Visual Anthropology Review, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 57-71, ISSN 1053-7147, online ISSN 1548-7458. ©2005 by the American Anthropological Association, all rights reserved. Send requests for permission to reprint to: Rights and Permissions, University of California Press; Journals Division; 2000 Center Street, Suite 303; Berkeley, CA 94704-1223. 57 CHRISTOPHER L. WITMORE Through the exploration of a hybrid space between artist and archaeological production, this article discusses the implications of peripatetic video, a form of located media, as a means of moving beyond the limits of conven- tional representation. While critical of archaeological dealings with issues of bodily experience and place, the article suggests an alternative is to be found in the work of media artist Janet Cardiff. Building on Cardiff’s art, media are treated as modes of engagement for dealing with the articulation of bodily experience and place. This article works towards a notion of mediation through which qualities of the material world, normally left behind by traditional forms of documentation, are brought forth. To this end, it details the effectiveness of peripatetic video in dealing with material presence and bodily experience at four sites of cultural and archaeological significance in Crete, Greece. [Key words: bodily experience; mediation; modes of engagement; peripatetic video; place] INTRODUCTION In the mid–20th century, E. H. Gombrich in his essay “Art and Scholarship,” set an agenda for scholars by characterizing what he envisioned to be a profitable relationship between the fields of artistic production and the work of the academy. For Gombrich, what counts in the world of art “is the search, the constant probing, the taking of risks in experimentation” (1963:118). He believes that “in this respect scholarship can always profit from the spirit of art to venture into the unknown rather than to apply and repeat what has already been done” (1963:118). Following his argument, scholar- ship could in turn contribute to art through the ap- plication of its critical sensibilities. It could expose the roots of artistic endeavor and enrich its network of meanings to the mutual benefit of art and scholarship: “In clarifying the memory of the past, [scholarship] can pin down and render innocuous those catch- words which buzz around the artist’s ears” (Gom- brich 1963:118). Despite the changing character and configuration of scholarly production in anthropol- ogy and archaeology, these sentiments continue to be relevant after 50 years. Still, Gombrich maintained a distinction between art and scholarship. He saw these as two disparate fields separated by familiar and hardened boundaries. Taking direction from Gombrich, this article has arisen out of an exploration of a hybrid space between art and scholarship in the context of archaeology. 1 With this hybrid space I believe comes a change in the nature of the relationship between art and scholarship. In place of a contrast between two discrete entities, I deal with the blurring of boundaries and the articula- tion of connections. Further, I want to emphasize that through this hybrid space, sensibilities from art and archaeology have the potential to inform each other in ways that not only broaden our range of expression but also push our practical and theoretical practice in new and exciting directions. 2 In what follows I explore the issue of mediating, more than merely representing, two fundamental nodes of archaeological thinking—experience and place (Shanks 1992:1; Pearson and Shanks 2001:121). Con- trary to conventional modes of scholarly documentation and inscription, which rely on a model of linguistic representation, I offer a concept of mediation. 3 While representation in archaeological production often gets caught up in closed narratives because of its affinity with language as the basis of documentation, mediation FOUR ARCHAEOLOGICAL ENGAGEMENTS WITH PLACE MEDIATING BODILY EXPERIENCE THROUGH PERIPATETIC VIDEO