One origin of the Metamedia Lab in Stanford University's Archaeology Center lies in a conversation between Michael Shanks and Cliff McLucas of Brith Gof. It was about performance and archaeological theory - a conjuncture of media and material remains - [link].
Ultimate background - the power of theory to bridge and connect.
They had a dream to create a center for deep mapping.
They placed a name on a door, a sign of what was already happening.
It grew from there, drawing on a lot that MS had been doing for a while - going back to his work with ceramic artists Helen Simpson (later Helen Shanks) and Mick Casson, performance artists Mike Pearson and members of Brith Gof, including Cliff McLucas. A lot of this was captured in the books Experiencing the Past and Theatre/Archaeology. See also The Three Landscapes Project.
And new models for the laboratory and studio - [link]
Dan Levin of Intuit had commented that this was all about meta-archaeology (as has Alison Wylie). Then Joe Adler suggested shaping it all round the notion of meta-media. MS brought in two of his graduate students in archaeology Chris Witmore and Tim Webmoor. Then more and more students, colleagues and friends starting joining.
Another way of thinking of where Metamedia comes from is through an intellectual trajectory that takes in - archaeological theory - material culture studies - topology/chorography - site specificity - material presence - material media - performance as a design method - embodiment and the somatic - percolating time - the qualities of things - the concept of multiplicity and noise - making as cultural production ...