Why do I feel compelled to save pictures?
Robert Owen & The Prisoner: Harmony in America
You might think that the only connection between these two erstwhile passions of mine is Wales: one is a story of dogged individualism seeking freedom, set against the backdrop of Portmerion, a peculiar citadel on the Welsh coast that is woven into the narrative of the whole show, whilst the other is a collectively-minded Welshman whose work prefigured Marx and Jamie Oliver, but when they put themselves in the American landscape both The Prisoner and Owen chose harmony as the word that would best encapsulate their American sojourn.
My Journey To Breakfast At Tiffany’s
My first encounter with Breakfast At Tiffany’s was Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy and rhinestones. Like a lot of little girls, I had the calendar and the costume jewellery and a battery-powered vintage-looking alarm clock that had the Robert McGinnis poster emblazoned on it in technicolour - one that I kept long after it stopped functioning... Continue Reading →
Kinks, Kids, and Bunny Girls: What’s the deal with all these Lolas?
There is something about that name - Lola - that when you come across it in any kind of media you know there’s something dark and sexy about that girl. Across a century the name’s ‘meaning’ has remained the same - so what is it about Lola?
A Conference in Graz, feelings of protest, & a cursory look at some of the original Late Romantics
At the Creative Bodies, Creative Minds conference I got to participate in a pan-disciplinary, cross-country conference that, whilst only tangentially related to my research and academic identity, was a valuable opportunity for me to learn from people that I wouldn’t normally encounter.
Cottagecore as Childhood for Adults
We should turn to the big differences between the way children and adults play to establish where and how we ‘rewild’ ourselves.
The Multiverse, string theory, and how we make choices.
Alternate universes are not governed in the typical way we laypeople describe them - 'somewhere in an alternate universe', and don’t really function the way they do in art, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t take a closer look and use complicated mathematics to influence the way we live our lives.
The Biographical Imperative: Reading Paul Simon like we’d read Taylor Swift
The way we read Swift is gendered and somewhat modern: her 'eras' align with the aesthetics she presents, and stan culture has dissected every relationship she's ever had until we're all sure who or what inspired every song. What if we read other Grammy royals this way?