ÇATALHÖYÜK 2005 ARCHIVE REPORT

STUDY SEASON REPORTS

Sculpture for Çatalhöyük

Michael Dan Archer

Introduction
Michael Dan Archer is a British sculptor. He works on large scale public commissions, exhibitions and is also senior lecturer in Fine Art at Loughborough University School of Art and Design.

He has made work at International Symposia in Japan, S. Korea, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Dubai and the Czech Republic.

Archer became interested in the Catalhoyuk excavations after meeting John Swogger who has worked for many years on site. He subsequently talked to Professor Ian Hodder who directs the site and excavations. These conversations led to Archer exploring a number of factors relevant to the excavations and his own work, in particular the use of mud brick as a sculptural media.

In 2004, Archer was assisted by the British brick manufacturing company Ibstock in the preparation of a large body of work in unfired clay, for a solo exhibition at the Djanogly Gallery at Nottingham University in the UK. This sculptural installation referenced Catalhoyuk and included a large mud brick tower which contained a video projection and a sound sculpture.

Development of Ideas
In July of 2005, Archer visited the excavations at Catalhoyuk. He was struck in particular by the burial of the dead in the brick sleeping platforms within the houses. He was also interested in possible indications of dreamscapes in some wall paintings. Archer has been working on a series of sculptures and installations entitled Echoes, Memories, Dreams. In this series he explores his own dreams, investigates the fragmentary memory of these and parallels this to mankind’s fragmentary memory and understanding of its distant past.

He decided to investigate the possibilities of a sculptural installation on site which would intuitively explore the way the proximity of the dead could affect the dreams of the living inhabitants of Neolithic Catalhoyuk.

Archer has designed a sculptural installation for the Catalhoyuk site which would include a structure in mud brick and a sound component recorded from the recollected dreams of people living near the site.

Sculptural Structures
The sculptural structures are detailed in the accompanying drawings and maquettes. A number of variations on the theme of single or multiple brick towers are illustrated. These towers are approximately 3 metres high and would be built to Archer’s designs by local craftsmen using traditional techniques and materials.

Potential sites for these include the courtyard in the site buildings at Catalhoyuk and a site adjacent to the courtyard. The car park site would allow greater public access to the work. It is not intended to site the work on or near the Catalhoyuk mound.

Sound component to the work.
To explore and exhibit the aspect of the work dealing with dreams, Archer, with the assistance of Catalhoyuk researchers, will make recordings on tape of 3 generations of local villagers narrating their dreams. These will be transferred to CD and will be played quietly in the brick structures through small, concealed speakers. The speakers will be fed from 3 CD players in nearby buildings. The sound will be activated by sensors in the structure which will switch on the players at the approach of people. The voices of 3 generations of dreams will intermingle quietly as spectators walk in and around the structure. This work is intended to make visitors to the site consider aspects of its nature which are not apparent to the eye.

Memory, Objects.
A further element of the piece will occur during the making of the mud brick for the structure. Archer will request that local villagers and the archaeological researchers choose a range of small objects form their homes which hold some memory or significance for them. These objects will be integrated into the clay of the bricks and will be hidden within the structure. They will be revealed slowly over time by natural erosion. This relates to the archaeological process itself and more specifically to the practice by Neolithic occupants of the site of ritually burying small objects such as painted shells in the structure of the buildings and sleeping platforms.

Time scale.
It is envisaged that sound recordings will take place in early summer of 2006. The manufacture of the bricks to Archer’s specifications would take place in early 2006. Construction of the towers and installation of the sound work will take place during Archer’s next visit to the site in the summer of 2006.