Οι
ανασκαφές του Πανεπιστημίου Τένεση στο Πήλιο, έφεραν στο φως ακόμα ένα στοιχείο
που αποδεικνύει ότι τίποτα από την Μυθολογία μας δεν είναι ψέματα και ότι Μύθος
δεν σημαίνει κάτι το φανταστικό αλλά κάτι το πέρα για πέρα πραγματικό.
Η σχολή
του Πανεπιστημίου σε ανασκαφές που έκανε ανακάλυψε το σκελετό ενός Κενταύρου. Η
είδηση πέρασε σε εφημερίδες τις περιοχής με πολύ ενδιαφέρον. Ενδιαφέρον δεν
έδειξε ούτε ένας αρμόδιος, ούτε έντυπα πανελλήνιας κυκλοφορίας.
Οι
φωτογραφίες προέρχονται από την ιστοσελίδα του Πανεπιστημίου του Κεντάκυ, όπου
αναφέρεται και οι επιστήμονες που έκαμαν το ανασκαφικό έργο. Επάνω ο σκελετός
κάτω τα ανασκαφικά κτερίσματα.
Στην
ιστοσελίδα του Πανεπιστημίου του Τένεση το οποίο έκανες ανασκαφές εις το Πήλιο
αναφέρονται όλα τα στοιχεία είναι : [Http: //web.utk.edu/~blyons/centaur.html ]
Ο
καθηγητής ο οποίος έκαμε αυτήν την σπουδαία ανασκαφή είναι ο κάτωθι :
Beauvais Lyons, Director
Hokes Archives
School of Art
1715 Volunteer Blvd.
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 379962410
phone: 8659743202
fax: 8659743198
email: blyons@utk.edu
Ακολουθεί
αντιγραφή της ιστοσελίδος του Πανεπιστημίου του Τέννεση, όπου και φυλάσσεται ο
ανακαλυφθείς σκελετός του Κενταύρου του Βόλου. Εύρημα από τις ανασκαφές του
Πανεπιστημίου την περίοδο όπου ήτο υπουργός Πολιτισμού ο Ελ. Βενιζέλος.
Το κείμενο είναι αυτούσιο εις την αγγλική
γλώσσα.
THE CENTAUR EXCAVATIONS
AT VOLOS
The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville is known internationally for its research on centaurs. The Jack E.
Reese Galleria in the Hodges Libary includes one of the finest adult male
centaurian specimens yet discovered, and the library includes the most
extensive collections of centaurian epic literature in the south-eastern United
States. From 1998 through 2001, annual panel sessions were held at the
University Center to present the last Centaurian Research by noted scholars at
the University of Tennessee. Click here for a record of these presentations,
and follow the link to "Special Projects."
"Do
you believe in Centaurs?"
observations
on the process of bringing
"The
Centaur Excavations at Volos"
to the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville's Hodges Library
written in June 1994 by Beauvais
Lyons, Professor of Art
A myth is defined in the modern desk
edition of Webster's New World Dictionary as "any fictitious story, person
or thing." Mythic creatures such as mermaids, unicorns, bigfoot, minotaurs
and a host of other zoomorphic monstrosities, often combine human and animal
attributes. Creatures such as these, which generally appear in works of art,
can be understood as fantastic archetypes which fulfill a basic human need to
express the unconscious through symbols and metaphor. From this perspective,
the ancient Greek myth of the centaur, a half-human, half-horse creature which
inhabited the forests of Thessaly represents a potent combination of human intelligence
and animal desires. The centaur becomes even more loaded when it is presented
as a scientific fact.
These issues make "The Centaur
Excavations at Volos," a permanent display installed three years ago in
the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville
engaging. Like other works of archaeological fiction [see end note #1], this
display uses the conventions of scholarship to present a work of fiction as
authentic. The only clue that the viewer should be skeptical is the showcase
title plaque, which includes the question "Do you believe in
centaurs?"
"Of course not," you (and
every other college educated viewer) responds. But here, in an elegantly
constructed showcase, complete with a faux marble base and simulated wood panels
are the skeletal remains of a centaur burial along with various inscribed clay
tablets. On the back side of the showcase is a screen printed text panel in
which this specimen is described as "one of three centaur burials
discovered in 1980 by the Archaeological Society of Argos Orestiko eight
kilometers northeast of Volos, Greece." The text panel includes a map of
Greece, a 16th century woodcut and a drawing depicting centaurs, a photograph
of a relief sculpture of a centaur from the Parthenon and a print showing the
anatomy of an adult male centaur. The text and the visual data are presented in
the dry, scholarly manner common to archaeological exhibits
"Do you believe in
centaurs?" I asked one student who approached and seemed perplexed with
the display. "I'm not sure" he responded, "but it sure looks
authentic." Looks are, of course, deceiving. As a culture, we are
constantly bombarded with fictions represented as fact by the tabloid press,
simulations of reality in docu-dramas and countless examples of what Umberto
Eco calls "hyper-realities;" from shopping malls to theme parks. If
the experience this display engenders is authentic, maybe it is real?
After further discussion with this
student I finally revealed that the display is a work of art, and hence
fiction. The centaur (made from the tea stained bones of a pony and a
deteriorating human skeleton) was originally constructed by Bill Willers, a
Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh who is also an
artist. Willers exhibited the project at the Madison Art Center as well as
several college galleries in the mid 1980's before putting the work in storage
in a friend's barn. In 1992, Neil Greenberg, from the UTK Department of Zoology
and I undertook a campaign to raise funds to purchase the display for the
university. We were able to secure a prominent location on campus for the
exhibit with a commitment from the library and generated support from a variety
of campus organizations. I designed the showcase and exhibition text and Bob Cothran
from the UTK Department of Theater painted the fake marble and wood panels.
While presenting a work of fiction
as fact may be construed as counter productive to the educational mission of
the university, Paula Kaufman, Dean of the UT Libraries endorsed the exhibit as
a valuable object lesson on importance of skepticism. Many students are
conditioned to believe the word of authorities, whether they be academic,
political, scientific or religious. This work of academic parody functions as a
conscious form of self-critique, deconstructing the authority of the library
itself.
For Al Burstein, (former) chair of
the UTK University Studies Program and a primary supporter of the project, the
centaur underscores a key heuristic issue; that the experience of having a
deeply held belief disconfirmed (as in the hoax dehoaxed) is critical to
self-conscience epistemology and thus the educational process. In this respect,
the exhibit functions like the professor, who after a persuasive lecture on a
particular topic concludes by informing the students that 90% of the lecture is
bogus. The students are then assigned to write a short essay which sorts out
the lecture's facts from fictions. When a colleague of mine was subjected to
this teaching method as a student at the University of Michigan, she recounted
that her never again took anything for granted.
Aesthetically, "The Centaur
Excavations at Volos" employs camouflage techniques, as it is perfectly
integrated into its surroundings. The design of the showcase, its proportions,
color and prominent position in the "Jack E. Reese Galleria" make it
appear as if the library is built around the display in the same manner that a
mausoleum is built around a sarcophagus. These formal attributes, like the
content of the exhibit reinforce its apparent authority.
The centaur also obscures the
distinctions between art and science. While modern science is generally thought
of as a systematic knowledge derived from observation, study and
experimentation, science may also be thought of as akin to art; a skill or
technique applied to a particular discipline. For this reason we might use the
expressions "the science of boxing" and "the art of boxing"
interchangeably. As a work of art created by a scientist, the centaur provides
a unique bridge between the scientific and artistic camps which comprise the
modern university.
This leads one to pose the question;
what is the role of art in a university setting? Should art provide aesthetic
backgrounds, (what one might call "visual musak") for the more
important task of scientific research and cultural critique? Or can art play an
active role in the academy?
While the University of Tennessee
has had a highly successful sculpture tour for more that a decade, the function
of art in a public setting has undergone a significant transformation in the
recent past. This shift, initiated by the controversy surrounding Richard
SerraÍs "Tilted Arch" at Federal Plaza in Washington, DC has seen the
artist attempt to meet his or her audience half way, often working with
architects and citizen groups to ensure public artworks will serve a beneficial
role in the community. While Serra's brand of modernism represents the artist
standing alone, often against the public, recent public art projects, even
those which critique institutions and cultural practices, are more often
intended to work with, rather than against their audience. This exhibit, having
the imprint of an interdisciplinary committee of faculty is similarly conscious
of its social and pedagogical purposes.
The process by which the exhibit was
brought to campus was by no means direct, and provides an interesting case
study for interdisciplinary public art projects in a university setting. At a
lunch hour forum sponsored by University Studies in the Fall of 1992, I
presented the proposal to a group of thirty faculty and students from across
campus. While many attending the forum were interested in the project, some
felt that it should only be funded through private donations. ñWhat would the
tax payers of Tennessee think if we purchased a centaur?î claimed a former
Faculty Senate President from the Department of Economics. Just as Jesse Helms
tried to rally support against publically funded works of art, it was felt that
this project would be subjected to similar criticism. In response, I contended
that the university should have the academic freedom to allocate resources in
any way that enhances its educational and research mission [see end note #2].
In the end, student organizations on
campus were a major source of revenue for the project, particularly the
Cultural Affairs Board and the Student Exhibits Committee. Additional funding
came from University Studies, the Office of Student Affairs and private
donations.
In January 1993, in association with
our efforts to bring the display to campus, University Studies sponsored a
forum on the topic "Hoaxing in Science and Teaching" which included
presentations by myself and faculty from various disciplines as well as a guest
appearance by the media con artist Joey Skaggs. Skaggs is a major figure in the
field of media jamming, as he has created imaginary events and other phenomena
for media consumption for over twenty years. Among his various media hoaxes, he
once fooled UPI into running a story about a fictitious Colombian entomologist
who developed a dietary supplement derived from cockroach hormones which cured
everything from menstrual cramps to acme and arthritis. The presentations for
the forum covered a wide range of approaches to hoaxing, from parodies in which
ironic signals may be clearly discerned to outright deceptions for financial
gain or to lend credibility a theological or philosophical point of view. One
pedagogical benefit of the hoax is its capacity to cultivate a healthy sense of
skepticism, which is, after all, a primary goal in teaching.
While this event was important in
generating more interest in the proposal, the issue of presenting a work of
fiction under the pretext of non-fiction was still a problem for some faculty.
One person asserted that a convincing display on centaurs would imply that the
library endorsed the existence of centaurs. This argument assumes that the
library can verify the authenticity of every "non-fiction" text in
its collection. Instead, the library serves a descriptive rather than
prescriptive function. Exhibits such as the centaur critique the institution of
the library and the assumptions behind its practice. In so doing, it helps to
remind all of us that we must be critical of authoritative claims to truth.
Given the need to bring together a
wide range of disciplines to make the exhibit useful to the whole university
community, I assembled a "Centaur Installation Committee." The
display had already generated objections from faculty in the Department of
Classics due to two errors in the Latin inscription on an etching by Willers
showing the anatomy of an adult male centaur. With the prospect of over 1,000
high school Latin students coming to campus for a conference the following
summer, it was important to make sure the fiction was as convincing as
possible. The committee was composed of eight faculty from a variety of
disciplines, all of whom made valuable suggestions regarding the particulars of
the display, the showcase and the exhibition text. However, at our first meeting
on July 8, 1993 we opened a whole new can of worms; state regulations regarding
the display of human remains.
The human portions of the centaur
were acquired by Willers from his department at the University of Wisconsin.
For many years the department had a human skeleton from India which had been
used for class exercises and was starting to deteriorate. Willers replaced the
departmentÍs classroom skeleton with a plastic version so that he could
appropriate the older, authentic specimen.
Tennessee has two statutes
pertaining to the display of human remains. One, which doesnÍt apply to the
centaur, bans the display of Native American remains. The second (Û 39-17-312)
is loosely titled "abuse of corpse," and addresses a person who
"physically mistreats a corpse in a manner offensive to the sensibilities
of an ordinary person." Would the centaur be construed as abuse of corpse
according to this statute?
My attempts to get the Office of the
Knox County District Attorney to render an opinion on the matter were
unsuccessful. In a memo to me dated July 12, 1993 they stated that their office
"does not provide advisory opinions to individuals pertaining to criminal
violations," referring me (instead) to the State of Tennessee Attorney
GeneralÍs Office in Nashville. I quickly learned that law, like art, can provoke
multiple interpretations.
To clarify the legal issue, I asked
Paula Kaufman to send a memo to Beauchamp Brogan, the Secretary and General
Council for the University of Tennessee to request an advisory opinion
regarding the exhibit. In a memo to Kaufman dated July 30, 1993, Brogan claimed
that he was aware of the proposed exhibit and had no legal concerns for the
university. He writes:
"There is a specific statute
which allows unclaimed bodies of persons who die at (a) publicly supported
institution to be distributed among medical, dental and anthropologic
institutions in the state for use in study and ïfor the promotion of science
alone.Í T.C.A. Û 68-4-103, 68-4-104. This statute does not apply to the Centaur
exhibit. However, it does illustrate that there are situations involving the
ïuseÍ of corpses which do not violate the criminal statute. Also, there are
mummies and other human remains in various museums around the state, including
the state museum in Nashville. If the university displays the Centaur and uses
it in a dignified, scholarly manner, it is highly improbable that someone will
accuse the University of acting in an illegal manner. Also, aside from legal
concerns, the University needs to be sensitive to the reaction of Indian
students on our campus."
Brogan's concern about displaying
the centaur in a "scholarly and dignified manner" resulted from
language in a funded grant proposal to the Cultural Affairs Board from the
previous Spring which read:
"Considering the excavations
were conducted at 'Volos', a name which has a remarkable resemblance to 'Vols'
(the common abbreviation for the Tennessee Volunteers), it is quite possible
that the centaur exhibit will engender the same mythological status as (an
emblem of the university) the torch bearer or our mascot, 'Smokey' the blue
tick hound. It is easy to imagine a time when the image of a centaur sporting a
coon skin hat and carrying a rifle will be screen printed on sweatshirts worn
by thousands of UT students. In addition, the centaur could become the basis
for fraternal rites of passage, a central motif in homecoming parades and the
inspiration for a catalogue on the mytho-poetics of science. The impact of this
project on the cultural life of our campus may be greater than any of us can even
fathom."
While the language of this paragraph
is a response to the typical grant application query "How many people will
the project impact?" it had been my hope that the public nature of the
exhibit would allow it to play a symbolic role in the popular culture of the
university. Most college students do not look to art or religion for an
experience of the sublime. Instead, this need is generally filled through the
spectacle of college football, pep rallies and homecoming parades. While art is
generally divorced from mainstream culture, if an exhibit like this elicit
public involvement on par with college sports, it comes dangerously close to being
too ritualistic and pagan.
The exhibit has the potential to
come in conflict with status quo religious beliefs in another respect as well.
The ancient Greeks, who generally represented centaurs as wild and promiscuous,
used the metaphor of the half man, half horse to express the animal nature of
humans. By using the metaphor of the half man, half animal ñThe Centaur
Excavations at Volosî underscores a very basic truth; human nature can not be
separated from its animal, and hence evolutionary origins. This aspect of the
exhibit is in some respects ironic, as in 1925 Tennessee was the first state to
outlaw the teaching of evolution, a law which was later overturned in the
famous trial of the science teacher John Scopes. Trials such as these protect
public education from religious intervention. Exhibits such as "The Centaur
Excavations at Volos" as possible, in great part, because academic and
artistic freedom are seen as mutually beneficial. Art can play a vital role in
the academy, even in situations when you speak with your tongue in your cheek.
NOTES:
1. For more information on the genre
of archaeological fiction see my articles "Art of the Trickster,"
Archaeology, March/April, forum section, p. 72 and "The Excavation of the
Apasht: Artifacts from an Imaginary Past," Leonardo: Journal of the
International Society for the Arts, Science and Technology, Pergamon Press:
Oxford University, Vol. 18, no. 2, pp.81-89.
2. It is difficult to separate the
issue of academic freedom from patronage. The modern university is a
consequence of the secularization of higher education. While tax payers fund
public universities under the assumption that universities enhance the economic
vitality of the state, the role of art within this system of patronage is
usually problematic when the work is overtly political or sexual. For more
information on this subject see my 1991 article "Artistic Freedom and the
University," Art Journal, Winter, Vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 77-83
The Hokes Archives operates under
the direction of Professor Beauvais Lyons at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
School of Art in the UTK Print Workshop.
The Hokes Archives was founded in
1901 by Everitt Ormsby Hokes and is devoted to the fabrication and
documentation of rare and unusual cultural artifacts. Some of the more
important aspects of the collection include the Aazudians and the Apasht, both
of which have been the subject of major exhibitions organized by the archives.
A lesser known aspect of the collection are the Arenot who were the subject of
a 1980 exhibition. Beauvais Lyons, Director of the Hokes Archives is available
to give presentations and lectures on a variety of topics related to the
collection. The Hokes Archives also played a role in bringing "The Centaur
Excavations at Volos" to the Hodges Library on the University of Tennnessee,
Knoxville campus.
A significant new addition to the
Hokes Archives is the The Spelvin Collection, one of the most important
collections of contemporary folk art. This exhibition includes the work of 11
artists, encompassing paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture. In addition to
being a research center, the Hokes Archives assembles national traveling
exhibitions presenting selected works from the collection. A traveling
exhibition featuring the "George and Helen Spelvin Folk Art
Collection" is currently touring the United States. To read an essay about
issues raised by this exhibition, check here.
Correspondence
should be addressed to:
Beauvais Lyons, Director
Hokes Archives
School of Art
1715 Volunteer Blvd.
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-2410
phone: 865-974-3202
fax: 865-974-3198
Επίσης
περίπωση «Κενταύρου» υπήρχε σε δημοσίευμα της εφημερίδος «Ελεύθερος Τύπος» της
19ης Αυγύστου του έτους 1993 με τον τίτλο «Ο άνθρωπος άλογο». Όπου ανέφερε
μεταξύ άλλων ότι ο Κάγια [άλογο] κι ο νεογέννητος υιός του έχουν κάθε λόγο να
νιώθουν διαφορετικοί από τα υπόλοιπα άλογα της φάρμας του Δρ. Πήτερ Ντέβρις στο
Κεντάκυ των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών της Αμερικής. Μέσα εις το DNA τους υπάρχει κι
ανθρώπινο γενετικό υλικό, αφού αποτελούν το πιο πρόσφατο «δημιούργημα» του
Ολλανδού επιστήμονος. Ο Δρ. Πήτερ Ντέβρις λέγει : ο μπαμπάς Κάγια [άλογο]
γεννήθηκε τον Απρίλιο του 1991, από φυσιολογικά άλογα, μόνο που εις την
διαδικασία της συλλήψεώς του επενέβη ο ίδιος και πρόσθεσε και ανθρώπινο
γενετικό υλικό. Αποτέλεσμα ο Κάγια γεννήθηκε
με ανθρωπόμορφα χαρακτηριστικά, τα οποία κληρονόμησε και ο υιός του, ο οποίος
γεννήθηκε πριν μερικές εβδομάδες. Το άρθρο είναι αναδημοσίευση από την
εφημερίδα Weekly World News, και το
οποίο έχει γίνει το κύριο θέμα πολλών συνεδρίων της γενετικής [Αρχαία ελληνικά
παράδοξα – κεφάλαιο λβ σελίδα 116 Κωνσταντίνος Ποταμιάνος – εκδόσεις Ελεύθερη
σκέψις].
Όσο αφορά αυτούς που λέγουν ότι είναι "απατεώνες", ένα Πανεπιστήμιο δεν παίζει με το κύρος του, από την άλλη πλευρά έχω ανθρώπους από τα χωριά του Πηλίου αλλά και προσωπικό παιδικό φίλο που με είχε ενημερώσει για τις ανασκαφές στο Πήλιο, επειδή ετύγχανε να είναι διακοπές στο Πήλιο.
Η βιβλιογραφία αποκρύπτεται μέχρι κυκλοφορίας του βιβλίου,
επειδή αναπαράχθηκαν άρθρα του συγγραφέως άνευ αναφοράς του ονόματός του, της
ιστοσελίδος αλλά και του βιβλίου μέρος α που αναφέρεται κάτωθι.
Απόσπασμα
από το βιβλίο του συγγραφέως Ομήρου Ερμείδη με τον τίτλο «Αναμνήσεις από το
μέλλον του χθες» υπότιτλο «Ηρωολόγιον Αγιολόγιον», μέρος β, [μέρος α,
1998 εκδόσεις Γεωργιάδης] υπό έκδοσιν
http://pirforosellin.blogspot.gr/
- Επιτρέπεται η αναδημοσίευση του περιεχομένου της ιστοσελίδας εφόσον
αναφέρεται ευκρινώς η πηγή του και υπάρχει ενεργός σύνδεσμος(link
). Νόμος 2121/1993 και κανόνες Διεθνούς Δικαίου που ισχύουν στην Ελλάδα.
ΕΠΙΣΗΜΑΝΣΗ
Ορισμένα αναρτώμενα από το διαδίκτυο κείμενα ή
εικόνες (με σχετική σημείωση της πηγής), θεωρούμε ότι είναι δημόσια. Αν
υπάρχουν δικαιώματα συγγραφέων, παρακαλούμε ενημερώστε μας για να τα
αφαιρέσουμε. Επίσης σημειώνεται ότι οι απόψεις του ιστολόγιου μπορεί να μην
συμπίπτουν με τα περιεχόμενα του άρθρου. Για τα άρθρα που δημοσιεύονται εδώ,
ουδεμία ευθύνη εκ του νόμου φέρουμε καθώς απηχούν αποκλειστικά τις απόψεις των
συντακτών τους και δεν δεσμεύουν καθ’ οιονδήποτε τρόπο το ιστολόγιο.308.
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