One of the first pieces I created under the umbrella "Hoarded Spaces" project was "Museum Drawers." I was thinking of the repatriation of Native American bones and artifacts from museum “collections.” Two compelling lines of poetry came to mind: "In the hoarded spaces of museum drawers, the bones of my ancestors lie.” I never finished the poem, but I created four drawers containing small bones under plexi on the back side. The fronts, pictured above, display oracle bone text, which I had been studying as part of an ongoing series of paintings about identity and language. The bones were discovered in China and date to around 200 BC. At first, they were ground up and used for medicinal purposes. Later, scholars noticed that the bones—usually ox scapula or turtle shells—were covered with symbols. The symbols proved to be the first written form of the Chinese language, which subsequently became known as oracle bone text.
Oracle bones were used by special priests to ask questions and divine answers. Thinned and polished by the priests, some of the bones were incised with questions; some record the answers and even the outcomes. The bones were drilled and a heated rod or burning twig inserted until cracks developed. The priests interpreted the pattern of the cracks to answer questions about sacrifices, relations with the spirits, crops and the weather, war, hunting and fishing, travel, illness, and prospects for the coming week. Some questions were directed towards revered ancestors whose living descendants believed in their power to influence events.
I saw the collection of oracle bones as representative of all collections, which are essentially hoards. Collection of artifacts from other cultures presents problems of the culture of origin, some of which persist today.
Oracle bones were used by special priests to ask questions and divine answers. Thinned and polished by the priests, some of the bones were incised with questions; some record the answers and even the outcomes. The bones were drilled and a heated rod or burning twig inserted until cracks developed. The priests interpreted the pattern of the cracks to answer questions about sacrifices, relations with the spirits, crops and the weather, war, hunting and fishing, travel, illness, and prospects for the coming week. Some questions were directed towards revered ancestors whose living descendants believed in their power to influence events.
I saw the collection of oracle bones as representative of all collections, which are essentially hoards. Collection of artifacts from other cultures presents problems of the culture of origin, some of which persist today.