Anthropology of Techniques/ Techniques of anthropology: multimodal ethnographies of making

Anthropology of techniques has a long and fascinating history. Describing and theorizing making practices contributed to trigger a new interest toward material cultures. It also kickstarted new studies on embodiment and on the techniques of the self. Meanwhile, ethnographers had to evolve their methods as they were investigating other people’s artful practices. Contemporary multimodal ethnographic approaches are deeply rooted in fieldwork interactions with other knowledge communities. How to make sense of other ways of making, if not by practicing them? How to tell better stories of making if not by sharpening our techniques for storytelling, experimenting with new medias and probing other ways of entering in collaboration with epistemic partners? 

In this seminar, we will engage with a number of technical activities, both theoretically and practically. We will experiment various ways to share the ethnographic experience of making practices into ethnographical text, images, workshops and virtual installations. We will discuss this ethnographic material through a close readings of chosen texts from the European traditions of anthropology of techniques, e.g. Ingold, Gell, Latour, Kittler and Favero.  During each session, we will bring techniques into the classroom or go out to follow them in the wild; for example, making boomerangs, pots or textiles. We will expect students to actively explore one technique of their choice during the course and document their practice with a fieldwork notebook, using various techniques such as writing, sketching, 360° captures. Eventually, we will share our findings with the public in workshop formats, during which students will share their insights, their journals, and their newly acquired practices.

Suggested reading:

Ingold, Tim. “The Textility of Making.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 34, no. 1 (January 1, 2010): 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bep042

Gell, Alfred. “Technology and Magic.” Anthropology Today 4, no. 2 (April 1988): 6. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033230.

 Malafouris, Lambros, and Maria-Danae Koukouti. “Where the Touching Is Touched: The Role of Haptic Attentive Unity in the Dialogue between Maker and Material.” Multimodality & Society 2, no. 3 (September 1, 2022): 265–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/26349795221109231