Lambros Malafouris and Maria Danae Koukouti, “The Art and Philosophy of Mirror Gazing: An Anthropological Guide”

Looking at one's face in the mirror and finding one's self in the mirror are not the same. The former capacity is something we share with other animals; the latter is a skill: something we have to learn. What does it mean and what does it take to find oneself the mirror? This lecture, and the book from which it derives, attempts a comparative anthropological enquiry into the unity and diversity of mirror gazing. We will discuss a range of case studies weaving together anthropology with philosophy and semiotics. Our master metaphor will be that of the mirror as trap. Mirror gazing is viewed on a par with hunting. Mirroring signifies the hunt for self-knowledge. In a time obsessed with the digital self-image, we reflect on the structures of consciousness that underpin the different ways of looking at and through the mirror. Combining metaphor, comparison and estrangement, we gesture towards a therapeutic alliance between body and mirroring.

Lambros Malafouris is Associate Professor in Cognitive Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology , Tutorial Fellow at Hertford College and Fellow by Special Election at Keble College, University of Oxford (UK). His research focuses on the interaction between cognition and material culture, exploring the effects of materiality in human cognitive life (both past and present), being the main exponent and creator of Material Engagement Theory (MET). He is the Principal Investigator of the project HANDMADE: Understanding Creative Gesture in Pottery Making (European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant).

Maria Danae Koukouti is Research Assistant at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Oxford (UK).

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