Figuring it out

Archeologist Colin Renfrew and sculptor Antony Gormley share a journey through materiality, memory and the body — asking how ancient bones and cast human forms both tell the story of being.

Drawing on Renfrew’s influential book Figuring It Out, this short film reflects on archaeology not merely as a science of classification, but as an interpretive practice deeply connected to creativity and imagination. Antony Gormley’s sculptural practice—particularly his use of his own body as both subject and material—provides a contemporary parallel to archaeological inquiry. His casts echo ancient bones and fragments: traces of lived bodies that invite interpretation rather than fixed meaning. Through Renfrew’s reflections and Gormley’s work, the film reveals how both disciplines have moved beyond the isolated object toward an understanding of context, process, and human activity.

Filmed across landscapes and sites resonant with deep time, Figuring It Out invites the viewer to look differently at objects, bodies, and remains. It proposes that archaeology and art share a common task: to read material evidence as a record of human presence, creativity, and memory across time.

DURATION: 14’23”