THE MYSTICAL FIGURINES
NOT
DISCOVERED IN CROATIA
WHY, YES, YOU ARE!
A LITTLE MORE ON "FAKE NEWS", PSEUDOARCHAEOLOGY, AND A BIT OF HONEST INTEREST.
While working on the series "Venus Figurines of the Pelješac" , I wanted to experience part of the work of an archaeologist, to immerse myself in the role of a historian and journalist, in order to remind the observer not to believe everything he sees.
In the end - after the reactions online, after reactions of friends and family - and after reactions of visitors - I may say, I'm very happy.
If this is your first introduction to my works;
Hi! I am Magdalena Modrić, sculptor from Croatia. If you'd like to see more of my works, I've linked instagram, facebook, youtube and linked in below - as well as my official website.
"Fake news" is a term that originated in the late nineteenth century, and refers to news that is presented as real through various media, with the aim of damaging the reputation of the subject, making money, and intimidating or manipulating the public. When searching for "fake news ai", search engines also offer numerous "fake news" generators that give the user the opportunity to create their own fake news. Pseudoarchaeology is the interpretation of the past by people who are not professional archaeologists and who ignore or "disprove" the theories, analytical methods of the discipline, and the conclusions of professionals. They use artifacts, sites, and collected materials to construct their theories.
From the very beginning, the process of work created the possibility that once the entire project is publicly available, the audience can, using the Internet, find the truth in less than two clicks; see how individual figurines were made, painted, broken, repaired, buried. In the hope that someone would question the authenticity, I shared several videos when they were finished, but that did not happen. All interactions with the materials came from people who believed that the Venuses were real.
I was surprised that, even after the opening ceremony where Mrs. Lana Filippi Brkić (dipl.nov.), the headmaster of the Centre of culture in Korčula, held the introduction in the theme of fake news, explaining how these are NOT REAL, people still browsed through catalogs, put them down and thought, "Oh well, what a nice work the archaeologists do so close around us", later asking questions where exactly were they found.
I felt I did a good job in making these believably paleolithic-looking figurines.
However, that was not my primary goal.
The truth is, I used a fact people were already used to - for the past 20, and intensively so for past 5 years - the archeologists have been constantly discovering something on Pelješac - but all those finds are mostly of Illyrian period; they are much, much younger than supposed Venus figurines would have been - had they really been found.
Archeologists finding another thing on Pelješac? Just another day.
I even used a glimpse of reality in the mockumentary, which made people relax as they watched - those were the facts they already knew.
Funnily enough, just two days later, a new site was uncovered on Pelješac. A real one, of course. I texted my family: "Real or cake?"
It was only then that I was finally content with my hard work.
A dear neighbor of mine stopped by, touching on the subject and added with humor; "After those figurines of yours, I no longer believe anything they find!"
That is exactly what I wanted - for people to be sceptic, suspicious, ask questions, fact check, investigate. We are potential victims of phishing, scams of all kinds... So why not read the small letters and google for ourselves? Even when something is so well documented and even tangible?