Paradata: Example of an artist-researcher's curriculum vitae

Paradata: Example of an artist-researcher's curriculum vitae

Andrew Gryf Paterson

Aalto ARTS dept. Art+Media, doctoral seminar 27.3.2024. 16:00 – 18:00. 

Join on Zoom: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/65869231859 

Presentation abstract:

In artistic and media research it is assumed in the process there is data to be considered and interpreted, metadata about that data, and then there is paradata about the process or practice of how that data was produced, organised and represented. Paradata can include a variety of forms: media, narratives, methods, actors involved in the research, and additional references.

This presentation will introduce this nested set of data and the inter-relations between them with the example of an artist-researcher's curriculum vitae as a boundary object. It is considered from different professional perspectives, and it’s manifestation as an iterative phyigital artefact which manifests in both digital and physical form, changing and developing over time.

This conception of the curriculum vitae is at the centre of Andrew Gryf Paterson's Doctoral of Arts thesis in the dept. of Art+Media titled 'Autoarchaeologies' which reflects upon how to make sense of socially-engaged, multi-sited, process-orientated and durational processes. This article-based doctoral dissertation develops a particular practice-based methodology from an assemblage of practices - ‘Artist as.. -organiser, -researcher, -archivist, -archaeologist and -activist’ to reflect upon the author’s practice over an extended durational period of 2002-2020, mostly in Finland and Latvia, with particular focus on the later decade.

In the context of increased meta-data-augmented documentation of practices and everyday life, via ubiquitous mobile computing and online publishing platforms, there is arguably an increasing amount of personal (small or big) data to interpret and analysis. Critical activist-scholars are increasingly concerned with the age of surveillance capitalism, data-(self-)colonization. As a contribution to this field, this thesis chimes with the multitudes of data available about our own and others past activities, and the need to develop interpretative tools independent of corporate online platforms. It argues alongside prominent contemporary archaeological theorists that we can all (potentially) be archaeologists and narrators of our own personal data. This author joins the argument that we urgently need ways to take back control of our personal data on our own terms, and find ways to decolonize ourselves from platform capitalism. It offers a slow research, long-overview and personal approach, via practice-based research, of self-determination in how we can tell about our past, but also the potential freedom to share our lives in present and future societies.

More information about doctoral thesis as abstract (without bibliography):
https://archive.org/details/paterson-2023-autoarchaeologies-da-thesis-abstract-091023-without-bibliography

Artist-research curriculum vitae in archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/agryfp-cv-resume

Short bio / resumé

Andrew Gryf Paterson (he/they) is an ‘artist-organiser’, cultural producer, educator and independent researcher, who specialises in developing and leading inter- and trans-disciplinary projects exploring connections between art, digital culture and science, cultural activism, ecological and sustainability movements, cultural heritage and collaborative networks. Originally from Scotland, Paterson has been most active in Helsinki, Finland, as well as Latvia and the Eastern Baltic Sea region, working across the fields of media/ network/ environmental arts and activism, pursuing a participatory practice through workshops, performative events, & storytelling.

Paterson has been active in multiple roles with Pixelache (Pikseliähky) Helsinki Festival since 2004 and is a member of the Finnish Bioart Society and Open Knowledge Foundation Finland since 2011. From this year onwards they work in the context of AvoinGLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums), and anticipate completing their long-term Doctor of Arts candidacy at Aalto University School of Arts, Design & Architecture, with the thesis title ‘Autoarchaeologies’.

Andrew Gryf Paterson portfolio/archive: http://www.agryfp.info

Doctoral supervision & advisor committee:

Supervisor in Aalto University

Prof. Dr. Lily Diaz-Kommonen, Head of Research at Media Dept. Aalto University School of Arts, Design & Architecture, research leader of Systems of Representation group in Medialab, Helsinki, FI. http://medialab.aalto.fi | http://sysrep.aalto.fi/

Advisor since 2015

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vytautas Michelkevičius, Head of Photography & Media Arts department & Head of Doctoral programme in Fine Arts, Vilnius Academy of Arts, curator and author, Vilnius, LT. http://www.vda.lt | https://vilnius.academia.edu/VytautasMichelkevicius 

Advisor since 2020

Dr. Paul Reilly, Visiting Senior Fellow, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton, UK. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/pr1r12.page?