven points: one, that a stash (collection) is a collection of stash (craft materials) and is also a site of thirdness in which symbolic thought and action are vital. And two: that, as such, stash and the craft world in which it is embedded are well served by an approach to visual anthropology that takes seriously a study of semiotics in which poetics become more than a subject of analysis; poetics are also allowed to develop into a method(ology) of engaging both informants and audience in a meaningful dialogue of knowledge production.
By using images to contextualize ethnographic evidence and by making these previous points not only with words, but also through imagery, I aim to convince the reader of the integrity of my ethnographic analyses as well as that theories of visual anthropology are as useful for analysing anthropological subjects as for communicating ourselves.
Papers by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
Visual Anthropology Review, 2012
Visual Anthropology Review, 2012
Visual Anthropology Review, 2012
This paper draws on my own situation as a visual anthropologist doing doctoral research on craft ... more This paper draws on my own situation as a visual anthropologist doing doctoral research on craft as material culture. My work in the North East of Scotland, based on fieldwork undertaken in 2005-2006, combines art and documentary photography with traditional participant observation. The resulting research approaches craft from theoretical and methodological perspectives situated slightly outside those of trained crafts practitioners. The interesting questions for me do not involve debating categories, but understanding how they work; they’re not about judging the value of Art or Craft, but understanding the social mechanisms that drive their makers.
I ask questions about the role of creativity in vernacular craft, by looking how people synthesize different modes of creative agency, balancing the paradoxes that arise. Then I examine discourses of Art and Craft, femininity, and individualism as cultural categories that pervade Euro-American understandings of the individual craftsperson. The main findings of these questions that there are two modes of creativity operating within Craft, which are embraced differently in the realms of fine and hobby craft. This impacts widely held views of the individual, non-professional craftsperson by informing discourses of femininity and individualism.
In order to explore this topic, I rely on visual based, ethnographic research on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. And, in order to explore my results further, I am planning an exhibition for June - August 2007 in order to share these findings with the communities in which I undertook my research. The goal is to encourage community participation and critique of academic research. Additionally, I have produced a set of art/documentary photographs that I use in my fieldwork as the basis for photo elicitation interviews. A selection of them appears in the paper below.
This ethnographic exploration is born from from my research, as visual anthropologist and photogr... more This ethnographic exploration is born from from my research, as visual anthropologist and photographer, into craft in North-East Scotland. It looks at the ways in which members of craft groups deploy humor, not as a premeditated intention, but rather more fluidly in the course of everyday activities. What emerges is a glimpse into North-East Scotland’s craft world where the ironic and sometimes sarcastic re-branding of mistakes sets the stage for understanding the broader social implications revealed by humorous craft.
Anthropology Today, Jan 1, 2009
Talks by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
Paper attached is in draft form only. Not for citation.
I explore people's experiences of global processes in the North Atlantic and how those experience... more I explore people's experiences of global processes in the North Atlantic and how those experiences manifest themselves in specific approaches to craft economies today. Modernity and tourism are two main parts of these processes, and it is there that the objective and subjective realities of these cultural exchanges combine. They also set the stage for asking two questions:
"How do the abstract idea and the physical reality of craft mediate relationships between North Americans and Scots?" Followed by, "How do global fragmentation, ethnification, and the contemporary search for "roots" affect the way people in Scotland imagine and manipulate their local economies?" The answers rely on ethnographic research focused not on tweeds and tartans, but on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. So, with the use of images from the field, I search for immaterial relationships that crafts mediate between the "Old" and "New World," between ethnographic locality and global process.
A paper presented for the 2013 Shmucksymposium in Zimmerhof; a conference for contemporary jewell... more A paper presented for the 2013 Shmucksymposium in Zimmerhof; a conference for contemporary jewellers from across Europe.
Paper attached is in draft form only. Not for citation.
Exhibitions by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
"Starting from the idea in physics that nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed, the ... more "Starting from the idea in physics that nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed, the Italian artist Magda Milano has invited DynaMode, an international group of performers, to join her in expressing the concept behind her work.
The group will intact with sculptures and the public to re-animate the characters created by the artist for this event.
The core concept is the infusion of the nebulae into the sculptures and performers bodies, and the infusion of their bodies back into the larger nebulae. Through this, the apparently dead bodies reach the totality of the stars to be transformed into new beings, more engaged and a more significant part of another Universe."
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Books by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
Both in its analysis and its subject matter, this thesis aims to question a variety of epistemological regimes found not only in anthropology, but also in the North-East of Scotland. The main argument of this thesis is that in order to understand something about Craft and the experiences of its makers it is important to have an understanding of the ways in which they create that world as meaningful: that is, an understanding of the thirdness (or symbolism) that is an active, generative force in that world. In the following chapters I argue two interwoven points: one, that a stash (collection) is a collection of stash (craft materials) and is also a site of thirdness in which symbolic thought and action are vital. And two: that, as such, stash and the craft world in which it is embedded are well served by an approach to visual anthropology that takes seriously a study of semiotics in which poetics become more than a subject of analysis; poetics are also allowed to develop into a method(ology) of engaging both informants and audience in a meaningful dialogue of knowledge production.
By using images to contextualize ethnographic evidence and by making these previous points not only with words, but also through imagery, I aim to convince the reader of the integrity of my ethnographic analyses as well as that theories of visual anthropology are as useful for analysing anthropological subjects as for communicating ourselves.
Papers by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
I ask questions about the role of creativity in vernacular craft, by looking how people synthesize different modes of creative agency, balancing the paradoxes that arise. Then I examine discourses of Art and Craft, femininity, and individualism as cultural categories that pervade Euro-American understandings of the individual craftsperson. The main findings of these questions that there are two modes of creativity operating within Craft, which are embraced differently in the realms of fine and hobby craft. This impacts widely held views of the individual, non-professional craftsperson by informing discourses of femininity and individualism.
In order to explore this topic, I rely on visual based, ethnographic research on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. And, in order to explore my results further, I am planning an exhibition for June - August 2007 in order to share these findings with the communities in which I undertook my research. The goal is to encourage community participation and critique of academic research. Additionally, I have produced a set of art/documentary photographs that I use in my fieldwork as the basis for photo elicitation interviews. A selection of them appears in the paper below.
Talks by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
"How do the abstract idea and the physical reality of craft mediate relationships between North Americans and Scots?" Followed by, "How do global fragmentation, ethnification, and the contemporary search for "roots" affect the way people in Scotland imagine and manipulate their local economies?" The answers rely on ethnographic research focused not on tweeds and tartans, but on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. So, with the use of images from the field, I search for immaterial relationships that crafts mediate between the "Old" and "New World," between ethnographic locality and global process.
Paper attached is in draft form only. Not for citation.
Exhibitions by Kathryn Lichti-Harriman
The group will intact with sculptures and the public to re-animate the characters created by the artist for this event.
The core concept is the infusion of the nebulae into the sculptures and performers bodies, and the infusion of their bodies back into the larger nebulae. Through this, the apparently dead bodies reach the totality of the stars to be transformed into new beings, more engaged and a more significant part of another Universe."
Both in its analysis and its subject matter, this thesis aims to question a variety of epistemological regimes found not only in anthropology, but also in the North-East of Scotland. The main argument of this thesis is that in order to understand something about Craft and the experiences of its makers it is important to have an understanding of the ways in which they create that world as meaningful: that is, an understanding of the thirdness (or symbolism) that is an active, generative force in that world. In the following chapters I argue two interwoven points: one, that a stash (collection) is a collection of stash (craft materials) and is also a site of thirdness in which symbolic thought and action are vital. And two: that, as such, stash and the craft world in which it is embedded are well served by an approach to visual anthropology that takes seriously a study of semiotics in which poetics become more than a subject of analysis; poetics are also allowed to develop into a method(ology) of engaging both informants and audience in a meaningful dialogue of knowledge production.
By using images to contextualize ethnographic evidence and by making these previous points not only with words, but also through imagery, I aim to convince the reader of the integrity of my ethnographic analyses as well as that theories of visual anthropology are as useful for analysing anthropological subjects as for communicating ourselves.
I ask questions about the role of creativity in vernacular craft, by looking how people synthesize different modes of creative agency, balancing the paradoxes that arise. Then I examine discourses of Art and Craft, femininity, and individualism as cultural categories that pervade Euro-American understandings of the individual craftsperson. The main findings of these questions that there are two modes of creativity operating within Craft, which are embraced differently in the realms of fine and hobby craft. This impacts widely held views of the individual, non-professional craftsperson by informing discourses of femininity and individualism.
In order to explore this topic, I rely on visual based, ethnographic research on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. And, in order to explore my results further, I am planning an exhibition for June - August 2007 in order to share these findings with the communities in which I undertook my research. The goal is to encourage community participation and critique of academic research. Additionally, I have produced a set of art/documentary photographs that I use in my fieldwork as the basis for photo elicitation interviews. A selection of them appears in the paper below.
"How do the abstract idea and the physical reality of craft mediate relationships between North Americans and Scots?" Followed by, "How do global fragmentation, ethnification, and the contemporary search for "roots" affect the way people in Scotland imagine and manipulate their local economies?" The answers rely on ethnographic research focused not on tweeds and tartans, but on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. So, with the use of images from the field, I search for immaterial relationships that crafts mediate between the "Old" and "New World," between ethnographic locality and global process.
Paper attached is in draft form only. Not for citation.
The group will intact with sculptures and the public to re-animate the characters created by the artist for this event.
The core concept is the infusion of the nebulae into the sculptures and performers bodies, and the infusion of their bodies back into the larger nebulae. Through this, the apparently dead bodies reach the totality of the stars to be transformed into new beings, more engaged and a more significant part of another Universe."
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