Tutorial with Imogen Racz 17/10/17

I asked for information about the art journals with highest impact in the field and she gave a good explanation about why this does not matter to her – some of the higher rated journals are narrow, not worth their rating because of the restricted range of people writing in them; old fashioned etc.  I’m better off looking at feminist journals as they push boundaries, although they may have been short lived. 

As my time range has been limited to 30 years, this restricts the scope to 1987-2017; nicely correlating with the end of Thatcher, when the consequences of her political policy were ramping up. 

Imogen wondered whether what I was looking at was the concept of domestic comfort.  I’m not sure it is, although I had realised my sampler on Aunt Joan had led to the realisation that her life was all about creating domestic comfort for her nearest and dearest (but very few others!).  Look at Sue Gallop. 

Take a concept (eg domestic comfort)

As an abstract notion (what is this?)

Critique it. 

Consider Subversive Stitch; TU Banners; Suffragette Banners

Explore ‘overlooked values’ (I really like this term)

Explore this in a soft medium – ie sewing. 

I see women’s values as diverse.  Imogen said 70s feminists like Griselda Pollock were full of definitions about what women’s art could and could not be about – clear boundaries – yet this was unhelpful.

My work is about life stories of women known to me – what was valued or overlooked, in an urban, UK setting.  Maybe look at one person, actually known to me and work with Identity and Memory – who we are in consciousness.  How does the individual relate to the collective within a particular timescale.

Then Imogen and I started getting somewhere with what interests me.  I refer to work quite a lot (my own employment history).  It’s all about work – how what people do, is valued. 

Contrast paid, undervalued labour,  with domestic undervalued labour. 

Critique paid labour using strategies of domestic labour. 

Use sewing to critique paid labour. 

Who came after Rosika Parker?

Look up The City Reader – Rob Shields Looks at what goes on in places in the margins.  Sheila Lowenhak

Female strategies for the Overlooked Worker

Then I travelled home and felt very anxious about the Literature Review.  I think the hand-in date is a couple of weeks earlier (7 December) than I realised, and I feel I have not really identified what I am interested in, let alone 4 suitable writers to compare and contrast.  Maybe I need to clarify the Literature Review with Jill, my first supervisor, then book an appointment with the Academic Writing Centre to help me get a plan together.