Anna Perronnet

Tag: methods of cataloguing

  • Written response 2.0

    Michel Foucault’s Preface to The Order of Things : An Archaeology of the Human Sciences can be read as a catalogue in itself — a text that inventories systems of thought, names, and classifications (Foucault, 1989, pp. xvi–xxvi). Often described as a manifesto of structuralism, it stands against a certain form of humanism by dismantling the idea of a stable human subject and instead proposing the concept of the épistemè, the underlying structure that shapes what a culture considers knowledge at a given time (Foucault, 1989, pp. xvi–xxvi).

    In this sense, the Preface functions both as an introduction and as an inventory itself : Foucault lists his predecessors, maps intellectual lineages, and enumerates the methodological orders that have governed Western knowledge. His text mimics the very mechanisms he analyses. It is rhythmically built from sequences of repetition and accumulation :

    394 commas

    44 semicolons

    41 identifiable lists 

    5 repetitions

    punctuate the pages. 

    Terms such as 

    56 order

    8 classification

    6 enumeration

    6 system

    2 list

    recur like motifs, forming a linguistic taxonomy that mirrors his argument, as if self-referencing the structure of the text.

    The repetition of 

    9 Borges

    4 Chinese encyclopedia

    13 other names Roussel, Keynes, Cantillon, Tournefort, Linnaeus, Buffon, Cuvier, Darwin, Bauzée, Law, Véron de Fortbonnais, Turgot

    underscores the significance of his peers in his demonstration. The ‘Chinese encyclopedia’ whose absurd categories destabilise the reader’s sense of logic. This anecdote becomes Foucault’s demonstration of how every system of order is culturally specific, and how each period invents its own grid of intelligibility.

    By analysing the Preface through an inventory, its writing mechanics are revealed as inseparable from its philosophical argument. Each list, each comma, each repetition is not decorative but conceptual. They build a textual space that mirrors Foucault’s archaeology. The Preface is therefore a structural performance, a ‘list of lists’ where the medium embodies the message. Through the enumeration of names, systems, and methods, Foucault shows that to catalogue is already a constructed worldview.

    Reference :

    • Foucault, M. (1989) ‘Preface’, in The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. London: Routledge. [1966], pp. xvi–xxvi.

  • Weeks 4 & 5

    For this brief I decided to go with the harvard digital collection
    Artemas Ward House and Its Collection which was the House of the first commander-in-chief of the Patriot forces and is nowadays a museum. It was built in the 1720-1730s by his father Nahum Ward and was extended in 1785 and 1830 to accommodate the big family, the farm hands and domestic help.

    The collection includes everyday objects such as clothing, furniture and household items belonging to members of the family.

    The first thing I looked up about Artemas Ward was his family : he had 6 brothers and sisters and had 8 children with his wife.

    My first experimentation was to catalogue the objects as a family tree, by personifying the objects. Deending on who they belonged to, how they look and what they are used to, I entanded to transform all the objects in as part of a big and intricate family tree.

    But because the feedback, I went back to the inquiry, by analysing more in depth the collection itself. Imagine the life they lived from the objects, look more intimately into it, how to reconfigure the set to give it another meaning and purpose.

    After looking at the materials (wood, metal, textiles, porcelain, beads, leather), the occupations and activities these objects are used for, and the gender and age of family members, I decided to focus on the importance of women in the household.

    The house is named after Artemas Ward even if the traces of his existence in the house are rare.

    Women of the house, as caretakers, recorded stories of the family and the neighbourhood which were published in the book Old Times in Shrewsbury Massachusetts, Gleanings from History and Traditions.

    Hardman Quilt, 1885. 
    Made by Mrs. Edwin Hardman.

    Quilt was common in the late 17th century. It was a decorative display of needle work but also a medium of story telling, solidarity and social change. Some of the intricate design could tell stories.

    Ringgold, F. (1991) Picasso’s Studio, The French Collection Part I, #7. Acrylic on canvas with printed and painted fabric border. Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York.

    ‘With The French Collection, I wanted to show that there were Black people in the era of Picasso, Monet and Matisse, to show that African art and Black people had their place in this history.’

    Ringgold, F.

    Patchwork can be used to tell different stories and narratives.

    Looking at the floor plan, I thought it looked a lot like a quilt pattern. So I used it to create my own quilt and tell a story through it.

    The objects in the collection that I redrew with lines to give them a stitched look are placed on the plan to show the importance of women in the house. They are located in the rooms according to the activities they are dedicated to or who they belonged to.