2. Archives
Documentation.
To document something is to make a record of it.
In hegemonic western culture at large, this idea is often intertwined with validation. To make a record of something is often synonymous with making it “real”. Written and/or government documents are this way: birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, permits of all kinds.
This is an integral part of how power operates in our world today.
Imagining a situation where you don’t have the right documentation is anxiety-inducing at the very least.
These systems of legal documentation are the wheels that allow our bureaucratic government to roll along, slow enough to be harmless, as long as you have the right pieces of paper.
Creative Documentation.
To document something is to make a record of it.
Thankfully, this can also refer to creative work.
Today, countless documentary projects are made in all shapes, subjects, and sizes. Many of these projects are also archives (the best of which are openly accessible).
Denim Archive.
The goal of this project is to document a phenomenon I have become obsessed with: the love people have for their jeans.
By documenting these jeans and this love, an (open-access) archive will be amassed.
Open Access Internet Archive Case Studies
The institutionality associated with archives makes the term itself daunting and unapproachable.
Archives which document the everyday can take a more accessible route. Here are three case studies of this latter category.
