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Week 6: Research and Curate

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

This week, I will begin to generate content for a 3,000-word visual culture article, which will span over the next three weeks. This article will be observed from the viewpoint of my own town with open options for formatting: local myth, legend, subculture, society, community, arts or the environment.


SIDE PROJECT //

Birthday Card

Processing Workshop

As an extra curricular activity, one of the lectures was kind enough to introduce us to Processing, which is a form of creative coding. At the moment I am attempting to learn Web Design coding, but wondered whether there was a way of creating code-based design work in the last module.

My first coded face

A brilliant animation that moves shapes as the mouse hovers!

void setup() {
  size(500, 400);
  background(10, 80, 100);
}

void draw() {
  stroke(255, 255, 255);
  fill(160, 220, 90);
  ellipse(mouseY, 100, 300, 300);

  fill(160, 210, 230);
  rect(245, mouseY, 10, 240);

  fill(255, 255, 255);
  ellipse(mouseX, mouseY, 70, 70);
}

This version only allows you to draw when the mouse clicks

void setup() {
  size(500, 400);
  background(10, 80, 100);
}

void draw() {
  if (mousePressed) {
    background(10, 80, 100);
  } 

  stroke(255, 255, 255);
  fill(160, 220, 90);
  ellipse(mouseX, 200, 300, 300);

  fill(160, 210, 230);
  rect(245, mouseY, 10, 240);

  fill(255, 255, 255);
  ellipse(mouseX, mouseY, 70, 70);
}

I found this tutorial enjoyable and will develop my list of codes as I go along.



RESEARCH //

Case study: Andrew Sanigar (Thames & Hudson)

The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate the relationship between writer and publisher. The lecture made it clear how important it is to define an objective before conducting ethnographic research, which describes the study of people's lives from the perspective of within their communities.

  • He is the only commissioning editor with a design background. His role is to develop ideas for new books and articles before identifying suitable writers to write them.

  • A good visual culture book concept needs to have a clear audience with the understanding of their needs and how to communicate this through packaging, format, pricing and positioning.

  • Collaboration between author's research and publisher's knowledge of the editorial format

  • Due the availability of the internet, a book now needs to be more than a collection of data, it needs to be a statement.

  • The publishing process for Thames & Hudson seems to be very flexible due to how they are open to reading concepts or proposals for a book. It's interesting to know that certain books are passed down to specific catalogues.

  • 15-18 months for book publishing. Printing in China which reduces costs.

  • Hudson Kickstarter crowdfunding is too crowded with other projects, but does build an audience for the book. Volume

  • Millennials aren't using books for referencing anymore


Irma Boom

Last week, I looked at Irna's Chanel Edition to explore ways of formatting a diary entry, however, I didn't consider going into detail about the voice of Chanel.

The founder 'Gabrille Chanel' was described as an avant-garde women as she tore down gender boundaries when designing her clothing. The video explains that her inspiration came from the many avant gardens artists that were in her area.


The No.5 perfume is the perfume used in Irma's book, which was the first perfume by a dressmaker. She named it 'No.5' because her collection of five dresses was being presented on the 5th May, making the number a symbolism of good luck; she was very attentive to signs and symbols, which relates to how Irma's books always revolve around the number 3.

The brand Chanel also has a foundation that is committed to improving the economic and social conditions of women around the world. Due to how much their fragrances were promoted, I didn't realise how varied the brand was and I certainly didn't see the brand as being a voice of social change.


Design, Writing, research: writing on graphic design

  • Derrida uses the term grammatology to name the study of writing as a distinctive form of representation.

  • They talk about how any memory system can be called a form of writing, since it records information for the purpose of future transmissions. That's an interesting thought, although, my dyslexia has a habit of not sustaining short-term memories, so maybe there could be a visual representation of type fading as it repeats itself. When I was going through my dyslexia test, I was asked to verbally repeat a set of numbers in the opposite order, so I repeated the numbers in my head but each time would reduce in clarity.

  • I really like Saussure's viewpoint on how codes such as written English are full of irrational spelling: for example, words that sound the same but spelled differently (meet/meat). They see the alphabet as a violation of the natural speech. He brought up the same argument I had a few weeks back about how Chinese ideograms are easier to understand because they do not represent the phonetics of the language. He did claim the phonetic and ideograph were the only forms of writing, however, Derrida believes there is a fluctuation between the two; numbers and symbols are ideologic and used in a phonetic alphabet.


Real world research: A resource for social scientists & practitioner researchers


Ethnography

  • To grasp the lived experience of people from their point of view, one has to enter into relationships with them, but risks disturbing the natural setting.

  • Ethnography involves focusing on a group with a shared culture.

  • It is typically written within a narrative

  • Who is Hammersley?

  • There is no specific design for an ethnographic study due to how the research questions change as you get involved - its a bit like how last week's webinar told us to embrace the change of ideas as the content of the writing develops (content inspires the ideas, or in this case, the questions).

  • Case studies or theorises can be approached ethnographically.

Surveys

  • The fault in surveys is that information is generalised on both sides. To save time people condense their information and sometimes forget to include all the details within the given moment, and some researchers make the mistake of not considering those limitations of a survey. Additionally, researchers need to be aware that people might interpret their questions in different ways, so it is important to be clear about what you are asking them: when I was doing my survey question last week, I made sure to explain the purpose of my question as well as give examples of the areas within the question that can be explored rather than generalising the question. Another thing I would say about surveys from experience is that it is very one-sided, at least if you are interviewing people you can re-phrase a question if the answer wasn't what you were hoping for.

Interviews

  • Semi-structured interview seems most appropriate because it allows the interviewer room to understand the interviewee, which will make the researcher approach certain topics sensitively. An unstructured interview allows the researcher to make the interviewee feel more comfortable, therefore, the information being given isn't going to be condensed and being in the moment improves the likeness that memory will not be compromised. However, when doing these interviews it is important to make the interviewee aware of the time space being set out, and to plan how much extra time is needed for the interview. A copy of the questions would also be useful as conversation can make the researcher forget their questions or not have time to answer all of them. Due to my experience as a mentor and training as a PASS leader, I know how important a tea break is before and in-between an event is (whether it being an interview or workshop) because it calms down the nerves of both individuals, and as they are both strangers, this would allow introduction and conversation before the interview - although the pandemic has limited the level of interaction.

  • Does age inform the type of structure the interview is set in because a younger person is more likely to be busy either with study work or job meetings compared to someone that is in retirement. I was born into an era where information is expected to be condensed and systems are faster to save time, so even if the interviewee had no agenda, would they expect their interview to be as short and passive as a survey? Although, we do have reward psychology, which means we only tend to do inconvenient activities if there was either a psychological, moral or physical reward at the end of it. An example of this would be the time I volunteered to help students move in to their halls of residence, which resulted in receiving free lunch.

  • Interviews can be carried out after analysing quantitive data in order to clarify findings and generate further understanding.

  • The interviewee is in control of the narrative - they can choose to distort and miss-out certain pieces of information. And most interviewees would choose answers they think the interviewer wants to hear in order to gain a positive image.

  • Based on the method of recoding the interview, I would record the interview due to my slow hand writing but maybe write down a few keywords to pin-point interesting viewpoints and mannerisms. If I spend more time writing notes than keeping eye contact, I think I would make the interviewee feel uneasy or reduce the level of interaction. Additionally, this would also save time and allow me to backtrack and ask leading questions, which should be avoided when you haven't answered all the set questions.

  • As a dyslexic, I know how difficult long or double-barrelled questions can be, so I think it is important to layout questions as if they were for me but leave out the jargons. Although I have had the habit of creating double barrelled questions in surveys, mainly to direct people on what I want them to say. I think double-barrelled questions are a way to avoid leading questions, so the interview doesn't need to be moved into a particular direction.

Observation

  • You don't ask people about their views, just watch what they do and listen to what they say. Montaigne, 'saying is one thing; doing is another'. There are no bias' from the other person, just you.

  • The observed need to be unaware they are being observed, otherwise their behaviour would change.


WORKSHOP CHALLENGE //


How can you research and define a topic that reveals a new insight and critical understanding of visual culture, myth or story in your area?

  • Primary - questionnaires, surveys and interviews

  • Secondary - public information

  • Ethnographic - observation or interaction of someone within their environment.

Task:

  1. Research and find 2 possible stories that reflect a viewpoint of your town.

  2. Create 1 image to represent both story concepts. Make sure to use a variety of original methods that are not sourced from the Internet.

  3. Present 2 short proposal with a title, original image and 100-word synopsis about the concept of your article

Soviet Bus Stops, Christopher Herwig

Christopher Herwig is a photographer that documented modern art from the Soviet Era. I liked the idea of capturing something that brings people together as a community but act as a piece of public art at the same time.



Falmouth Myths
















  • Similar to Scotland's Loch ness Monster and monster being named as Morgawr (Cornish for, ‘Sea Giant’), fisherman sighted this creature curing the 19th century near Pendennis Point. Described as being 20+ft long with a humped back, long neck and horned head.

  • 2006 first sightings of a mix between a cat and a koala bear near Swanpool Beach.

I don't think I will be exploring any myths for my article due to their bizarre narratives.



Falmouth Legends

Killigrew's mystery pyramid

  • Killigrew was named after a street in Falmouth. He created the town of Falmouth after 1613. No one knows why he built a pyramid, probably because he was the last line in the family with no children.

  • Falmouth locals thought the town were halted by spirits due to strange noises at night, locals were seen shooting into the shadows. Turned out to be a pig owned by the Royal Hotel in 1849.

  • Pirates

  • Henry VIII built Pendennis Castle


Cemetery

Using the Cemetery to reveal interesting stories.

  • William Tolmie Tressider, solicitor and church warden, 1854. He asked the cemetery to be moved due to the old churchyard being overcrowded. Bones being visible and a pungent smell raised concerns of the cemetery being the cause of the town's outbreak of the cholera epidemic. Back when the town was reduced to a village, the cemetery we now know was 1 mile away from the town in order to make the air cleaner and stop the spread of disease.

  • A WW1 grave with a sailors symbol on it

  • A grave of 'Mr.H.Creece', a Falmouth deck engine that did not survive the Titanic. Newspapers said that the Titanic was being towed and it took two weeks before the news finally came regarding the many deaths.


There is lots of podcasts created by PHD students that unravel the stories of the Cornish graves. https://weareonthehill.podbean.com/page/2/


  • William Stevens Bilkie was the last working mail coach guard of Falmouth due to the rival of the new railway in 1959. Reinvented himself. He created the Mrs Bilkie flower after his wife. There is limited information about this flower, which is why the image is bad quality.


  • Roy Coote 1924. Penryn was known for its boxing scene. Roy boxed to support his family. Was never an official titled contender for boxing because the capital (London) considered the south west scene as 'foreign parts'. 40 years as a tugboat skipper.








  • 1866, Mary Winifred Freeman challenged the conventions as a Catholic woman and earned her living as a painter.



  • Mary Monk. Heat and light treatments. Alexander Nursing Home. Came to Falmouth to heal. Was the first female sanitary inspector and health visitor in Portsmouth. Not a lot of information is available, which is a shame because I would have liked to do something health-based.



  • Spending 5 years voyaging across the globe, Charles Darwin arrived at Falmouth abroad 'the beagle' on October 1836 and departed on the Royal Mail coach.



  • 1820, Sir John Gay Newton Alleyne. The Alleyne family owned a sugar plantation maintained by African slaves. Falmouth took part in the slave trade. Researchers have found it a difficult subject to collect information on because slaves were not recorded and you would need to look into the people that were uncharge of these plantations. If I were to investigate further, I would need to be sensitive during interviews due to the nature of the subject.




Visual Culture

  • J.M.W Turner visited Falmouth

  • Charles Napier Hemy, Henry Scott Tuke and William Ayerst Ingram were Falmouth based artists.

  • Kingdom and Sparrow - Old Art College Building


The Fox Family

The Poly (Cornwall Polytechnic Society) founded in 1833

Anna Maria Fox created this society to 'promote the useful and fine arts' because many men on her father's workforce would bring him numerous inventions and models. According to DR Ginny Button, without Anna Maria Fox, we might never have had an art school or university at all; the first art classes were at The Poly, which was a precursor to the development of Falmouth's Art School.

Historian Michael Carver explains the origins of The Poly.


Rosehill Gardens

The Fox family built a scenery garden filled with rare species of plants because their daughter was blind. It is now as public space, maintained and protected by the council as it has been awarded the national green flag. Rare insects can be found in the garden. I remember my first ear in Falmouth, when the window was left open a rare insect floated around the studio - it made me wonder why the campus was built in that location, surely having a population of students would disturb the wildlife?


It is a sub-tropical garden that was built by Robert Were Fox the younger (father of Anna Marie Fox), and his brothers Charles Fox and Alfred Fox after the Second World War. Sea captains brought back many plants from various parts of the globe such as Australia, New Zealand and South America - Lemon, Banana and Eucalyptus trees, Bamboos, Agaves and a wide variety of palms have adapted to Cornwall's mild climate. What do the gardeners do to maintain global plants?


The Gardens has so many untold stories behind it and I feel that I could potentially relate it to how the gardens influence mental wellbeing - especially for the students that occupy it. As for the 'blind daughter' fact that can't be found, I am going to go directly to the source where I first heard this and clarify its source.


Dipping Needle Deflector

A Dipping Needle Deflector is a navigational aid, which was invented by Robert Were Fox.


Founder of Weston-super-mare as a bathing resort

Edward Long Fox (1762-1835) is a pioneer of mental health care. He was born in Falmouth and he son of Joseph Fox, a Quaker surgeon - I've heard of the Quaker throughout my research, which was a religious group in Falmouth that was created by George Fox.He was educated at Edinburgh and was a physical at Bristol Infirmary- unlike his future generations, he moved around a lot. He purchased Knightstone Island in Weston-super-mare to create a therapeutic spa with a range of hot, cold and chemical baths.


He lived in a time when mental illness was treated cruelly in asylums, and instead of chain restraints, he started using exercise for his methodologies.

Portrait of Edward Long Fox by Hugh Goldwin Rivire

This is very interesting to me because it links the place I have called home with a town I was born in. To add to this he is a pioneer of mental health, a subject I am very interested in! He may not have a plaque in the town of Weston-super-mare, but his family name lives on in Falmouth.



My first introduction to the Fox family was as an ambassador because I was required to talk about the gardens surrounding the Falmouth Campus and how the gardens were built for the blind daughter of the Fox family.


I am going to explore two stories within this topic due to how much this family have contributed through history.


Things I need to research:

  • Interview with Fox family

  • Archives

  • Family tree (maybe I could create one that lists their achievements)

  • Document species and scents from Fox Garden

  • Interview the gardener

  • Publications on Fox family

  • Ask questions through posters, posts, etc.

  • Youtube


Interesting Facts:

  1. The journey in Falmouth started with Joseph Fox.

  2. George Croker Fox (1728) moved to Falmouth in 1759, making G.C.Fox and Co shipping agents flourish.

  3. His son (1754 R.W Fox) expanded the business into copper mining and tin-smelting, and was appointed Consul for the port of Falmouth.

  4. R.W Fox the young 1789 was a scientist, whose interests in mining and shipping led to inventions and discoveries. Workmen would present their own inventions to him, which was when his daughter Anna Maria Fox created The Poly - it was the descendent to Falmouth's first art school.

  5. Caroline Fox travelled with her Father and made lots of influential friends, including Carlyle who wrote of the Falmouth Foxes in a biography. ". . . love of knowledge, taste for art, wish to consort with wisdom and wise men, were the tendencies of all: to opulent means superadd the Quaker beneficence, Quaker purity and reverence there is a circle in which wise men may love to be.' (T.F. Fox 1977)

  6. According to my research, the family tree ends with Robert Barclay Fox (born 1873), so I will be unable to interview any of the family.

  7. According to my ambassador handbook, there Rosehill Fox Gardens was created for the blind daughter of the Fox Family, however, I can not find this information anywhere. I will need to interview the head of the ambassador office to find out more about the source.

Slave Trade in Falmouth

  • 1782 George Croker Fox organised early petitions against slave trade from the towns of Falmouth, Penryn and Helston.



Chosen topic 1: Edward Long Fox

In order to sustain my interest over the next couple of weeks, I have decided to choose something that can easily relate to health and wellbeing or social change.


Ever since I started looking at Dr.Edward Fox's mental health asylum I've wanted to develop it into my essay, however, due to location restrictions, it has been difficult to let him go as a potential subject. After the question webinar, it has occurred to me that I can ask family members to collect photos and see whether I have any photos of Knightstone in my archives - after all, it is the place I grew up in. Another way of developing original imagery is to illustrate my own version and an image. I feel that lockdown restrictions would encourage digitalised interviews even if it was local. And even though Anna Maria Fox was a brilliant start to Falmouth's creative development, I feel that I know too much about her and her story has been told too much.


Whilst George Croker Fox was building up his shipping agency, his brother Joseph Fox (Edward's father) was in Falmouth as an apprentice to a local doctor. Compared to George's business venture, the medical route had less leisure because his patients were sick seaman and other people with lower income. He later founded the medical dynasty.

Falmouth Fox crest

He invested in expensive furniture, hopping to attract patients that were willing to pay handsomely for care and treatment. This feels Americanised - was this before the NHS? Why did people need to pay for treatment? I think this would be a good way to try and connect today's heath treatments with the 18th century.


I feel that Edward's father was more humble when it came to serving patients. Through observing his uncle's success business and his father's humble surgeon, do you think he figured out the link between the two - learning through his father's mistakes of earning a low income. How much did his father actually make?


The asylum was passed jointly to Edward's sons Francis and Charles Fox, which remained in the Fox family until 1950. What happened to it over these 70 years?

Well, now the Knightstone island is a collection of luxury flats, but the tearoom is still in its place. As you can see, the tearoom has used the building's heritage and places emphasis on the Fox family name.


What visual language was used in this asylum?



Since I am not located in Weston super mare anymore, I've searched my archive and found a couple of photos of the Knightstone island.



Chosen route 2: Slave Trade

I think doing further research on Falmouth's slave trade would support the theme of social change within my research, and I am intrigued with stories that haven't been researched yet.


Following the Black Lives Matter movement in late 2020, people have been questioning whether slave owners and traders should have states and street names. I think this is a brilliant opportunity to look into the Falmouth street names closely and see what people think about them when they consider the slave history.


  • Joseph Emidy, the African Slave who became the toast of Cornish Society. Cornwall's top violinist and leading Truro Philharmonic Society. His slave master taught him how to play the fiddle.

Beverly Wilson is the great, great, great, great grand-daughter of Joseph. Silk Buckingham described him as 'an exquisite violinist, a good composer, who led at all the concerts of the country, and who taught equally well the piano, violin, violoncello, clarinet and flute'.

The Emidy Project was created by Tunde Jegede, which tells the experience of Joseph Antonio Emidy.


  • Many people across Cornwall would not have sugar in their tea, a gesture that started in the 18th century to protest against the slave trade.

  • Between 1525 and 1833.

  • Walsingham Place in Truro was called Caribee Island / Cribby Island, which was derived form the Caribbean due to the large number of slave ships.

  • Thomas Corker, Sir Rose Price and Price Snr were slave traders / owners. Sir William Lemon is named after Lemon Quay and Lemon Street in Truro. Anna Binny inherited slaves. Richard Bosanquet, Rbert Henry Church, George Munro.

  • Britain was the most active slave trading countries.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, published in 1789.


Development


Slave trade Proposal

As a cultural hub, I was shocked to hear that Falmouth took part in the slave trading. I am curious to know more stories and how Falmouth went from slave trading to being a cultural hub.

There was a Falmouth family that owned a sugar plantation, but most Cornish people stopped adding sugar to their tea as a form of rebellion against slavery. And members of the famous Fox family signed the petition to end slavery. There is an interesting story of a slave called Joseph Emidy, who was buried in Truro. He was set free in Falmouth and ended up being the best composer and teacher in Truro society. Another investigation I could potentially go into would be to connect this with 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement and enquire how people feel about the local streets being named after slave owners.


Dr. Edward Long Fox Proposal

The Fox family is a famous for their achievements through the ages. Dr. Edward Long Fox in particular stood out to me due to how he developed the first mental health asylum that didn’t involve torture. I want to investigate more into the mental health sector and how Dr. Fox started questioning the traditional way of treatment for mental health. I am also interested in how he capitalised on rich patients, and I want to understand whether his uncle’s successful business skills were a factor. The asylum stopped being in the Fox family's care not long after the NHS started, is this just a co-incidence?



This workshop's challenge is to come up with one image that will suit both proposals.


Themes:

  • Chains / freedom

  • Cruelty

  • Wellbeing

  • Control over others

  • No rights

  • Persistence

  • Profit

  • Money influences

I found this in my archive, which I think symbolises both the Mental Asylum and Slavery because chains were used in both situations to gain control over individuals. The rust is very effective because it shows that these events were part of the past. The greenery was unintentional but I suppose it could symbolise the idea of a free world being controlled by man.



REFLECTION //

Using my knowledge from my experience as an ambassador, I was required to talk about Falmouth's culture, in particular the Fox family because the family have achieved so much through history, there is definitely more than one story to be told.


It was easy to choose Edward Long Fox as a first topic due to my passion for mental health, and the webinar clarified ways of how I could collect primary research from different locations: illustration, video interviews, using my own archives of Weston super mare.


Due to Anna Maria Fox's story being told many times in Falmouth, I feel there might be too much research out there. I was set to choose the Rosehill Gardens as a second topic, but after researching stories of the cemetery, the slave trade became interesting - I was shocked to hear that Falmouth town was part of it. In order to keep to the theme of social change, I eventually decided to go with slave trade because there are so many stories I haven't researched yet, and I am interested to know how Falmouth developed into a cultural hub.



REFERENCES//

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