archaeography

The Cliffs of Moher
Co. Clare, Ireland
July 2004

Production de l’espace was published in 1974. H. Lefebvre’s conceptualization of space is very complex (perhaps this is why archaeologists have not often embraced it), and a real synopsis is far beyond the scope of these comments. What really strikes me, however, is his insistence that an understanding of space may be approached only through an understanding of the body’s role in the production of space. I do not do justice to his argument to boil it down to two main thoughts, but I did find these to be essential underlying points. First, that space is understood in relation to the body’s space. The body is space and has its space. It is deployed in space and occupies space – it produces itself in space and produces that space itself. Furthermore, when space (and here is meant both physical space and social space) becomes confusing and we begin to lose its origins, it is a common practice, at least in Western societies, to resort to organic metaphors: the Church claims a head, a body, she gathers in the faithful to her breast. Second, that space is constructed, perceived, and comprehended through the lived experience of the body. We create space with the gestures and spatio-temporal rhythms of our bodies -- e.g., bodies walking through a marketplace on a daily basis create that space with that rhythmic movement. All five senses combine to produce space, and it is by paying attention to all five senses and our spatio-temporal rhythms that we can earn a clearer perception of the space we have created.