On the necessity of decisions.
Today one of the supervising archaeologists said this:
If we are not making decisions we are not solving the problem. You have to take a decision when you are digging. If it is a correct decision then it’s fine – you are doing things well. But if it was a wrong decision, the fact that you know it was a wrong decision will help you understand what was going on – so that you can solve the problem. But if you are not making a decision, you will be moving around the problem without solving it. So this is why we have to take decisions. Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are not right – that’s it.
This reminds me of Brecht’s ‘right to fail’ – relevant in so many situations. Obviously it applies when I draw – especially fast sketching, which is a hit and miss affair when decisions have to be made on the spur of the moment. But it is also apparent in my film making, where I must take decisions to select what to use out of the chaotic mound of material, in order to create an impression of the dig – rather than get bogged down in trying to represent everything literally.
The film, by the way, is now progressing and I hope to have something to show the archaeologists before the end of this year’s dig.
Two drawings today:
Work in Trench J, around a hearth, and an update on the corner of loveliness.
Finally a watercolour of mist sitting on the hills behind Trench T.
Don’t forget that all the news from the Ness of Brodgar can be seen on the Dig Diary at http://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk
