I recently presented a paper at a conference entitled “Contemporary Cultures of Time and Space.” The titles of papers presented included: Identity and self in the age of the Internet, The globalization of contemporary visual art, The hypercomplexity of the perceptual situation, and The Significance of Spatial and Temporal Influences on Acting Techniques at the End of Nineteenth Century Beginning of Twentieth Century In Greece, just to name a few. I titled my presentation, “The Cell Phone and the Shiny Axe: A Status Symbol.”

This was my position. Over the past 20 years, archeologists have been locating artifacts indicating the production and use of a flint hand ax, called an Acheulean handaxe, in the gravel quarries of Boxgrove, England, just west of Brighton. This type of stone tool dates back to approximately 1.6 million years ago in southern Africa, migrating north through Africa, into Europe, and to Boxgrove, circa 500,000 years ago. In “Nature Via Nurture” (Matt Ridley, 2003, 223) the author writes, “Kohn’s explanation is that the hand axes were not really practical tools at all, but the first jewelry: ornaments made by males showing off to females. Kohn argues that they show all the hallmarks of sexual selection; they are far more elaborate and (in particular) symmetrical than function demanded. They were artistry designed to impress the opposite sex… Men were trying to make the ideal handaxe, not the best one. … Women were obsessed with judging potential mates by their handaxe designs, not by their inventiveness.” This, still controversial position, is supported by Dr. Steven Mithen, University of Reading.

Continuing my research, I located a recently issued report by Dr. Sadie Plant, titled “On the Mobile, the Effects of Mobile Telephones on Social and Individual Life.” In this report, Plant investigates “how the world’s citizens are exploiting the mobile telephone revolution.” (pg. 23) Plant goes on to provide statistical, observational, and anecdotal information about the mobile phone and its impact and position in different cultures and societies, “… and some earlier research – has suggested that the mobile is widely used for psychosexual purposes of performance and display.” (pg 40) “In many parts of Pacific Asia, girls wear their mobiles as functional jewellery: in Bangkok they are carried in fur-edged plastic pouches worn as necklaces; in Beijing the pouches are often crocheted or made from Chinese silk, and sometimes adorned with the characters for good fortune or happiness. (pg. 44) Further research of the BBC found similar anecdotal evidence as to the role of the mobile, in this case India, “Seventeen-year-old university student Gagan Barmecha admits his phone is a style statement. ‘In some ways it’s a status symbol. The better phone you have, the richer you are.’” (BBC.news.com)

With the above, I next turned to my fine art studio research. As the Artist-In-Residence (AIR) for the US Biological Survey (USBS), my project is to invert the physical and intellectual phenomena of westward expansion by conducting a biological survey of the U.K. and Ireland, this the bi-centennial celebration of the circa 1803 Lewis and Clark “Corps of Discovery” expedition to survey what was to become the western United States. Since arriving here from the U.S. just over one year ago, I have traveled, collected and documented north from London to Thurso, Scotland, east to Cromer, England, south to Brighton, England, west to Machynellth, Wales, and further west to Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland. Through these travels, I have amassed a considerable collection of British and Irish “ness:” interviews, photographs, videos, gum, dirt, stones, pamphlets, maps, bottles, shoes, paper, games, wood, fur, leaves, books, plants, memories, water, charts, sponges, bones, rope, spectacles, dvd’s, cd’s, stamps, pounds, coppers, and euro’s…
End of first installment.