Skin as a Holder of Memory:
An archiving methodology
This project aims to preserve rituals as a tool to collect indigenous knowledge, providing context and explanations for artefacts, site modifications, and evidence supporting cultural practices being used scientifically. Using The Five skins of Man by Hundertwasser as an inspiration, a drawing methodology that is both performative and forensic in nature, adopting the role of a Scientific Experimenter has been developed. This role allows one to explore materiality through conducting experiments with elements important in specific rituals such as Blood, Soil, and Herbs. Through the re-enactment of this ritual and data collection, I employ a method of sampling and analysis through a series of soil tests, blood splatter analysis on artificial skins and through elixir combinations in the format of a herbarium, analysing their interactions with the three skin conditions I have identified for this ritual which are the blood’s interaction with: – skin of the body which is interpreted as an intimate scale, at 1:1 – skin of dress, which may be translated to a wall surface – and skin of the earth which is a translated to a ground condition. – and the tactics used in my drawings have given rise to ways in which I can approach measurement and scale in my proposition. The tactics being used as part of the research are as follows: Line drawing, pouring, rubbing, re-enacting. The rules extracted from these tactics are of measurement, time, movement, sensory and collection of scientific data. The architectural proposition intends on serving as “ skin as a holder of memory” for the rituals being studied.
