This project is busting at the seams with ideas and everyone I talk to has something new and exciting to add.\u00a0 It’s fantastic that there is so much support and enthusiasm.\u00a0 But this wild beast needs taming, or we risk spending the next 9 months discussing all of our fabulous ideas.\u00a0 So, Jess and I have started to tackle “The Plan”, through which we hope to pin down what we are able to achieve, how much it will cost, who’s going to do it and when it needs to be done by.\u00a0 The lists of objectives and tasks are\u00a0growing rapidly and it\u00a0is going to be quite some Gantt chart!<\/p>\n
I have also spent much of my time with my nose stuck in a book. My favourite topic at the moment is related to magic. \u00a0I’m exploring the way that a top hat makes a man in a suit become a gentleman and the bride’s veil changes a girl into a woman.\u00a0 Headwear transforms a person and very publically declares the wearer\u2019s new status, often with rigidly set rules particularly in military, legal, religious and educational structures.\u00a0 Footwear makes a different kind of change on a person, more personal and intimate.\u00a0 In fairy tales and stories footwear often reveals the true nature of a person, and sometimes this results in a gruesome demise. \u00a0I\u2019m thinking here, of course, of Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s The Red Shoes<\/em>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also preoccupied with trying to understand why we want new things.\u00a0 Shopping for shoes fulfils a deep desire, admittedly for some more than others!\u00a0 But why?\u00a0 What drives us to want new things to adorn ourselves?\u00a0 Why do beautiful shoes bewitch us?\u00a0 I came across a wonderful idea in the Journal of Material Culture that could go some way to explain it.\u00a0 \u201cParallels can be drawn between magic and enchantment of advertising campaigns\u2026 and the belief in the magic of objects such as amulets and charms\u2026\u201d (Jude Hill The Story of the Amulet<\/em>, 2007).\u00a0 I will definitely be discussing this with staff at the PRM over coffee next week.\u00a0 I’m sure we can find some shoe related, magic objects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This project is busting at the seams with ideas and everyone I talk to has something new and exciting to add.\u00a0 It’s fantastic that there is so much support and enthusiasm.\u00a0 But this wild beast needs taming, or we risk … Continue reading