Kristan Marshall: Use of archives lecture 16/3/15

Kristan Marshall lecture revolved around archives, in particular, MMUs special collections. She talked to us mainly about one specific project she did where she was looking at a 'Butterfly Book' (Box 148, anon 1856-1858.) It is a beautiful Victorian Book in which hundreds of butterflies have been pressed into the book (not dissimilar to flower pressing) in a process where the pigment of the scales remains on the paper, giving an impression of the individual butterflies. She talked about how all the aspects of the book and discoveries she made, such as: ghosting, (when the gauche creates on imprint onto the back of the paper) and haloing, (when light is captured around the wings edges) helped her to progress her initial ideas and build a solid, unique concept. I found it particularly interesting, as I myself have a strong interest in entomology, therefore I was intrigued to see the direction her findings would take her. It came as a surprise the almost detective like nature the project took, after the discovery of the funeral card. It led to her researching into the family who donated the book to the archive and having to piece their lives together from the fragments she uncovered. Overall a very interesting lecture.