Dr Aaron Watson & Monumental
Timeline summary
2018: Photographic commission to record a collection of Bronze Age artefacts, the Coll Hoard, at Kilmartin Museum in Argyll.
2017: Presented a research paper on archaeological optics at the Theoretical Archaeology Conference, Cardiff University.
2017: The Orkney Gravity Battery. Film commissioned to document an arts and science project on Eday, commissioned by Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona / Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute.
2017: Curatorial Advisor for Kilmartin Museum's Redevelopment Project.
2017: Co-directed archaeological investigations at a rock art site in central Scotland, in collaboration with Professor Richard Bradley.
2017: Interviewed for radio documentary, Open Country, BBC Radio 4.
2017: Co-directed archaeological field walking research project in Sutherland, north-eastern Scotland, with Professor Richard Bradley
2017: Interviewed about archaeological visualization technologies for the Today Programme, BBC Radio 4.
2016: Salmon Spawning in the Lake District. A film portrait of salmon migration in north-west England, commissioned by West Cumbria Rivers Trust.
2016: A Celebration of Kilmartin Museum. Film commissioned for Kilmartin Museum's Redevelopment Project.
2014: Interviewed for radio documentary, The Sounds of Shapes to Come, RTÉ, Ireland
2014: Living Symbols of Kilmartin Glen. Multimedia installation and community sculpture project, with John Was. Kilmartin Museum.
2012: Digital Dwelling at Skara Brae. A film exhibited on site at World Heritage location of Skara Brae and simultaneously at Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney. Supported by Historic Environment Scotland.
2012: Photography and design for In the Footsteps of Kings, a guide to walks in the Kilmartin area, Argyll, commissioned and published by Kilmartin House Museum
2012: Research paper presented, by invitation, at Sounds from Silence symposium hosted by Cornell University, USA. The sound of stones: experiments in Multimedia Archaeology.
2011: Research paper presented, by invitation, at Tuned City Tallin, a performance arts event and festival staged in Tallin, Estonia. The sound of megalithic monuments: from Skara Brae to Stonehenge.
2011: Orkney: monuments and transformation. A film commissioned by University of Edinburgh, and screened at the George Square Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the Palaeophonics performance event.
2008 - 11: Artist in residence/illustrator for AHRC funded research project, Kilmartin, Argyll. University of Southampton. Co-authors a book following investigating rock art in Argyll. Jones, A., Freedman, D., O’Connor, B., Lamdin-Whymark, H., Tipping, R., Watson, A. 2011. An Animate Landscape: rock art and the prehistory of Kilmartin, Argyll, Scotland. Oxford: Windgather Press.
2010: Ben Lawers Rock Art. Solo photographic touring exhibition, hosted by National Trust for Scotland.
2010: Film commissioned by Eden District Council: Stones from the Sky. On permanent display, Penrith and Eden Museum, Cumbria
2010: New Visions of the Past. Retrospective of painting and mixed media work staged by the Mill on the Fleet gallery, Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway.
2009: A Ripple on the World’s Pool with John Was: specially commissioned film screened inside York Minster at a performance event hosted by the University of York.
2008: Artworks exhibited, film screening and paper presented at the World Archaeology Congress, University College Dublin.
2008: Stone Reflector. Solo exhibition of paintings and mixed media, Kilmartin House Museum, Argyll.
2007 - 10: Co-directs excavations upon Ben Lawers with Professor Richard Bradley
2007: Kilmartin Eye, landscape installation with Steve Keeling: commissioned by Kilmartin House Museum, Argyll.
2007: Monumental Landscapes. Solo exhibition of painting and mixed media work at the Loft Gallery, St. Margaret’s Hope, Orkney.
2007: Carneddau film screened at Materialitas conference, University College Dublin.
2006: Paper presented by invitation at ‘Sound:Space’, a sonic arts symposium at the South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell. Acoustic archaeology.
2006: Paper presented by invitation at the Art in the Land conference, hosted by Glasgow School of Art. Journeys through monumental landscapes.
2006: Stones: Circles: Landscape: Art, curator for exhibition of artworks, multimedia and artefacts in collaboration with Simon Callery, Penrith and Eden Museum, Cumbria.
2005 - 8: Honorary University Fellow at the University of Exeter
2005: Monuments in colour. Solo exhibition hosted by the National Trust at Avebury, Wiltshire. Funded by Arts Council England.
2005: Featured on television documentary: Stonehenge: the Ultimate Experiment, Channel 5/Discovery Channel.
2004 - 5: Arts and Humanities Research Council funded artist, University of Reading
2004: Paper and performance, by invitation, at ‘Hidden Dimensions’ symposium, Department of Archaeology, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Acoustics and archaeology/ Monumental soundscapes.
2004: Presentation, by invitation, at ‘Gage – art, technology and individual’, event hosted by Hull Time-Based Arts. Stonehenge. Standing stones. Strange technology.
2004: Performance, by invitation, at the Department of Music, London Metropolitan University. Watson, A. and Was, J. 2004. Instruments of ritual: stone age monuments and sound.
2003: Featured on television documentary, Pagans, Granada TV.
2003: Paper presented, by invitation, at ‘Rethinking materiality/ Art as archaeology and archaeology as art’ symposium, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. Making space for monuments: notes on the representation of experience.
2003: Paper presented, by invitation at ‘Acoustics, space and intentionality’ symposium, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. In-between sound and silence: acoustics, intent and megalithic monuments.
2002: interview for television documentary, Unlocking the Past, Discovery Channel/ Readers Digest
2002: Keynote lecture, ‘Axe me another’ exhibition opening, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
2002: Interview for radio documentary: The first song, BBC Radio 4.
2002: Interview for television documentary: Unlocking the past, Discovery Channel/Readers Digest.
2002: Monumental founded
2001: Research featured in radio documentary: Stone age sound, BBC Radio 4/BBC Natural History Unit.
2001: Research featured on television documentary: Sounds from the stone age, part of the Secrets of the dead series, Channel 4.
2001: Paper presented, by invitation, at Society for American Archaeology conference, New Orleans, USA. A circle of sound: the unseen architecture of Stonehenge.
2000: interviewed for radio documentary: A history of the voice, BBC Radio 4.
2000: interviewed for radio documentary: Sounds of the stone age, part of the Unearthing mysteries series, BBC Radio 4.
2000 - 3: Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading.
2000: Completed PhD in archaeology at the University of Reading.
1998: Interviewed on television documentary: Science frontiers – ancient astronauts, Beyond Productions TV. Featured on television documentary: ‘Stonehenge: secrets of the stones’, Yorkshire TV/ Channel4/ Discovery Channel.
1995: Began investigation into the role of acoustics in the use of prehistoric monuments. first published in 1999 and was awarded prize for best first paper in the international journal, Antiquity.
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