Photography: Mission Accomplished

“Change is the only constant in life.”

~Heraclitus

After an astonishingly short amount of time spent photographing the accessioned artifacts, we have finished all the photography. This wonderful accomplishment puts us at a transition point. We are taking care of final details from our photography, and beginning to make better storage for the artifacts. This past week I have been helping with the last of the photography, and by the end of the week I should start making storage containers.

It feels so good to see so many boxes in the FINISHED pile.

Artifact photo shoot in session

 Masks waiting to be photographed

My, what shiny teeth you have.

 Squawk

Say cheese!!

Tiger mask during and after its photo shoot.

Spotted in a photo shoot.

We didn't take a picture of this artifact, but it's interesting so I wanted to share it with you all.

One of the last photography tasks to do is label/rename the photos uploaded to the computer. All that is needed in the new name is the accession number and which side of the artifact is in the picture. It's a simple and tedious task, but it is necessary to keep the photos organized. (And thanks to my classmates, a lot was already done by the time I got to it.) With all the different angles we photographed, going through all those pictures felt like watching a weird Hokey Pokey of artifacts. (You put the catalog number in, you take the catalog number out, you put the catalog number in and you shake it all about...) Or maybe that really meant I needed a five-minute break.

Lots of photos to label...

Some photos that have been labeled already

By next week I will have tried my hand at making a storage container for one of the artifacts. You'll be able to read all about that experience in next week's blog post, so stay tuned!!

As always, thanks for reading!!!!

Smile for the Camera!!

"Today everything exists to end in a photograph."

~Susan Sontag

This week we began taking photographs of the artifacts in the May Weber Collection!! We have set up a mini photo studio in the back corner of the room in order to create an ideal environment for taking pictures. This space includes lights, a tripod for the DSLR camera, and a table with a neutral background (courtesy of archival quality unbleached muslin). It's great that we have the time and space to create a more formal setting because it allows us to take better pictures than a researcher in the field (who might have to use a cell phone camera) or those working in a more confined collection space. With our equipment, we'll be able to take high-quality photos of the artifacts, so they can be used for many years to come.

The photo studio is ready for use!

Our table is now filled with equipment to prepare the artifacts for their photo shoot.

Having photos of our artifacts is important because it is a record that ties the artifact to its catalog number. The condition reports that we've been filling out have all of that information in writing, and maybe a sketch of the artifact, but nothing quite as clear as a photo of the artifact and catalog number together. As we learned in class, having a photographic record gives you intellectual control of the collection. In other words, it is very convenient and empowering to have a record with everything on it.

Although our photography process isn't as complex as accessioning, it still involves more than just pointing the camera and pressing the big button. Our photo shoots run something like this:

1. Pick an artifact and find its catalog number from the neat stacks of printed numbers. Stick this number on a stand, and place it next to its corresponding artifact in the scene to be photographed.

 Remember all those masks I've been accessioning? Now they're ready for their close up.

The catalog number of each artifact we've accessioned so far

2. Mount the artifact on a stand. This may sound easy, but we have several differently shaped stands and sometimes the artifacts refuse to cooperate with them. No two artifacts are alike, which means that no two artifacts will sit exactly the same way on a stand, so each new artifact presents its own challenges. After securing the artifact, place the catalog number and the two scales next to it.

Some stands wrapped in muslin and extra blue board

3. Turn on the lights and take the pictures! Take two of the front with the labels, two of the front without the labels, two of the side with the labels, and two of the back with the labels. By taking photos from different angles, we have a more complete record of the artifact's appearance.

 The author in action

 Lights, camera, action!

            

Front side with labels                                          Back side with labels

4. Repeat the process with another artifact.

A box of masks to be photographed

Smile for the camera!!

Why the long face?

Yes, that snake is coming out of this mask's nose.

We will be photographing the artifacts for at least another week, so it should be interesting to see what new challenges come up in the near future. Stay tuned for updates!! 

Thanks for reading!!!! 

The Wonderful World of Words

"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic."

~Albus Dumbledore in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In the past week, we seem to have reached the end of the May Weber Collection's masks (or more are secretly lurking somewhere else in the jungle), and have moved on to other artifacts. As awesome and varied as the masks were, I think all of us interns are excited to see some new objects. These artifacts usually inspire more questions than the masks ("What is this??"), and that adds another level of excitement to accessioning.

One of the last masks accessioned (for now)!! 

In my unprofessional opinion, I believe this could possibly be an angry turtle. 

At the same time, working with artifacts that are not masks presents us with a new challenge: words. Like most of the artifacts in the collection, we know very little about these new artifacts. For masks, their basic purpose is pretty obvious (you wear them), and we can all agree that we can call them "masks" on the condition report. With other artifacts, giving them a standard name on the condition report often requires discussion. Sculptures are one type of artifact that opens many such opportunities. Is it a sculpture? A figure or figurine? What about a statue? If one day you need to search the database for "African sculptures" and half of the artifacts that could count as African sculptures are labeled "statues", then your search would only turn up results for those entered as sculptures and leave out half of the artifacts you need. That kind of a nightmare is exactly what we'd like to avoid in the future. For now, we have decided to use "sculpture" to describe any sort of sculptures/figurines/figures/statues. This category is subject to change, based on our circumstances. If later on in our work we decide that the "sculpture" category does not work for us, then we can change it to another word that does work or we can add more specific categories. One of the goals in our accession process is to establish a standard language for use in the collection. Doing so will make it easier to talk about artifacts, find them in the database, sort them, and stay organized.

 Possibly a figure for home temples from Africa

  A very large comb

Decorated statue

This word conundrum points to one quality that is proving itself very important in the early stages of establishing the May Weber Collection: flexibility. As much as we all want to be able to deal with things that are certain and stable, reality rarely presents such moments. We are learning as we go, and that means having to find creative solutions to unforeseen problems and being willing to rearrange priorities. Under these conditions, there's never a dull moment in the May Weber Collection.    

Earlier this week we also began photographing the artifacts, and that has brought its own new set of experiences for us. Stay tuned for next week's post about our photography adventures!!

Thank you for reading!!!!

The Art of Accessioning

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
~Edgar Degas

Even on the edge of Fall Break, the May Weber Collection demanded our attention. Despite thoughts of home and days without class, we managed to accession more artifacts into our growing collection before leaving for the long weekend.

 We're working on a larger variety of masks now: Mexico, Asia, Africa, oh my!! 

An African mask

Well somebody looks rather grumpy.

An important part of accessioning is the description of the artifact on the condition report. If for some reason the tag and the artifact become separated, anyone should be able to read the condition report and have a good idea of the appearance of the artifact they are looking for or be able to make a new tag. Detailed descriptions are great in these situations, but words have limits. They are open to misinterpretation. For example, a mask might look like different animals to different people. One person may say that the artifact in question is an "eagle mask," another can call it a "parrot mask," and yet another person may simply describe it as a "bird mask." And if it is called a "bird mask," then that leaves a whole variety of real and imaginary birds that it could resemble. How does one know what to look for when the only resource is so unclear??

 Eagle? Parrot? Mythical bird?

One way to prevent such potential disasters is to draw the artifact. Drawing the artifact helps future investigators know exactly what the artifact looks like without taking an actual photograph (which will be happening soon here), and it helps the examiner notice the finer details of the artifact. It's amazing how many cracks and chips I've discovered while drawing an object! Thankfully us interns are not required to draw the artifacts because, as you can imagine, that is not an easy task (and stick figures really don't do an artifact justice). As for myself, I try to draw the artifacts when I think they are within my artistic ability. I like drawing in my free time, but I'm no DaVinci.

A Balinese mask........................................and my sketch of it for the condition report.

A dragon mask (above) and my sketch of it (below).

As you can guess, it would be much easier to find both of these artifacts based on my drawings instead of my written descriptions. The drawings aren't perfect, but they give readers a clearer idea of what the artifact looks like in real life.  

Speaking of art, last week my class took a trip to LUMA (Loyola University Museum of Art) for a behind-the-scenes tour. It was cool to see how another Loyola collection, not to mention a working museum, stored their artifacts.Maybe one day the May Weber Collection will be stored in a similar way! Here's a class picture from our trip to LUMA.

Before I wrap up this week's post, I would like to say THANK YOU to Loyola's History Department for featuring The Cardboard Jungle on their Facebook page last Friday!! It was a wonderful surprise!! You can check out their post in the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/loyolahistorydepartment/photos/a.442236252456754.114342.442141072466272/911585222188519/?type=1&theater

As always, thank you for reading!!!!

The Inhabitants of the Cardboard Jungle

"A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away."

~Eudora Welty

The accessioning continued this week as we worked our way through more boxes of Mexican masks. It might sound like a repetitive, boring process, but it really is only repetitive. However, repetitive tasks are not necessarily unexciting. I may be filling out the same sheet of information for each artifact, but each artifact is so unique. We have been concentrating on Mexican masks, but I hope my pictures have proved the incredible diversity within one category. (No two masks are alike!!) Thanks to May Weber's vast interests, us interns encounter something new every time we work on the collection. Sometimes we're pleasantly surprised, other times less pleasantly surprised. ("Confused" or "terrified" might be better words to describe the less pleasant surprises.) Since there haven't been many new developments in the collection recently (Like I said, more accessioning), I thought you readers might like to see some of the pictures from this past week and others that didn't make it into previous posts. After all, the best part of accessions is getting to see all the different artifacts. Enjoy!!

 This mask is simply green with envy at all the other masks accessioned before him.

Yes, those are snakes on its face.

 A box of accessioned masks

 Masks waiting to be accessioned

Some wild masks: Left-A face with jaguars on its cheeks; Middle-monkey mask; Right: cow mask 

 A two-faced pot from Latin America

A painted wooden mask with hair

This mask was made of some sort of natural material-maybe coconut shell?

A beautifully painted bowl-I really enjoyed drawing this artifact on the condition report!

As always, stay tuned for more adventures (and even more pictures), and thank you for reading!!!!