----- Original Message -----
From: JRhodes <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 2:21 PM
Subject: Authenticity


>I want to distinguish the "authentic
> surviving artifact", from replacements adhering to authentic
> technique: Williamsburg and Sakkara for example, and to exchange
> other thoughts we have on "doing the right thing" vs."preserving the
> original fabric".
>
> Actually the agenda is still in flux.  Your thoughts?
>

Reverend,

Who gets to define "right"?  Doing the right thing is almost entirely
dependent on practicalities.  Preserving the original fabric might sometimes
BE the right thing to do, depending on whether or not your interest lies in
the art of the thing, the use of the thing, the process by which the thing was
created, or maybe the process by which the thing is maintained, or the way
in which it will be used tomorrow.

This might seem a little simplistic, but I've never ceased to be amazed at
the amount of miscommunication that occurs among project participants when
definitions are not agreed on as a very first step.  In a management class I took,
this first step was called "defining the universe".  Only after everyone concerned,
from project professional to owner  to end user, is on the same page, can the level of
authenticity required be determined.

After all, one person's work of art may be another person's restored outhouse.  The
important thing is how the outhouse will be used, and by whom.

Deb

PS  At IPTW, I upset one of the presenters by asking too many questions about the
nature of the material and the process being demonstrated.  He was intent on showing
us how to do a certain task a certain way, using certain materials that were used during
a certain time in the past, by a certain group in a specific location.  I was interested
in
determining whether this technology or method could have been or could be now,
transplanted to another geographical location or place in time, using material that might
have been, or could be now, at hand.  In his eyes, even if I were to use the exact method
he was demonstrating, but use some different although comparable material, I would not be
creating anything of value, because it would not be "authentic".  I remember thinking
at the time, "yeah, and you're not Pennsylvania German either, so does that mean your
product isn't authentic?",  but I kept it to myself.


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