Unit 2 Week 8 – Re-Inspired to write a post.

I’m fresh out of a seminar with Robert Urquhart. His honesty was really inspiring, he has great charisma and is a fab writer. So here I am, writing my piece 4 weeks after the last.

I could go into the details of all the theories, mini projects and various things I have planned for my group curatorial project and dissertation. But to be quite honest, I’m not really ready to share. Mostly because I have been feeling incredibly anxious over the last few weeks. Today’s session gave me a little bit of a lift and a kick up the butt to do something other than attempting to read.

I say attempting because my concentration is currently shot. My productivity has fallen through the floor and I am desperate to get out of the funk. I am conscious that I need to not be so hard on myself, so that awareness is there. How do I tackle it?

Well, maybe I reach into the sunny disposition that I know I have somewhere and try to put that into my work. And try not to fixate on the small things.

With that, I’m going to leave it there.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Franki

Week – I haven’t got a clue.

So I’ve had a break, with Easter and six deadlines, I haven’t had a moment to think, let alone write anything in addition to the coursework. So the new term, new attempt.  

On a side note to the academic work, I’ve been in self-isolation for nearly two weeks, and today has been my first day of freedom. Yes, I did get up at 7 just to go for a walk around the park. On week one of our second unit, I have a new spring in my step, ready to take on the next task.

Alison and Lee shared a new writing process and organising, so I am trying a new approach, blocking my time more seriously and practising free writing for 20 mins every day. So maybe this will be the space that I try to write every day? I’m not promising that I’ll publish it. After transcribing hours of spoken discussions, I realise the sheer volume of nonsense I say when I talk, in between the legitimate points I am trying to make.

I’ve finally realised the benefit of sharing my writing. It’s not like I didn’t know it would be helpful. I was just terrified. I feel like had I felt more encouraged to share writing earlier on in my youth, I wouldn’t have such a complex about it. Then again, I entirely blame my GCSE English teacher for giving me that complex. Aside from my minor PTSD from my school experience, I think my undergrad could have done more discussions on writing.  Sharing my work with my course mates is really helping, and working with people who produce beautiful work with fascinating subject matter; is really inspiring.

So other than my dissertation, Unit 2 is a mystery right now, and I’m ready for it.

Stiyu

Franki

Week Eleven - OK, OK, I FORGOT!

I admit it. I was far too preoccupied with my first essay hand over the last couple of weeks to even consider extra-curricular writing. But today is the last day before the Easter holidays, so so in a nutshell, weeks nine and ten were a blur. I read lots of cultural rights material. I’ve ordered a book on curatorial activism. Maybe I’ll just form my own Guerilla Girls. I’m all up for decolonising and giving power to the people.

I’m letting my hippy, socialist, freak flag fly. And it’s beautiful. I’ve spent hours pawing over books on the history of colour, Including a lovely book called An Atlas of Rare and Familiar Colour. Essentially, I’ve spent 3000 words to get to a point where I am basically calling Anish Kapoor a d***. Maybe I should have just put it in the footnotes? As a side note to this, I am super grateful that I have many friends and family willing to read my essay and help proofread. I’ve really needed it. I’m not sure if you can tell from this.

Aside from the essay, I have spent a bunch of time on the group project. This is just proving that I need to let go a little and let it happen. I’m not used to not having a grasp on a project, and I think I just need to switch my approach to be more supportive than productive. Every day’s a school day.

Our project is progressing, and I feel less worried about producing a podcast now. It feels achievable.  We are creating a limited series podcast talking to past, present students and lecturers, and I am so excited.  

Anyway, it’s the easter break, but with no real break because of the podcast. We’ll see what happens—link to various socials to follow. In the meantime, here is the Instagram for my first mini project at the beginning of the term. - Respirator Sphere

vertu sæll

Franki

Week 8 – Wait! What happened last week?

No surprise, I’m late on this again! As I sit down to write this I am struggling to remember what on earth happened last week?

We are doubling down on our curation project on Oral Histories, which is coming with its challenges. I’m so used to experiencing the research and creative part of projects on my own and making this project in a democracy is challenging.

I had a meeting with my tutor who is guiding the group project and she told me something that my therapist tells me all the time (*steps on soapbox* normalise mental health chat and therapy!*steps off of soapbox*). She told me that she thinks I might expect too much of myself and possibly of others. Yup! No surprise there. I am trying to knock this habit on the head but old habits etc…. But I am trying I promise.

In the meantime, work on my essay has slowed a little so I think it’s time to reach out for some help. So that’s my little goal for next week.

Ahh, here we are! I read Gillian Roses’ Visual Methodologies, which has helped. Then some more writing on Thick Description and Poor Images, which I need to put some more time into, It did not go in at all. I have no idea what I read! But I suppose not everything can stick right?

Hyvästi

Franki

Week Seven – Two for the price of one

I’m really late with this one but thankfully this is mostly down to actually being productive and getting pulled down some interesting rabbit holes. So, with that I’ll reflect on last week and I’ll tackle this week over the weekend (I definitely cannot guarantee this)

Last week was a mixture of frustration and success, we’ve had student rep meetings and began a coffee & complaining teams meeting to help give everyone the space to just relax together. Online study feels very much like we are always trying to cram the learning in and with no casual walk to the tube station after class, there’s no real space for genuine bonding outside of the coursework itself.

At the beginning of the year, I joined a few societies, but honestly it looks like only the curation one seems to have stuck, which I don’t think is a bad thing. I am mixing with students from other courses. Even if it is just for an hour a week. It feels like there is a natural conversation and we are working on a project which will hopefully connect me with some student artists and not to sound too pretentious ‘expand my network’.  All in all, joining The Curation Society seems to be a good thing.

Aside from that we had a Life After talk from an MA CCC graduate and she’s been working on a project that she had to put to onside because of the pandemic that I really want to be involved in. I’ve reached out to her, maybe this could be a great post pandemic / graduation project? Or maybe sooner? Who knows.

So, it was less about the course and more about university life and the beyond last week.

ลาก่อน

Franki

Week Six – trying to feel fabulous as I Sashay into week seven.

Well, it’s been a week, I’m beginning to get to grips with my first essay. A structure is starting to appear, it feels less like I’m staring into a black abyss of cultural theory. I am taking this as a good thing right now. I’m really enjoying reading about the various ideas about cultural rights and the legislations that have been put in place. Although what it is revealing is also a bunch of corporate numpties who believe it’s their right to monopolise cultural resources. Let’s be honest, the is not surprising in the slightest. 

I’ve been sent this framework for learning by Richard Freyman. Who, although he is a physicist, has a philosophy when it comes to learning and teaching that I think I can apply to my own learning that can help me digest the texts. 

It also confirms to me that whatever I write about I 100% want it to be accessible. I’m determined to present the theorical waffling into something that will be interesting to read and still tick the boxes of what I want and need to achieve for this course.  

Next week looks to be a good week of discussions. Monday we’re looking at Drag and Dance hall culture. Paris is Burning is such a well put together documentary that it hardly felt like homework and reading about the drag queen Vaginal Davis a.k.a. Dr Davis was enlightening. I had never considered drag queen’s in the punk scene, and there they were. What an incredible story.  

Well, off I go! *insert drag slang here*  

Tchau!

Franki 

Week Five – New Habits Die Hard.

Well at least I’m in the habit of missing the habitual deadline!

I’m in the process of essay planning and getting everything together so I’ve been total spent of energy to reflect on the last week.

Now there’s been lots of thoughts about Decolonisation of Spaces, Museums etc. Part of me still thinks that this wouldn’t all feel so draining if the language that is used by these theorists wasn’t so uptight and overcomplicated. They wouldn’t need to iterate their point so often if the line were a little more direct. How about we “decolonise” the language of academia and make it more accessible. Losing the stuffy traditionalist methods might bring in a wider range of people to the subject area, which does appear to be an issue. In the meantime, I will continue to break down this language so I can digest it myself.

This is just my opinion though, a guttural response to some of the language I am presented with. We spent time looking at the board of trustees of the British Museum and Tate, they are both unsurprisingly largely White and Rich, I know, shocker!

This lack of inclusion is also mirrored in our Oral Histories project, we have a collection of Audio files from past students and tutors we are listening to. Mostly white interviewee’s, it makes me think that more of these interviews need to be recorded to show a more recent cohort of CSM. Possibly graduates from the 80’s and if we are not able to find a more racially representative reflection of British culture, maybe that needs to be addressed.

Adjö

Franki

Week Four – Whats, Whose And Whys?

Well, I missed my personal deadline to Friday afternoon to write this again, I am so full of thoughts that it completely slipped my mind.

I read a small section of Hélène Cixous’ Stigmata this week about her experience in Algeria and the not-so-small matter of her French citizenship, having it taken away from her in 1940. Nationality and Citizenship provides a lot of comfort for some. Whilst being born in London spent much of my childhood on the Isle of Man, so I would consider myself Manx above all. Having a fiercely proud Scottish Dad, I have always felt a strong connection to my Celtic routes, more so than the fact of being born in England. I will never say I am English because I am and feel British.

I can only imagine what that must feel like to have that citizenship taken away from you, however the idea that you cannot return to the country that you come from is something that I can empathise with. With Covid-19 I cannot see my family on the island, their restrictions are so fierce that the only way I could go is if a family member were gravely ill. So, I am thankful that I cannot go, as my family are all healthy. It’s a tentative link but it’s where my thoughts went.

Any way! Heritage has been a large part of this week, so it’s been a lot to think about. I am spending a lot of time being subjective, I need to work towards being more objective in these matters.

Linda Nochlin has been another great read, Why has there been no great women artists? Well, it’s hard to ignore the misogyny and systemic gender bias in history. I think I’ll have more to say on this after Thursday this week.

Adío!

Franki

P.S. I posted this without mentioning Nimco and I finally revealed our project the Respirator Sphere.

Week Three – Oops, with the best intentions.

I’m writing this four days later than I intended. Better late than never, no? I got completely swept up thinking about our new projects.

We have a group curation project, we had the choice of three topics – Botanicals, Barbara Sawyer and Oral Histories. I decided to go for the Oral Histories as my first choice and Barbara Sawyer as my second. So, here I am now thinking about how we can present an Oral Histories project where the archive is a stack of digital files. My brain is buzzing with thoughts.

I also have ideas for my solo assignment which is a 3,000-word essay and a symposium. I have an idea but before I get carried away (I am of course already down the rabbit hole, Oops, again). I should run this by the tutors to make sure I’m not going to off topic. Then again maybe I can if I keep thinking critically.

The critical thinking side of things is not coming naturally to me, but I’m starting to see a difference in how I’m digesting text. Reading and writing more is helping with that as well as discussing the texts with my course mates. Sharing my thoughts helps.

The texts have been thought provoking, I spent most of my time looking at Marshall McLuhan, he seems to have predicted a lot of how technology developed. His thinking is fascinating and accessible, which also helps!

The big one for me this week was reading George Yudice’s Cultural Diversity and Cultural Rights. It’s definitely piqued my interest and makes me want to dig further into this idea of Cultural Rights…who knows…maybe it’s the start of something?

Arrivederci

Franki

Week Two – How not to present your work.

Well, the start of this week felt like I crashed and burned in the space of five minutes. My presentation didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped, my years out of academia showing like a blaring neon sign saying I’m out of my depth.

Thankfully, I have some terrific tutors. Lee recommended to me that I needn’t worry and just keep reading so that’s what I’m going to do.

The question, ‘What is Culture?’ is very much at the heart of this week’s work, and I feel like it’s going to take some time to unpack this. Reading Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams and Sara Salem, I found Salem’s writing to be a fascinating piece on Transnational Feminism with her take on Angela Davis’s work with Egyptian feminist activists in the 1970’s. I have since moved up Angela Davis’ book Women, Race and Class up my ‘to read’ list.

Closer to home Raymond William’s piece entitled ‘Culture is Ordinary’ from 1958; gave his interpretation of culture while mixing in a storytelling narrative of living in Wales, while he leans on the teachings of Marx and F.R. Leavis to guide his definition.

Finally, Stuart Hall, looks at culture in terms of the word heritage, he acknowledges that colonisation and slavery are connected to the ordinary life of the British population, despite there being a selective memory loss on the impact of the ‘Empire’.

Now it’s Friday night and I am looking at the next chunk of reading to do. It’s getting interesting and I am determined not to be intimidated by it.

Adiós!

Franki

Week One and Done.

I made it! First week of post-graduate education and I am exhausted, but in a really good way! I have renewed energy and excitement for what the next year will bring.

This week was mostly an introduction to the school and its style. Oh! and I am counting it a blessing in disguise that we are, for the first term, doing this all online.  Everyone is figuring out this new online education world, so my cover hasn’t been blown yet that I am rusty hell when it comes to academic studies!

I’m still working my way through Anna Green’s book Cultural History which is helping when it comes to easing me into it all. Carolyn Steedman’s book Dust was a total joy to read and I think I might just read it again to keep it fresh.

Our course leader Alison Green and coordinator Lee Weinberg wasted no time in giving us reading assignments which were fascinating and compelling. Joshua Decter, and his piece At the Verge of Curatorial Transparency was an engaging and charismatic, and has me adding yet another book to my ‘want to read’ list – Art Is A Problem…

We’ve met our course tutors and they all have such varied interests and areas of study. I’m definitely keen to find out more about Carolina Albano’s research into emotions.

I’ve been paired up with Nimco Hussein to produce a project over the next few weeks and I am not going to spoil the surprise just yet!

But that is the end of week one, I have some reading to do and some wine to drink.

À bientôt,

Franki

P.S. Check out Feminist Internet

NEW YEAR, NEW APPROACHES

Well Happy New Year!

I have already tried to rewrite the opening to this new Blog, and I think my first?. I’m the kind of person that journals for a few days in a row then doesn’t bother for another 3 months and one notebook covers about five years of sporadic ramblings, awful grammar and hideous spelling!

So, with this first post I will share that alongside my lighting design projects and creative development. I am excited to say I am now an enrolled student at UAL: Central Saint Martin’s studying my Masters in Culture, Criticism and Curation.

I plan to use this space to document my reading, findings and opinions on the subject matter once a week, just to keep track of my journey over the course of this really exciting year.

Next week, the course begins. We’ve been advised that the next month of lectures will all be taking place online due to a new variant of the coronavirus being more transmittable and unsurprisingly post holidays there has been a surge in cases. However, this is not the space to document the virus, although I expect it will not be the last time that it will impact studies and daily life.

I have prepared for next week by reading the recommended Dust by Carolyn Steedman and working my way through Anna Green’s Cultural History. It’s been a process of adjusting my mindset into the academic style. I have found myself frustrated at the style of language used by academics, I have a wild idea of ‘decolonising’ academic language to make it accessible, I think this is something I would like to dive into more.

I have thought more about this since engaging with the source material presented to us in advance of Monday’s sessions. Maura Reilly’s talk in regard to her book Curatorial Activism and The Extractive Zone by Macarena Gómez-Barris have already given me food for thought ahead of the course beginning and I am so excited by it.

Love,

Franki