Framework and Methodology

During the planning of this project three distinct categories emerged as useful themes under which to identify 'unknown' objects.

“unknown” - No idea on form, function or material

“misidentified” - Recognise similarity with other objects but insufficient data on detail

“known unknown” - We only know with certainity some of the form, function and material attributes

It was the original mission of this project to add visual symbols to help graphically signify an items ‘known’ status. This would have worked similar to the certification system used by the British Board of Film Certification in order to allow audiences to identify at a glance the tone/content of the media artefact they were about to engage with.

Sadly lack of time and resources made this difficult to implement with the default Omeka platform used for this exhibition.  

The following categories were also considered as additional fields for public display for the Unknown Project

• Provenance?
• What is Known?
• What is Unknown?
• Who Knows?

(These categories formed the ideological framework / tools of inquiry for this project)