opinion

statement

Life is made up of what seem to be opposing values and circumstances – for example we may want to be loved, but to be free, to buy ethically but have luxury on the cheap, to be famous and yet not have to face what life in the public eye is really like.

I’m interested in how these tensions can be explored mapped, reconciled. We may not know our place in society anymore, but are we any surer of where we stand? We are sent messages telling us what to do buy and think, and yet what do we feel? Can we explore the extremes of our wishes and wants in ways that are playful, and yet reconnect us to what we really value?

Submitted by re-present on Wed, 2011-05-25 10:14

My heart is made of Lego

When I was a child, I wanted all sorts of things for Birthdays and Christmas. Toy robots, cars, beading kits, a toy sweet shop, a pony, a gypsy best friend. I got most of them in some way after much wheedling (my mother vetoed the Romany, who had moved in next door), but one thing that I asked for I nearly always got. Lego.

I *loved* Lego - making houses, farm animals, dinosaurs -  and always with the challenge of limited shapes and limited bricks. When my little brother came along, my Lego got added to his, and we played together, his Castle, Space and Technics Lego added a certain je ne sais quoi to the little hamlets and vehicles we built together. (My brother, by the way is now a senior manager for a bus company.)

Submitted by re-present on Fri, 2012-04-27 11:06

the war to end all wars

Over the past few years I’ve been thinking about what it means to be British now, looking at identity, class, belief and values – both explicit and deeply buried. The bulk of this post was written in November last year.

 

Submitted by re-present on Thu, 2011-11-10 13:39

The Gurkhas

In August 2011, I moved back to the family home for a while. It's just outside Farnham, on the Surrey/Hants border. Yesterday, I found myself again in the centre of Aldershot, the small garrison town that has for a long time has been the Home of the British Army - but now finds itself somewhat impoverished by economics and the fact that many of the military on active service no longer live nearby. Cuts in Army budgets have been hitting the news recently - and so has Aldershot - due to the increasing number of Gurkhas living in the town.

Submitted by re-present on Fri, 2011-10-07 18:05

British Tea - new rituals

Drinking tea (camelia sinensis) used to be about status and ritual as much as about refreshment or stimulation. Picture an Edwardian parlour, silver tea set, china cups, small cakes and formalised conversation. Now we drink such a wide range of brews (still called teas) in much more casual ways - but there is much to explore in our drinking culture.

Maria Alejandra Moreno's post http://projects.rsablogs.org.uk/2011/08/british-lovers-tea-habit-centuri... got me thinking:

What are the new rituals? How well do you have to know someone before you can just pop round for a cuppa - without texting or calling first? How does one most politely deal with a herbal teabag once it's brewed? As our economies adjust, will we still spend so much on a latte to go?

Submitted by re-present on Fri, 2011-08-19 15:13