This month, on September 12th, is the anniversary our adopted son’s death. We still do not know the exact medical cause as the inquest has been repeatedly postponed; the pathologist’s diagnosis of Central Pontine Myelinolysis concerns a condition which is almost as mysterious as the circumstances of his death in hospital. CPM is definitely associated with chronic … [Read more...] about SEPTEMBER BLOG In place of Kaddish, a letter for Ste
AUGUST BLOG : Now you see it, now you don’t – Some reflections on the pop up economy
I recently had a dream in which I was lost in a city which was familiar- I recognised several landmarks - but also strange in that its buildings had all been painted in garish day-glo colours. Many had giant graffiti sprayed on them depicting grotesque characters and scenes from comic books. As I wandered around the streets, at once enchanted and bewildered, I came … [Read more...] about AUGUST BLOG : Now you see it, now you don’t – Some reflections on the pop up economy
This is East 20? Urban fabrication and the re-making of Olympic Park
Introduction The Olympic Park has been defined in many different ways :as a ‘lieu de memoire’ for Olympophiles, a vision of the future city, a local public amenity for East Enders, a global visitor destination, a major venue for sports enthusiasts, and the location of a series of residential neighbourhood eventually housing over 20,000 people. How can … [Read more...] about This is East 20? Urban fabrication and the re-making of Olympic Park
JULY BLOG A Walk in Olympic Park
As Londoners we are used to buildings crowding out the sky, the constant friction of human traffic, the barrage of audio-visual noise which cuts into our thoughts and counterpoints our conversations on the street. And so we cocoon ourselves inside little immersive techno-bubbles which are just as invasive, but at least of our own choosing, and we seek out … [Read more...] about JULY BLOG A Walk in Olympic Park
June Blog Crossing the Borderline : the dialectics of trespass in ethnographic fieldwork
Introduction Trespass is a very complicated, tricky, and sometimes dangerous concept. It occupies an ambiguous semantic space somewhere between a model and a metaphor, that is, it operates within both a normative and poetic discourse of transgression. For example a work of graffiti sprayed on the side of a house can be treated as both an act of cr5iminal damage or … [Read more...] about June Blog Crossing the Borderline : the dialectics of trespass in ethnographic fieldwork