At the End of the Day
With the sun setting over the Rio Grande basin, and the talk about talk involving Cochiti and Santo Domingo relations to ourselves passing into the night, we can now look forward to a new morning in the museum world, our world both past and present, re-presented in the present as it should be. And hopefully, this morning will bring the storm clouds that will drop those timeless raindrops that ensure the wisdom of the ages is transmitted to us in the here and now.
Until then let us sleep on the fact there is a world out there separate from us, without which knowledge about ourselves and others will be limited. And let us embrace that world, starting with pots. Let us start the morning with a promise, a promise that pots will no longer reside in a distant place – on a dusty old shelf in the basement or behind glass cases – where human hands cannot touch them and eyes cannot see them. Let’s make a commitment to set them free so that they might gain the breath to speak to us, and in the space that emerges between our respective positions thereby create an open-ness that allows for the experience where truth might blaze up before us in all its glory (phronesis) and answer once and for all what it “is” to “be” a pot, what it is to be a ‘man.’ How else might our wonder – and theirs – ever be transmitted? How else might we — and they – converse with one another about what is truly Cochiti and Santo Domingo, Greek and Roman, Japanese or Tsaaten?
Is this not what is being asked of the western tradition by our native friends? Whether Cochiti, Santa Domingo, Zuni or Hopi: are not these
peoples asking us, people who live amongst the dead white males in language, to consider for a moment that “archeological resources” are
not simply that, but true life forces, living beings, with wills of their own?30 Are we so insecure in our knowledge of ourselves and the world that we cannot step outside ourselves but for a
moment to consider such things? And in doing so, are we not engaged in centuries old practices of constantly challenging our identity in light of new experiences.
Such a query seems vitally important today, as we prepare to engage with the increasingly digital and virtual world of the metaverse. As we create avatars and other things, in much the same way we created pots, should we not ask ourselves whether they are subjects in their own right with rights or are they merely objects, dispossessed of rights, who are to be defined simply as our “property” or the “property” of others? In the former instance,, avatars and other things would be beings who quite possibly possess agency, who might possibly possess independent thought and who have souls, and thus would have a right independent of their “creators” to assert their own rights. In the latter instance, avatars and other things would be but objects, “valued” by external agents to be bought and sold according to market dictates.
Suddenly, we find ourselves on a slippery slope as past experiences with concepts of ownership and slavery echo in our collective memory. Think I am pushing the argument? As far back as 2016, simulation platforms have had to address perceived sexual harassment and assault in virtual worlds, with books being written and scholarly articles being published on appropriate responses ranging from removing bias in coding to creating virtual “safe zones,” suggesting a “Bill of Rights” for avatars, to recommending legislation to make it a new offence under the law, to actually passing legislation (in France) to make virtual harassment a crime.31 And such charges continue today. As recently as January 2022, charges of “groping” by other avatars known as “griefers” have been documented. So, might one question go to the core of the issue: who would claim recompense for the wrong committed, the “owner” of the avatar or the avatar him- or herself?
Tough questions to say the least. But situated in the river between two distinct cultures thinking about pots, maybe we can find a still pool, where at the bottom are no rocks but only pots fashioned specifically to hold words of wisdom for all across time.
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