Vestigial Matters: Contemporary Archaeology and Hyperart

Abstract

This article addresses things that can be described as rudimentary and vestigial; for example, an arguably out-of-place snow stake encountered in a derelict 19th-century landscape garden during an archaeological surface survey. How can one approach this stake without removing or overlooking its vestigial character? The term hyperart is introduced to develop the concept of vestigial objects. Hyperart was conceived by the Japanese artist and author Akasegawa Genpei, who defined it as ‘useless but beautifully preserved objects connected to some form of real estate’. That is, things that in one way or another have become vestigial and meaningless. An underlying link is shown between the concept hyperart and an archaeologically inspired approach to the material world. The rudimentary and detached are regarded as an integral part of the anthropogenic environment, and it is theorised that such recognition is important in depicting both past and contemporary human environments.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my advisers Bjørnar Olsen and Þóra Pétursdóttir for their patience and insightful comments, and the helpful input from Torgeir Rinke Bangstad and Esther Breithoff. I also want to express my gratitude for the helpful comments and critique of the peers that reviewed this article. All the missteps and mistakes contained within this article are mine alone.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway and UiT The Arctic University of Norway under the project Object Matters: Archaeology and Heritage in the 21st Century [project code 240686].