The Project Update 1- Initial Ideas and Inspirations

The Trip to Pitt Rivers

On the 10th of June we travelled to the Pitt Rivers museum in oxford to try to get a better perspective on human memories and history. The museum contained objects, crafts and perseved archeology from our ancestors and thier lives.

Our first task was to look closely at a object we were given, look through the museum and then determin its origin by properties compared to other similar objects that we could find. In my case it was a buddha of which i found out to be from china due to a spot on the head, i learnt that to look at the past of a object, e.g. as how it was made, could determin its origin. We did this many times but with other objects.

Next we were told to draw pictures and look around for what we may want to specialise and progress from, i liked the idea of the samurai armour and like most of the boys, the weapons. However i wanted a weapon with some real important history and background, and our teacher, Mrs Stowa told us to find out the objects origin, user, guess/research how it was made and much more. I tried to become more like an artist with a picture/drawing of my option, a 1796 Pattern Cavalry Saber.

The reason i chose this sword to the rest is because it seemed to be made for patriotic value, noted by the patterns covering the blade. In addtiton it lead me unto other thoughts, such as was the person who held this sword a hero?, What was a hero to them?, What is a hero for us today?, What memories does this sword hold?,

Death,Destruction?. All these rhetorical questions are where i need to be at in my initail ideas, as this sword as my first inspiration.