Dean Sully

Academic position: Associate Professor of Heritage Conservation

Department: Institute of Archaeology

Telephone number: +44 (0) 20 7679 7497听

Biography:

My work seeks to听re-situate听heritage听practice from maintaining the metastable authenticity of heritage places, towards co-curating听ecosociologically听constituted听multispecies worlds.听This is addressed via听transarticulating听sympoietic听framing听that听brings creative practice and heritage processes into flux through experimental science-art听worldings.听It听utilises听temporality,听time travel,听projected pasts and retrospective futures, to challenge the chronological linearity of time. The mechanism of听retroactive听causality, in creating a past or future so real that it casts its shadow over the present and creates the conditions in retrospect in which this past becomes the preferred future reality.听Speculative听design, broken听worlds, truth &听insouciance,听as听methods for听future making/world building,听are used听to move beyond the plausible future and shape preferable futures.听This听provides a speculative exploration of heritage care for living as-well-as-possible in more-than-human worlds.听

Research Projects:

Objects of the听Misanthropocene, a Time Travelling Exhibition of Insouciant Objects from the Museum of Beyond.听

Temporary听Exhibition as part听of听乱伦秀 Slade Scientist in Residence听2019-2020.听听

This temporary exhibition presents a certain future perspective on our uncertain present. Archaeological and geological artefacts of the听Misanthropocene听have been fabricated to reflect things that inhabit a range of future worlds (from fiction and non-fictional accounts of the Anthropocene). These credible future worlds provide a location from which to situate a critical assessment of our present choices. The fabricated exhibits are presented as a selection of time traveling objects loaned from the Museum of Beyond, a future museum at the edges of the Anthropocene.听 The exhibits are interpreted in the exhibition text panels and labels from a听pluriversity听of curatorial perspectives that reveal the transtemporal misunderstandings that occur with the translation between worlds. This raises concerns about the instability of the speculative pasts authorised by heritage practice, alongside the reality of our speculations about the future.

Teaching:

The MA in Built Heritage Futures听(proposed start 2023) forms part of Culture Lab鈥檚 suite of cross-Faculty, transdisciplinary, specialist, postgraduate degree programmes听乱伦秀-E Culture Lab.