Taskscape
Encyclopedia
The term taskscape is often credited to social anthropologist
Tim Ingold
. As Ingold has described the term: "just as the landscape
is an array of related features, so – by analogy – the taskscape is an array of related activities." Taskscape, then is a socially constructed space of human activity, understood as having spatial boundaries and delimitations for the purposes of analysis. Of key importance, is that taskscape as well as landscape, is to be considered as perpetually in process rather than in a static or otherwise immutable state.
Tim Ingold coined the term in his 1993 article defining the spatial and temporal dimensions of the landscape
in human life. He considers it as a methodological structure and analyses the temporality of the landscape in Pieter Bruegel's
famous painting, The Harvesters
.
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
Tim Ingold
Tim Ingold
Tim Ingold is a British social anthropologist, currently Chair of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He was educated at Leighton Park School and Cambridge University...
. As Ingold has described the term: "just as the landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
is an array of related features, so – by analogy – the taskscape is an array of related activities." Taskscape, then is a socially constructed space of human activity, understood as having spatial boundaries and delimitations for the purposes of analysis. Of key importance, is that taskscape as well as landscape, is to be considered as perpetually in process rather than in a static or otherwise immutable state.
Tim Ingold coined the term in his 1993 article defining the spatial and temporal dimensions of the landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
in human life. He considers it as a methodological structure and analyses the temporality of the landscape in Pieter Bruegel's
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Flemish renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes . He is sometimes referred to as the "Peasant Bruegel" to distinguish him from other members of the Brueghel dynasty, but he is also the one generally meant when the context does...
famous painting, The Harvesters
The Harvesters
The Harvesters is an oil on wood painting by Pieter Bruegel in 1565. The painting is one in a series of six works, five of which are still extant, that depict different times of the year. As in many of his paintings, the focus is on peasants and their work...
.