[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/flying_books.jpg” caption=”Fine arts students Victoria Alstein, Becky Katz and Jana Simms will accompany Earth sciences professor Jack Rink on an archeological dig in Florida. Simms, who specializes in bookbinding, created the flying books display in the lobby of the McMaster Museum of Art. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]Victoria Alstein doesn't mean to bash technology — she understands its convenience and importance — but she feels that in adhering too closely to technology, people are losing their ability to appreciate the skill and passion behind artistic expression.

And so, the fourth-year student in McMaster's fine arts program along with two fellow students will head to Wakulla Springs State Park in central Florida. Using mixed media — pencil and ink, carving, paint, charcoal, woodcarving and papermaking — Alstein along with Becky Katz and Jana Simms will record the physical and emotional side of an archeological dig, the old-fashioned way.

The students' interest began a few years ago when they began talking to Jack Rink, an Earth sciences professor in the Faculty of Science, who shared their interest in colors and gems. Rink's expertise in gemology, in turn, piqued their interest in archeology.

“I took some archeology courses and some in art history, and I became fascinated at how people once recorded events,” says Alstein. “Art was very important to communicate and share emotions and observations. We thought we could combine creative ideas and reinvent history and bring back this traditional form of note-taking using imagery. In doing so, we want to really show the artist's hand.”

Alstein and Katz work in mixed media — pencil and ink, carving, paint, charcoal and woodcarving.

When Rink was asked by National Geographic this year to join an expedition at Wakulla Springs to help date the archeological site, he immediately saw the potential for Alstein and Katz.

“In the 21st century, we've lost the ability to take artists on archeological expeditions to record the event from the human perspective,” said Rink. “Archeological digs are hugely emotional experiences and they change from one day to the next — everything can change in the space of 10 centimetres.”

Wakulla Springs is one of the most significant archeological sites in Florida. Evidence of Paleoindian culture dates back approximately 12,000 years, and prehistoric artifacts such as projectiles and Clovis points, and the fossilized remains of mastodons and other prehistoric animals indicate the area attracted lots of wildlife for Florida's First Peoples. In later years, the Park was used as the set for the first Tarzan movie (1941) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1953).

Simms, a papermaker and bookbinder, will try to make paper from natural raw materials — bark and plants — at the site that the artists will use as their medium. She will also sew smaller pieces of paper into larger leaves that will be used in the geological and archeological record of Rink's expedition.

“Photography is no longer enough,” says Katz. “It's good to remember where we came from and how we evolved — from time to time we need to pull ourselves back to traditional ways of doing things so we don't lose our knowledge of creating.”

After a week at Wakulla Springs, the artists will return to Hamilton, and Rink will continue his research in Florida where he is studying paleo shorelines, and sea turtles and magnetic fields.

McMaster's fine arts program is a small one with about 120 students. Their work is currently being exhibited at SUMMA 2008 at the McMaster Museum of Art until April 26.