Author: RACHEL MCGRAW

[Last modified: December, 6 2024 04:42 PM]

For my project, I’d like to look at themes of creativity, art, community, queerness, and storytelling by attending free and low-cost craft workshops around London. There is a large variety of accessible workshops in the city including more guided “how to” workshops such as learning to embroider, as well as more open workshops that provide the materials, space, and freedom to openly create. I am most interested in attending workshops that are focused on unique crafting media that are typically less accessible because of cost or “know how.”

I’d like to focus on queer crafting and art spaces specifically. I think that looking at queerness, art, and community will be very fruitful. I want to look at why participants choose to attend these workshops and the effects the very social nature of the experience has on their sense of community and their art.

I think I will find that these workshops are a very social, community building space and hopefully an affirming environment for queer people to be creative. In such a big city as London, I suspect people are always looking to meet new people like them, or even deepen bonds with existing friends through a shared activity or love of creativity. I am less sure about what I will find in terms of the influence of the social setting on artists’ expression. In some ways, I think that it could make some participants nervous to fully express themselves or feel pressure to make something perfect and “correct.” On the other hand, I think the group setting could be a great place for people to bounce ideas off of each other and consider the meaning of their work on a deeper level.

To achieve this, I will participate in various workshops myself and observe, and I also hope to talk with other attendees informally throughout the workshops and formally through interview questions. Additionally, I’d like to pay attention to the space curated at the workshop, as well as the role of the body and the senses within that space. It would be great to include a multimodal aspect to my ethnography, such as pictures of artists and their work or some sort of creative rendering of my findings and the art I’ve created along the way. I would also like to incorporate multimodality as part of my methodology and as part of the stories and information that participants tell me.

[Last modified: November, 30 2024 11:39 AM]

This case study that my group focused on was the computer literacy project looking at social lives of elderly people in London. We deemed this project relatively low risk that could bring about quite a large benefit to the elderly community. The project could hopefully show increased socialization among elderly people with their increased understanding and use of the internet and computers, which would hopefully encourage more community centres to adopt classes like this and encourage more elderly people to attend them. This is a great project to show what digital literacy can do for elderly people. While we did decide it was low risk, we did identify a few things to look out for in the process and be aware of.

The first point to address is data and identity protection, especially in regards to the social diagrams created with the interlocutors. While the social diagrams are a critical part of the project, they can reveal a lot of personal information about the interlocutors, so it is important to keep the data safe on a password protected computer, encrypted flash drive, or pseudonymized. The second point to keep in mind is informed consent, especially over time. Interlocutors suffering from mental decline or dementia cannot give informed consent to be part of the project. Additionally, interlocutors may show signs of shifting mental states throughout the duration of the project, especially if it lasts a long time, so it is important to recognize if an interlocutor can no longer give informed consent for whatever reason. It is also important to be in constant contact with the community centre to continue to gain their consent and input on the boundaries of the project as it progresses. Overall, this is a low risk project but nonetheless there are a few important ethical considerations to keep in mind throughout the work. The benefits definitely outweigh the risks in this instance, and it should be clear how to remain transparent, honest, and ethical with interlocutors throughout. 

 

[Last modified: November, 22 2024 07:40 PM]

One of the things I noticed most distinctly in B Bagel on Tottenham Court Road was the conflicting ambiences of the space. The visual space was inviting, relaxed, and rather subtle. The lighting wasn’t at all harsh, there were lots of windows, wood, and plants. Just by looking, it seems like a space you would want to spend a lot of time in. The soundscape was a different story. Cafes are usually filled with the bustle of orders being called and people shuffling in and out, and music fades to the background. In this case, the music was one of the first things I noticed. It was aggressive pop music played really loudly, in stark contrast to the visual ambience of the shop. While visually it may appear to be a nice place to study, relax, and eat, the music shifted the setting greatly. Additionally, how the shop structures people to move through space with the layout and architecture was also interesting. The only comfortable seating was upstairs, and otherwise you needed to squeeze into a corner or take your bagels to go. The visuality of the space, the soundscape, and how it structures your body through space were all at odds.

A multimodal approach would be the best way to document this confliction and the ambience of the shop. While it can be described with text as I’ve done above, the only true way to understand it and get a clear sensorial understanding would be through a creative output. A recording of the soundscape, images or sketches of the space, and photography of the lighting would all recreate these ideas for the viewer and place them within the coffee shop. Especially when appealing to the senses, multimodal outputs can be especially important and useful. Text is still useful, but this multimodal approach can better visually and audibly craft the scene in the minds of the viewer. While this case focused on multimodal outputs, using multimodality during fieldwork and with interlocutors can be equally important to gain collaborative input and creation.

[Last modified: November, 17 2024 11:01 AM]

Ultimate frisbee games are played 7v7 on a large pitch. Before each point, each team goes to the opposite end of the pitch to wait for the disc to be thrown, or pulled, to the offensive team by the defensive team to start the point. I analyzed the seven defensive players getting ready for the pull at one point during our weekend game:

As players subbed on and off for the new point, eventually two female matching players (FMPs) and five male matching players (MMPs) stood in a horizontal line at the edge of the end zone. They were all facing the opposing end zone. Joash held the disc, spinning it around in his hand, as he would be the one to throw the pull. From my view on the sideline, he took a few steps in front of the line and positioned his body toward the sideline, so that he could still see the other end of the pitch and simultaneously initiate the conversation about defensive strategy with the line. He constantly turned his head back and forth between the two. The other six players were looking at the other line so that they could choose who to match up against on defense. The two FMPs turned their bodies toward each other, most likely to debate who should match up against who. Joash remained turned halfway between each side of the pitch, talking a bit more, and then eventually he turned back around and took a few steps backward. He raised his hand, as did two other players, signaling to the other side of the field that the pull was incoming. Once the offensive line had raised their hands as well, Joash put the disc, angled slightly outward to account for the wind, in his right hand, took a few steps forward to gain momentum while winding up his arm, and eventually unwound his arm and flicked his wrist to release the pull. All fourteen players on the field began to run down the pitch into position, with the defensive line sprinting to catch up to their offensive counterparts and the disc.

Looking at the body is interesting in this context not only for the mechanics of throwing the disc and the game, but also to look at communication and leadership. Joash emerged as the obvious leader based on his position facing both sides of the pitch, making the pull, and initiating conversation amongst his line. It also sees how the FMPs stand together and have communication amongst themselves to decide strategy on the MMP-dominant field.

[Last modified: November, 4 2024 11:35 AM]

My dissertation topic will definitely prove rather political at the moment. I am interested in looking at the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca to explore the history of Jewish-Muslim relations in Morocco. With the current war Israel is waging in Gaza and increasingly across the region, this question of Jewish-Muslim relations has become even more political and contentious than it already was. I am mainly interested in the history of these relations in Morocco, which has historically (and presently) been a site of religious integration and tolerance, but I also understand that these contexts do not exist in isolation and will be naturally influenced by the wider geopolitical events of the Middle East. So even if my goal is to discuss Jewish and Muslim history in Morocco, this question is inevitably entangled with the war in Gaza and other conflicts.

I also imagine that my own positionality as a Jewish person will influence the direction of conversations. I do not know if it would be best to not disclose this fact and try to remain a neutral third party, or if it would be best to acknowledge my Jewish heritage while also acknowledging my dissent from Israel’s actions and values past and present. This topic is inherently political, and I do not want to shy away from that, but I also want to be able to focus on my specific research question looking into Jewish-Muslim relations at this museum in particular. I also want to consider the safety of my interlocutors and myself.

I think the focus on material culture is helpful, and leaning into that could be a good way to minimize some of these political elements. I could potentially adapt my project to look at a museum or exhibition in London or elsewhere that also speaks to religious relations, so I could still get at these questions in a less contentious context. I know that Toledo, Spain especially is known for its Christian, Jewish, and Muslim elements, especially through architecture. This would probably be a less contentious context but will allow me to look into Jewish-Muslim relations nonetheless.

[Last modified: October, 25 2024 04:57 PM]

Tavistock Square Bus Stop –> October 25, 2024; 11:49-12:04

I sat down at the Tavistock Square bus stop ready to observe those waiting for the bus to come. I quickly realized there wasn’t a bus coming to this stop anytime soon, but that didn’t mean nothing was going on around me on Woburn Place. Tourists raced by, confusedly lugging suitcases in the wrong direction. Bikers weaved in and out of the streets, often with headphones in. Students rushed to class, with one student in particular moving at a full run. The cars, on the other hand, inched through traffic, proving a perhaps more frustrating means of transportation than most others. The stop and go of buses going to Hampstead Heath became a familiar sight.

In the mayhem, what I found most interesting were the mundane displays of kinship, love and relationships visible on the streets. There were countless couples holding hands as they walked along. A man pulled not one, but two suitcases so that his partner was left empty handed. A mom pushed a massive stroller carrying her baby on her walk with a friend. Another mom carried a doll as her daughter toddled along beside her. There was one family, a mom, dad, and three young children, waiting together outside the nearby Royal National Hotel. The dad was holding one of the little girls, who was trying to climb all over him for much of the fifteen minutes. Even in the bustle of London life, whether they be locals or tourists, people still found time to slow down and show affection or care for those they love. The power of kinship was on full display on Woburn Place.

 

Reflection

My field notes helped me visualize and remember much more easily what I had seen, but tagging is what helped most to bring it all together. It really helped me parse through my field notes to see what I had pulled out of the scene. Before tagging, I knew I had some information on tourism and movement, but I didn’t realize how much I had written down concerning kinship and displays of love. Despite having less than two pages of field notes, the tagging still made it significantly easier for me to sit down and write out what I had seen in a more formal dialogue and start to tackle some bigger themes of human life.

[Last modified: October, 18 2024 03:17 PM]

My research question pertains to competing ideas of community and sociality vs. individuality and mindfulness in crafting and art spaces. For this project, I think it would be most important to critically examine what kinds of people and spaces I subconsciously want to interact with. As a young queer woman, I definitely think that I would naturally gravitate toward people with a similar or shared identity and be most comfortable interviewing them. Even if these identities aren’t inherently relevant to the topics or questions at hand, I think that my more introverted personality means I would be boldest with those who I can find this connection with and most likely to introduce myself to them. So in doing interviews and in entering a variety of crafting and art spaces, I think it would be important for me to critically examine the demographic of the environment around me and make an active effort to enter spaces that I might not normally enter.

The other option would also be to tighten the project to focus on queer or women and nonbinary dominated communities specifically. I do think there could be a really interesting study on queer crafting spaces specifically and how art spaces can be safe, open, and creative spaces for the queer community. I also suspect that there are a lot of young queer artists and creatives in these spaces and workshops even if they are not advertised as such. So I think if I were to complete this project and realized that a lot of my interlocutors were queer, women or nonbinary, it would still be a really fruitful project and may even speak to a deeper sense of community. I would just need to be mindful of this switch in focus based on my own positionality.

[Last modified: October, 14 2024 09:06 PM]

As I entered Waterstones and descended the stairs, the crowds thinned and the street noises faded. I entered the very vibrant and colorful, yet tightly organized, art shop in the basement. Those in the shop were few but each engaged in their own little worlds, from a student with headphones in testing pen after pen to find the perfect one to a young woman staring at the collection of paints in all colors to some who appeared to be a little lost and walked back up the stairs pretty quickly. I had come down here to see if there were any advertisements posted for craft workshops around London, wanting to look at community building and sociality in art spaces. I looked around the walls and register desk to find a lot of art on the walls, but no advertisements. There were no labels, but these pieces appeared to be individuals’ work that had been put up in the store, perhaps by the artists themselves.

I then turned to the book section, where two girls were chatting and aimlessly perusing. Most of the books were focused on art techniques from needlepoint to drawing. These books aimed to teach individuals how to do art. Similar to the goal of craft workshops, I walked over to read what the books had to say. I found most of them emphasized art as a way to practice mindfulness, self improvement, and relaxation. Through all of the books I saw, none of them emphasized art and crafting as a community or social exercise. 

These art technique books and their emphasis on the self made me wonder what draws people to the individual, mindful art experience versus a social, group one. Both books and workshops can teach the same skills, so why do people pull toward one experience over the other? From just a quick search of craft workshops around London on Eventbrite, I found that many of them specifically advertised an experience that would foster creativity and community but very few that emphasized mindfulness and self improvement. I found this disparity between emphasis on self improvement versus community building in crafting really interesting, and it left me wondering how this affects expression and the types of art produced.

[Last modified: October, 5 2024 04:28 PM]

For my project, I’d like to look at themes of creativity, art, community, sociality, and storytelling by attending free and low-cost craft workshops around London. There is a large variety of accessible workshops in the city including more guided “how to” workshops such as learning to embroider, as well as more open workshops that provide the materials, space, and freedom to openly create. I am most interested in attending workshops that are focused on unique crafting media that are typically less accessible because of cost or “know how.” I’d like to focus especially with young adults in their twenties and amateur creatives, or those who enjoy the creative process and art but are not professionals by any means.

I hope to center my main questions around community building and how young adults find community in large cities. I want to look at why participants choose to attend these workshops and the effects the very social nature of the experience has on their sense of community, both with new acquaintances and those they came with, if applicable. I would also like to talk with participants about their projects and what they chose to create at the workshop and why. I would like to see if the social setting influences their creative expression.

I think I will find that these workshops are a very social, community building space. In such a big city as London, I suspect people are always looking to meet new people with similar interests, or even deepen bonds with existing friends through a shared activity or love of creativity. I am less sure about what I will find in terms of the influence of the social setting on artists’ expression. In some ways, I think that it could make some participants nervous to fully express themselves or feel pressure to make something perfect and “correct.” On the other hand, I think the group setting could be a great place for people to bounce ideas off of each other and consider the meaning of their work on a deeper level.

To achieve this, I will participate in various workshops myself and observe, and I also hope to talk with other attendees informally throughout the workshops and formally through interview questions. It would be great to include a multimodal aspect to my ethnography, such as pictures of artists and their work or some sort of creative rendering of my findings and the art I’ve created along the way. I believe my own reflexivity may be interesting in this exercise as well. I love to craft, but it is something I typically do alone. This will be a new experience for me, and I am excited to see how it influences my own expression and sense of community, especially having just moved to London.