Prayer Companion

Talking to Andy and Nadine about the prayer companion I was interested to learn about how they came to this outcome. By having a specific user group and a targeted site, they were able to be far more focused on what they wanted to achieve than I have been so far. So the first key point is that I need to locate a user/group/site that I can understand and work with.

Talking about the prayer companion, a few of the most interesting moments that came up were around how the nuns reacted to what they called the 'indulgent' social networking statuses as well as struggling to understand the concept of social networking, that people were just saying things to the world.

Andy and Nadine talked about the democracy of the monastery, how decisions about the object were taken between the group and if the object had failed to suit their collective needs, then they would have no problems rejecting it.

They also talked about how it had become more of a life companion, in that it was less about aiding at the moment of prayer and more about an awareness of the needs and issues that they absorbed in their daily lives. This is how I would like to imagine that my objects or ideas might function.

The pointed me in the direction of an event later today as well as well.

UPDATE: Interesting event and venue, got a little lost. I ended up speaking with an artist in the space about democracy in art (there was an evening of democracy related work) he was talking about where the author (auteur) sits in democratic work. His criticisms were around Anthony Gormley's One and Other in Trafalger Square. He felt the influence of the artist was too strong in that work to call it democratic (as Boris Johnson did). Something that he said that was very interesting was that the T.V was the biggest restrictor of democratic discussion in the home. He comes from Italy, so his meaning would be more about the state control over the media. It got me thinking though, does the t.v deliver democratic ideas, already complete into the home and remove the need for an active viewer. I.e the politics industry. So this may become the site of my democratic intervention.

Context Report.

This report is equivalent to a dissertation, however it serves as a framing for the final project that I am working on, rather than a finished outcome. Its all hand made and printed at home, the content is quite varied, and serves more as a broad selection of ideas than as a single strand of enquiry. Hopefully it makes it clear for me, and for the reader what my interest is and where I am going next.

The Democratic Household

Exploring ideas of household moments, to change or enforce that every decision in a household or any evironment is, or can be, a political decision. This builds on Foucault's idea that politics is everything in life. Deoderant cans that represent a political decision each morning after watching the news or reading the paper, who has made an impression on you that morning. A washing machine where your choice of wash cycle can be related to a parties environmental or financial policies.

Back to it.

I've been silent on here for a long time. Possibly the longest time since I started this blog nearly two years ago. It just been such a relaxing christmas I haven't been able to get myself to upload anything. Hopefully now with the cricket over, all the holidaying done and Martha and Alice off on their Europe trip (finally!), I can get back down to work. I have heaps to do on my context report.
Last week I was in Scotland and Northern England, so here are some images from there. They are part of a series I was doing for my friend Catherine as a Christmas present. You can see some more on flickr , they are a little classical in style, which is something I am hoping to move away from, but it very difficult when your surrounded by quaint churches and snowy mountains.