Holes in the Archive - to fill or to leave, that is the question...

Abstract

The essay features in an issue of Bright Light dedicated to the idea of the substrate, and began as a paper in one of three symposia exploring the various interpretative investigations of the substrate, and how it impacts on, and informs different practices. Abstract: Holes in the archive - to fill or to leave, that is the question facing the researcher. The archive contains holes caused by lack of information. The dilemma of what to do when there is a missing link or a hole in evidence, generates new lines of thinking for knowledge production. Lacking hard facts leads to different research tactics, following hunches, reflexive and critical stock taking, asking questions and undertaking interviews. In conducting this process anecdotes surface. These accounts are often perceived to be trivial and of marginal research interest. In contradistinction, I assert the reverse, these hand-holds conjure the possibility of new animations. Penetrating the substrate or as I prefer 'substrata', is like plummeting the archive. This paper presents case studies from Peter Townsend's editorial archive of Studio International magazine where I have employed tactical and dynamic investigative processes