Rocks in Their Heads: The “Landscape and You” Experience
Abstract
Humanity has had a long relationship with rocks including collecting them. This article argues that humans collect and use rocks for many for many purposes: utilitarian, economic, scientific, sacred, decorative and mnemonic. The collected rock acquires meaning different from the rock in situ. This meaning can be communal or personal, connected to events, real or mythic, or to place. The rock can act as a sign or tell a story. It can be seen as a metonym of the landscape. Or it can be viewed as a synecdoche, the part standing in for the whole, for a landscape or an experience. The meaning of the collected rock or the rock collection varies from person to person and can change over time.
Keywords
rocks, collections, stories, histories, landscapes, Australia culture, iconography, fossickers, souvenirs, clubs, pastimes
Author Biography
George Karpathakis
George Karpathakis, a graduate from both the Western Australian Institute of Technology and the Australian Film and Television School, having worked in the film and video industry for over twenty years, is a latecomer to post-graduate studies. Producing and directing the television series Landscape and You (1996) sparked his interest in Landscape Studies and he hopes to apply his research work in this area to future film-making.