Researching texts and possible networking

[w/b: 22/10/18 & w/b: 29/10/18]

Over the last two weeks due to unfortunate personal circumstances I was unable to attend the taught aspects of the course. Therefore, so as to not fall too far behind, I both met with one of my tutors and tried to maintain focus on my research.

My tutorial went well, I explained the circumstances and strategised with my tutor about how to avoid losing time and how to prioritise my studying. We also went to student support so that I could book in for some advice and to access the disabled services for my eye issues. It was in this meeting that I borrowed Pablo Helguera's book 'Education for Socially Engaged Art' (2013) from the postgrad book collection on the recommendation of my tutor.


The main texts I intend upon obtaining and studying first are:

• Ball, S.J. 'The Education Debate', 2017. 
• Helguera, P. 'Education for Socially Engaged Art', 2013. 
• Krause, A. 'Art as Politics: The Future of Art and Community', 2011. 
• Mesch, C. 'Art and Politics: A Small History of Art for Social Change Since 1945', 2013. 
• Plato, 'The Allegory of the Cave', 2010.

I reached out to a number of people I know who are engaged politcally and on the arts scene with my initial proposal and a few ideas as how to have a conference or structured debate which might help practice some of my ideas. I received positive and constructive feedback and alot of initial interest in taking part in such an event or consulting on it.

After these conversations I am going to look into the different forms of structured debate that have been experimented with and how I could create a less adverseral yet still intellectually rigourous environment for conversation. I also want to look into the physicality of the excercise, what kind of space or spatial planning might be helpful.