Michael Taussig’s “I Swear I Saw This”
This is my reflection on an article written about the underestimated value of drawing and sketching alongside field notes and how this very much relates to our studies this quarter. Michael Taussig, the author of Pearls, released a book in 2011 titled, I Swear I Saw This: Drawings in Fieldwork Notebooks, Namely My Own and a professional Anthropologist earlier this year wrote an article highlighting some quotes from his book. This article not only contains some inspiring quotes but also got me really exited about adding sketches and drawings to my field notes in the weeks to come.
This quarter in Making Meaning Matter, we each will be playing the role of an embedded journalist, tasked with observing our classmates as they experience 3d design and 3d printing. As we observe, it’s important to document our observations inside of a journal or field notebook for later reflection. This documentation can come in various forms and mediums and Michael Taussig encourages us to add drawings and sketches to our field notes as another ethnographic field method. Below are a few quotes I found relevant to MMM, from the mentioned article, along with a short reflection.
“…the notebook is actually an extension of oneself if not more self than oneself, like an entirely new organ alongside one’s heart and brain, to name but the more evocative organs of our inner self. What this new organ does is incorporate other worlds into one’s own. Is this not obvious when Benjamin himself states that the genuine collector’s object do not come alive in him, but rather it is he who lives in them?” (105).
Where does one object end and another begin? A journal is an extension of you, your thoughts and observations recorded to be summoned for later reflection. Your journal is the connection between you and those you observe.
“…photograph is a taking, the drawing a making…John Berger certainly thinks so, with this enigmatic notion that a photograph stops time, while drawing encompasses it…” (21).
In a class where we will be ‘Making’ most of the quarter I thought that the above quote seemed appropriate to share. Taussig explores the idea that photography is an act of ‘taking’ that stops time and drawing an act of ‘making’ that encompasses it. By drawing an observation you are making a new interpretation of this observation instead of just taking an exact copy of it.
“We amateurs feel little hesitation in speaking, although we are not professional speakers, just as we run, although we are not professional athletes, make love, swim, or email, et cetera. Most of us even live life amateurishly. But drawing, for the amateur? off limits. Drawing is precious in every sense of the word, except for the Littlies” (33-34).
Many of you, like myself, don’t draw because we just don’t see ourselves as very good at it. It is important to note that we do many things everyday that we may not be the best at. Taussig reminds us that we speak although we are not professional speakers, we run although we are not professional athletes and in fact most of our daily activities are quite amateur. Don’t deprive yourself or others of something that you may not think you are good at. There is value in all expression, draw in your journals, as it is just another interpretation of your observation, an extension of your mind.
I hope this blog post inspires you all to go check out the article written about Michael Taussig’s I Swear I Saw This: Drawings in Fieldwork Notebooks, Namely My Own and explore the many other quotes from his book. Lets get excited about our task as Ethnographers and enjoy the many creative methods of recording our observations. A copy of the actual book will on reserve for our class at the library for those interested in the full text.