ABSTRACT

What can we learn from studying and comparing the methods by which early researchers approached the practice of rock art reproduction? In this paper, we look at examples of painted reproductions made during the opening decades of the twentieth century. We suggest that a focus on the formal qualities of such copies and the intricacies employed by copyists in their work of translating the rock art from its multidimensional many-hued rock surface onto a flat, one-dimensional paper surface offers potential for reinvigorating rock art displays at the Origins Centre. In addition, this approach offers an opportunity to craft a narrative that affirms the contribution of individual creativity and embraces the nuance and uncertainty that remains at the heart of scholarly research and knowledge-making. We suggest that displays of copies and artworks produced by copyists, showing how these are part of an historical trajectory of art making and research production, allows an enriched engagement with how we understand the art itself, as well as how artistic practice may be recast as scientific method.

摘要

我们可以从研究和比较早期研究人员处理岩石艺术复制实践的方法中学到什么？在本文中，我们着眼于 20 世纪前几十年制作的彩绘复制品的例子。我们建议关注此类复制品的形式品质以及复制者在将岩石艺术从其多维多色调岩石表面转换到平坦的一维纸表面的工作中所采用的复杂性，为重振岩石艺术展示提供了潜力在起源中心。此外，这种方法提供了一个机会来制作一个肯定个人创造力的贡献并包含学术研究和知识创造核心的细微差别和不确定性的叙述。