CoP2 pre-easter peer review

This review was pretty helpful. The general consensus seemed to be that although I didn't have lots of developmental work to show (which I was expecting) , the work that I have got is promising and shows the beginnings of what could be a very interesting idea.

PLAN OF ACTION FOR EASTER:

• Think through drawing, just try and devote one or two whole days to exploring my preliminary ideas. Once I get into the swing of it, I'm sure the idea will naturally form more fully.
• Start thinking of the format of my book - if I know what kind of publication I am hoping to make, thinking of how to develop final art work resolutions may come more easily.

Essay draft feedback session

The feedback I got for my essay was as good as it could have been considering that the essay is still unfinished, without a conclusion and no bibliography. After the group tutorials I feel confident with moving forward with the final development for my written submission.

PLAN OF ACTION:
- turn the preliminary title into a real, focused question
- Tie together the good, but currently disjointed points that compromise the latter half of the essay, into cohesive paragraphs.
- Add the images
- Arrive at a conclusion (this should follow naturally after reshaping the question)

Although I've still good a fair bit to do, Richard was positive about the way what I have of the essay was written, and suggested that with a little revision and finishing up it has the potential to be a really strong piece of work. Feeling (kind of confident).

Richard also suggested that I read this - it sounds as it it could be exactly the kind of text I need

Cop2 lecture notes: desire

I found this lecture extremely interesting. Obviously I'm getting waaaay ahead of myself, but I've already been musing on ideas for CoP3, and have been thinking about the representation of sex as either sin or salvation. Can't be giving it too much thought just yet, but if I do pursue it I will have to look at lot at theories of desire and the reprisal of desire. 

CoP2 lecture notes: Panopticism

This lecture was simultaneously fascinating and deeply unsettling. A 'big brother is watching you' kinda thing. Lots of interesting social and behavioural theory though, I've never really been forced to think properly about surveillance before. 

CoP - Useful quotes

While trying to amass a solid body to research to back my essay with, I've been keeping a list of quotes from theoretical or philosophical texts that might prove useful.

Philosophical Investigations - Ludwig Wittgenstein 

"If a lion could talk, we could not understand him" 

This took me a while to wrap my head around, but I think I can now understand how it would be useful to my argument, especially in relation to the Triple Canopy essay about International Art English. 

International Art English - Alix Rule and David Levine 

"This language has everything to do with English, but it is emphatically not English"

"IAE is identifiable as the Art world's universally foreign language" 

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature - Steven Pinker 

"The conscious mind - the self or soul - is a spin doctor, not the commander in chief" 

"The left hemisphere constantly weaves a coherent but false account of the behaviour or language chosen without its knowledge by the right"

Pinker argues the existence of a "baloney generator", a built in device that allows the brain to create coherence out of chaos. Basically, enabling us to bullshit our ways out of just about any scenario. This could be interesting to use in discussing IAE, and the pretensions of the gallery institution. 

CoP research - IAE

Decided I definitely want to take my essay in the direction of the inaccessibility of the art world (I know what I mean by this phrase, but must try to come up with a concrete definition!), using Grayson Perry as the voice of opposition.  This is for a couple of reasons:

• I think the topic of craft/vs/art might be just too big? I don't want to have to compromise on the really thorough analysis of either topic to be able to cover both threads of the argument satisfactorily. 
• As interesting as craft is as a pursuit (and I would probably be able to find plenty of interesting contextual information, especially historical contextual info), I don't want to fall into the trap of accidentally just writing a retrospective about the history of craft. The art world, and especially the contemporary art world is surrounded by such a wealth of interesting theory that I think it will be far easier to shape a line a argument .
• I really want to be write about THIS article in depth, and think that I can only so if I narrow my discussion to one about contemporary art. 

Grayson Perry mentioned this study briefly in the one of his lectures and I looked it up because it sounded so interesting. It would a great thing to use in a discussion about the accessibility of the discourse surrounding contemporary art. Furthermore, I think coming from an academic background and already having an interest in language and linguistics will equip me to be able to write pretty well about this, and to tie in cohesively into my discussion.

AS FOLLOW UP: I've read The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker before, and think I'll try and ding some more of his material, as he offers a lot of interesting and thoughtful insight on the way in which we use language. After reading the triple canopy essay on IAE its pretty clear that the way in which language is used in this field could be a strong point to place at the centre of this essay. Some more language theory would be very useful. 

COP progress - Grayson Perry as inspiration

As I've already mentioned, Grayson Perry's BBC Reith lectures have been in a massive inspiration to me in undertaking this project. Throughout the talks he raises a lot of really, really interesting questions about the nature of art, both classical and contemporary, and how we as audience, both those educated in the arts and more casual observers can relate to it. What I find most interesting about these talk is how Perry, even though he himself is a practicing fine artist and has had a formal arts education and is capable of discussing art in theoretical contexts, is never patronising or condescending. His speech is accessible, and I think accessibility is something that is really missing is the discussion surrounding art, especially contemporary art. 

If I pursue the thread I'm currently thinking about - about the accessibility of craft vs the inaccessibility of fine art - these talks will probably come in handy. But I'm also thinking of pushing my essay more toward the specific discussion of the inaccessibility of the art world as whole?  That's not to say that I want to write an essay specifically about Grayson Perry (although I could probably find plenty of interesting material with which to form an essay), but he could prove a figure that I could use to highlight the inaccessibility of the art world? I'll keep pushing this idea around, but this is proving an interesting topic to think about. 

1: Democracy Has Bad Taste

2: Beating The Bounds

3: Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!

4: I Found Myself In The Art World