Having the chance to hear about the progress Lynch has made in the last few months was amazing. It was interesting to see how she has been carrying out the research of her project and how it all connects back to that initial proposal in September. I can understand the number of resources she is going through because I have also been increasing the list of articles and books that I would like to explore. Lynch has read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the two huge screenplays, and other textual resources to gain a better understanding of this really rich and complex subject. When she started showing us her collection of books, it reminded me of what she said to us months ago, ” Don’t get caught ignorant”. She has taken her own advice and has delved into the world of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But her research does not just include literature of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Lynch also explored the topics related it as well. She has researched the imagery reproduced from the novel, advertisements for film adaptations, and the imagery of African-Americans in America. She is really delving into the social and historical nuances of Beecher’s novel and is even looking at Beecher herself as a woman writer.
She is drawing a lot of inspiration in her research from the content to how she should go about visually displaying the themes she wants. It was interesting to see that she drew inspiration from other sources outside of those relating to Uncle Tom’s Cabin such as the “Water Towers” by Bernd and Hilla Becher. Lynch engages with the images and the way they are presented. It would be interesting to see how she goes about inserting her voice in this narrative as she talked about before. The representational style of the Bechers mixed with the imagery from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the interpretation of Lynch would be a visual feast in my opinion.
I also loved her organization and I really wished I had thought of some of this when I was doing my Pecha Kucha. The mind mapping, the use of Pinterest, and Google Drive are clear and effective methods for exploring her research. Having the work spread out in front of her also went along with her concept of “sitting with the research”. This idea of seeing what comes to you which is something that I might want to do more of going into my senior seminars. Even though both anthropology and history are not as visually focused as art history or studio art, I have found that I am becoming more interested in the visual produced during a time period. I recently read a book where the author used advertisements as “plausible inference” into the discourse and practices of the period which is something that I might also want to incorporate into my work.
I also want to keep in mind her advice about doing the research and knowing what is out there and learning to build on the canon. How can you contribute more to it?
