The morning lecture was interesting in several ways. The lecturer was good, and did hold our attention, but he made some odd points and I'm not really sure if I gained that much from it. He seems to think that an artist exploits the proletariat and has a desire to be bourgeoisie. In my eyes, it is quite the opposite. The arts exploits the bourgeoisie by making them pay an incredible amount for an item which is essentially useless. Its the perfect example of the proletariat exploiting the bourgeoisie- getting their own back so to speak. Still, I should keep an open mind, especially for the discussion at critical studies next week.
On Tuesday we discussed the lecture on Marxism, which I'm glad to admit helped me to understand the subject a good deal better. Tom discussed the connection between art and socialism, which I find very interesting. I can now see how these lectures are relevant and I'm glad we're doing them. They're giving us that extra knowledge which helps us to understand the place of fashion within society. This knowledge also helps us to prove to others that we're not a bunch of fashion airheads which tends to be a popular opinion!
9th October 2008
On Thursday we had our second lecture, which thanks to the success of the seminar, was a good deal more helpful. The lecturer seemed a lot more relaxed and he gave us some useful names of important 20th century socialists that I should research further. I find this topic really interesting, and on Tuesday, Tom talked us through the lecture and provided me with a lot of new information. I'm wondering whether it is a topic I would like to do for my essay, and I need to go to the Library and gets some books out to get some info and help me decide if it right for me.
23rd October 2008
The last two lectures have been really interesting. One was on Freud, and this weeks one was on The gaze. We haven't had Tom, so we haven't had a chance to talk about them, but I find these subjects really interesting, and I'm wondering whether a combination of the two topics could work for my essay. I'm going to do some research into this, see what I can find!
6th November 2008
Today's lecture was on Panopticisim. Now I'm faced with a real conundrum! This topic has really interested me too, and so I'm really struggling to decide which topic would be better for the essay. I had a look in the library and there are loads of books and journal articles on Freud and panopticism, but not very many on 'The Gaze' Also, 'The Gaze' has turned out to be rather complicated, and I'm not sure it would be appropriate.
I'm going to see what I can find this week, and I'll talk to Tom, see if he can suggest anything.
20th November 2008
I've decided to write my essay on panopticism and psychoanalysis. My title will be something like 'how does panopticism influence our fashion choices'. I've found this topic really fascinating, and I've got plenty of research to help me write the essay!
13th January 2009 I've managed to finished my essay over Christmas, with a little help from my sister to do the harvard referencing. I'm fairly pleased with it, I know I've got some good theories/ideas into in, but Tom mentioned how picky he is when he's marking and its really worried all of us. He's probably joking, but he says he takes marks off for column that are too big, and images in black and white. I just don't find his comments very helpful really, and they seem to have caused a little stress amongst the others who are rather unimpressed!
We had the briefing this week for the second half of the module. We have to do a presentation and a summary, based on a chosen text. I don't really mind doing presentation, but if Tom is as picky marking these, as he is the essays, then I can't expect a high mark!
24th February 2009 This term I've been researching a text for my presentation and doing some research around he subject. I've found an interview with Picasso, that's really interesting and honest, and I think this would be appropriate. I haven't really found the sessions very useful though. Tom is really just not bothered, and people talk during the class so I just can't concentrate which is very frustrating!
15th March 2009 Over the last few weeks I have been working on putting together my presentation, text summary and hand-out. I had a tutorial with Tom, and he liked my chosen text which is encouraging. I think the presentation should go well, I've put a lot of work into it, particularly the presentation as I know its something that Tom is fussy about. I'm just a bit worried as I'm totally exhausted and I'm struggling to remember what to say etc. Normally, I am pretty good at blagging my way through a presentation, and nerves don't really bother me. But this week I'm worried that I'll loose my way and forget what to say. I need to make some quick note cards to help me. I just need to remember to be confident and concise!
