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.