This is my first weekly summary post, as the first week was largely uneventful. This week my main aims have been to get back into the habit of properly researching, and to begin exploring my chosen topics.

Questions from Jonathan Kearney’s Lecture:

• What have I done so far?
• What have I discovered so far?
• What will change because of what I have discovered?
• What will I do next?

What have I done so far?

• Attended the group tutorial on Tuesday morning
• Caught up with both this and last weeks lectures via Youtube and made notes
• Been to a Plastics Workshop Induction
• Been mudlarking along the South Bank of the river Thames, between the Southbank Centre and Blackfriars Bridge (I still need to clean my finds, ready for documentation)
• Started to read and make notes on “Everyday Sexism” by Laura Bates, in relation to my “Perfect Victim” project

What have I discovered so far?

• That litter along the Thames varies, depending on the time of day, and more broadly to the week and even time of the year
• That sexism is a deeply nuanced topic, that varies depending on a woman’s status as cis, trans, or non-binary but female presenting, and also varies based on the woman’s race, although age is less of a factor
• I didn’t realise we had a vacuum form machine available, and this has given me the idea to vacuum form some of my beach finds next week, once the objects have all been thoroughly cleaned
• Action research, and the differences between method and methodology

What will change because of what I have discovered?

•  I need to change my approach to researching sexism, by reaching out to women whose experiences differ from my own- i.e. trans women, lesbians, and women of colour
• I want to change the way I interact with the objects I find, as when I began the project I gave myself limits on how i would utilise the objects, and as such the project felt one dimensional and lacking substance
• I hope to up my game in terms of how I study, and progress from a BA level to MA level, so that I can develop as an artist and as a person

What will I do next?
My plan for the coming week:

• Clean the objects I have found
• Begin documenting those objects
• Potentially take some of the objects into the Plastics Workshop for vacuum forming
• Continue my reading and analysis of “Everyday Sexism”
• Attend both the group tutorial and lecture
• Create a bibliography post for each project
• Listen to the recording of the talk from Friday, as I was unable to attend
• Revisit my proposal using Jonathan’s 7 headings as a guide

Despite having a few bad days I feel like I have accomplished a significant amount this week, and I feel positive moving forwards.