Cultural Ecology and Cultural Critique
Following our first lecture with Dr Rowan Bailey on cultural ecology, we were asked to create a mind map that listed the creative industries in the UK. It was a helpful tool in recognising how these different industries could be seen as being part of an ecology, especially when it came to joining them up. Eventually I stopped drawing the connecting lines as it became clear that each element relied on multiple other elements. After reading 'Cultural Ecology and Cultural Critique' it became clearer still. I liked that the term suggests that there isn't a hierarchy, and that place is as important - not just the physical space, but also the history of a place, the politics, the people.
We were then asked how we identified as a creative in these industries, and where we saw ourselves in this field. As a designer, dressmaker and sewing instructor, I see myself in several of these categories. It is interesting to me that, before putting the above diagram together, I wouldn't have rated my own contribution as that vital. But in recognising culture as a non-hierarchical ecology, I realise that there are many different industries involved in making up this whole, and that they all have their own importance.
I decided to look further into the first example given in the report: 'The Environing of Public Assembly: MACAO and the Galfa Tower in Milan, Italy'. Prior to starting my MA, research for me involves looking on Google. I tend to get an overview on Wikipedia which, although it isn't the most reliable of sources, gives you links to more information in the references section. In this case, no such luck. I found information on the Galfa tower itself, and a mention on MACAO, but no page for the group itself. I learn from newspaper articles, translated from Italian, that shortly after being evicted, the group were given their own building - a former slaughterhouse in Milan. I find the group's website, I find reviews, I learn the building has many faces - part studio, part nightclub, part squat, depending on what you read. I eventually realise I have no idea what I'm looking for, and have made no notes of the pages I have visited. Although I'm learning about an event and a place, this is poor research. The most valuable part of this exercise for me has been learning that I need to have a clear goal for what I want to get out of the research, which in turn will give me something to focus on. When it comes to research for my final major project, it is clear that I need to change the way I work.
Commenti