FIELD OF INQUIRY    

Creative Research Journal
Transart PhD Program



I knew little what I was undertaking, and perhaps it was better not to have realized too many difficulties that would bar the way...As it was, I set to work, brave in the strength of ignorance of what was before me.

- Mary Louise McLaughlin, potter (1847-1932)



Journal Guidelines


7 A 24 A-B PROJECTS SHARD I 

First raku firing at the end of March. Trip to New Brighton to visit Terry and see UK spring into bloom before surgery May 7. First “Shards” session with Karl Burkheimer through A-B Projects. 

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The Rodina, Design Museum London, 2019


30-31 M 24 INTENSIVE

PhD March Session
COMMUNICATION DESIGN AS PERFORMATIVE WORLD-MAKING

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2nd week of March, the 150 with Lulu
15 M 24 JOURNAL

Misogyny and man-ness and misunderstanding, oh my.
With some Mary Poppins for good measure.

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capture/nature (1) summer 2023
28 F 24 JOURNAL

Advisory meeting with Tracey (2). Catch-up on percolations for revised PAF.  Research poetry, arts-based qualitative data-analysis - exciting to apply to Capture \ Nature project.

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18 F 24 JOURNAL

Spore Space Gallery, Ojai
Lamp Show! July 2, 2023
Description of project & reflection.

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05 F 24 JOURNAL

Bed Island Day XXX. “Monster Storm.” Things I’ve made since I got the diagnosis, got the (first) surgery, got home from the mental and physical breakdown which was my holiday trip, and started getting out of bed, or off the chair.

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18 F 24 
JOURNAL


SUBJECT: Exhibition / Vigilant mourning

GALLERY: SPORE SPACE      
LOCATION: OJAI, CA
DATE: 2 JULY 2023                Exhibition Proposal Text:

Spore Space \\ Lamp Show!

I am interested in vigilant mourning as a practice of sustained grieving for losses that are often ephemeral, overwhelming, and abstract, such as human loss due to forced migration or war, species loss, or ecological loss. For the I propose an eternal flame, a tradition observed in religious and cultural practices worldwide. An eternal flame is a lamp (or torch, or flame), that burns for an indefinite amount of time, and is usually intentionally tended, although there are eternal flames that are natural phenomena which have burned for hundreds or thousands of years. Although an eternal flame often represents a specific commemoration, honor, or tradition, the meaning I would like to attest to this eternal flame would be a more general secular representation inspired by the Iranian atar, or holy fire, which illuminated the concept of "divine sparks."


I would like to create a vessel, or possibly multiple small vessels, that will hold an eternal flame. I'm not yet sure of the source of the flame - obviously it would need to be safe for the installation. The vessel itself would be composed of local clay in the form of a traditional wall niche, usually used ritually for a candle. The niche ideally would hang on the wall, although could potentially rest on the floor, depending ultimately on the weight and space requirements.





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