The Prologue

So this week we have started the new course called "The Project," with all three teachers; Mr Michie, Miss Stower and Mr Munster. To get the course kick started we have been to Pitt Rivers a museum of "Anthropology and world Archaeology, University of Oxford" but before that… What have we been doing in class?


In class, this week we have had lessons with Mr Michie and Mr Munster, as Miss Stower's lesson was taken up by going to Pitt Rivers. However we have explored the idea of memories with Mr Munster by making and creating a brain storm / mind map of My Life in Sound and My Day in Sound. With Mr Michie we have learnt about what the project need us to fulfil in the unit and what this unit is about. (For more information see "The Project" page of this blog.) Also Mr Michie has taught us how to use blogger and the features it has like widgets, pages, and background / templates.

My Life in Sound and My Day in Sound

As I have said above, for Miss Stower's lesson, we went to the "Pitt Rivers Museum" (for some information see the image below) to study about Anthropological and Archaeological objects and objets d'art. When we got there we met a curator of the museum, who showed us the basic guide and layout of the museum. She gave us a task to find a similar historical item in the museum that she gave us. I got an item that comes from West Africa and was used as a fertility doll to make African women pregnant.

We then got given tasks (which can be seen below) to complete, to do with looking around the museum and finding objects that we liked the look of and which appealed to us.

Object Exploration

Here are all of my photos from the trip in a contact sheet.

My response, thoughts and feelings to activities. (See above for activities)

Activity 1

Here are the photos that I took of the front of Pitt Rivers to document my initial thoughts and feelings towards it. I felt that the appearance of Pitt Rivers gave me the impression of a grand, royalistic building that has been there for generations and had an impact on the way that the museum had been laid out and designed.

Above are the photos I took to document objects that interested me in the museum.


Photos 1 to 2 are Snow Goggles used by some nationalities.
Photo 3 is a German - European Padlock. The padlock is dated (below the keyhole) 1645.
Photos 4 to 5 is a Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Photos 6 to 8 is a South American - Peruvian, Cranium showing Trepanation.

Activity 2

These photo show the object that I have chosen to develop my project on.

Words that I think about when I see "Salama" (the boat, object).

- East African Coast

- Boat

- Ownership - Empire

- Journey - Adventure - Discovery

- Sea

- Freedom - Exploration - Unknown

- Power - Wind

- Wood

- Support - Faith

- Theft - Money - Treasure - Pirates


Activity 3

The image above is a sketch of the Salama that I did from memory.

The slideshow above shows my 3D cardboard model of my chosen object, "Salama." 

Above are my frottages of what I think the Salama's surface and texture might look like.

Photos 1 to 4 are what I think the wood might look like.

Photo 5 is what I think the rope might look like.

Photo 6 is what I think the sail might look like.

Activity 4

Physical Features

-What does it look and feel like?

To me it looks like a boat, but taking that away I would say the shell, being long and narrow resembles a banana to me with the oars being match sticks. As I was not allowed to touch it I would think it would feel very hard and rough, being made out of wood, the only way I guess I can tell you how it would feel, would be to say, it is like a dead, dry, old piece of wood.

-What colour is it? 

I would describing the colours as being browns, greys, greens, creams and white, very neutral and natural colours.

-What does it smell like?

As I could not get very close to it I would say it smells very old, decaying, damp, salty, fishy are just some of the words I could think of.

-What is it made of? 

The Salama was made out of wood, rope and the sail was made out of some sort of cloth, maybe hessian,

-Is it natural or manufactured substance?

All of the boat was made out of natural materials and I would say that it was also made by hand. 

- Is the object complete?

I think the object is complete as I don't see any missing parts it has a sail, a shell (boat) and some thing to help it move (oars).

Construction

-How was it made?

I think it was made by getting one long tree trunk of wood and planing, cutting and hollowed out to the size and shape it needed to be. Also some of the parts are bind together with rope.

-Is it hand made or machine made?

I think as it is very old and made out of wood then it would have had to be made by hand as that was the only way to make something at that time. 

-Was it made in a mould or in pieces?

At the time in which it was made there was no way to mould wood so it would of had to be made in pieces and then put together.

-How was it fixed together?

By looking very carefully at it I have come to the conclusion that it was fixed together with some sort of glue or some sort of resin. Also it has been fixed together by nails and wood joins.

Function 

-What was it made for? 

I am under the impression that it was made for sailing up and down rivers and waterways most likely to carry some sort of cargo, maybe people or even items of use.

-How has the object been used? 

The object has been used for sailing on the water most likely in rivers than in the sea because of its narrow design it is suited for the river and waterways.

-How has the object been changed?

The object has been changed in two ways, one by natural courses and the other being man made. The natural change is down to erosion and decay over time but the man made change is down to the way the Pitt Rivers has displayed it by hanging it up in the air.

Design

-Does it do the job it was intended to do well?

I am guessing that when"Salama" was on the water it did it's job well because if it didn't do it's job well than it would not be here today

-Were the best materials used?

I would say that the best materials were used at the time it was made.

-Is it decorated?

Yes, Salama is decorated with, I would say war paint to protect the boat and the crew members from evil spirits  

-How is it decorated?

Salama is decorated with white and green paint with eyes on the front and a tail on the back.

-Do you like the way it looks?

I think that the way it has been design and decorated suits the boat from where it comes from and the mentality of the people at the time. So yes I do like the simple design and minimal decoration.

-Would other people like it?

It depends on if people like that style of design but I think it is more down to the message and story behind it and I think people will like it.

Value

-What is it worth?

You can not put a price on this type of historical artefact. For one person it might be worth nothing and for another it might be millions if not billions of pounds. I would say a lot of money what ever it is.

-To the people who made it?

To the people that made it, it would have been a lot because they made it and got payed for making it at the end.

-To the people who used it?

To the people that used it, it would be worth a lot, it is a way to get one thing from one place to another with great ease.

-To the people who keep it?

To the people who keep it, it is more than money is worth because of the historical meaning behind it and the story that goes with it.

-To you?

To me it is worth as much as I am interested in it and for as long as I am interested in it.

-To a bank?

For a bank it is worth as much as the insurance is worth and for as long as the owner pays for the insurance.

-To a museum?

To the museum it is priceless because of the story and message behind it. Also for the reason why did the people of that time make it. 

Activity 5

Here are some other questions that I came up with about my object, "Salama."

- Who Sailed it? 

- What was it used for?

- When was it used?

- Where did it go to and come from?

- Why was it used?

- Who was the captain?

- What was the cargo?

- When did it start sailing?

- When did it finish sailing?

- Where in the world was it made?

- Where in the world did it hit port (make land)?

- What roles where needed to sail the boat?

From