25th May 2026
I have yet to fully establish my expectations for the project, so my response to this exercise will be added to over time, as my proposal develops and I get a stronger sense of the direction I am following. Based on my professional experience, I know that the dimensions of a collaborative project iterate and develop over it’s lifecycle. Unexpected factors come in to play – new requirements, new discoveries, changes in personnel, unforeseen financial developments – the list is long and is unpredictable. I have learnt to hold expectations loosely, plan flex in timelines and be responsive – not reactive – to developments. How organisation and communication is approached is central in supporting this.
My expectations at this point can only be loose as my proposal has not taken shape: expectations, planning and communication (in my opinion) can only begin to be formed when there is a direction, however open or vague that may be. The ‘direction’ – a question, an intent, a desire to be explored – is the beginning of a single point of truth around which an endeavour begins to circulate. With that point driven like a stake into the ground, the planning can begin. That is the purpose of this project. But that is based on the assumption that a nascent collaboration has formed during project 3 and that students, during that process, have identified the ‘thing’ they want to examine. Other than tutors offering advice during the first tutorial, there is no contingency built into the material to help those unable to locate human collaborators to develop the idea that will inform their proposal. In fact there is no obvious guidance for those that do have collaborators either, in identifying the subject/ theme/ question that will underpin their proposal. The prompts in the creative toolkit are not substantial enough.
At this early point in project-time, I do know that I will be collaborating with my home town, Hastings, working through an ethnographic-cum-phenomenlogical lens. Currently I am considering the following question as a foundation for my proposal:
What do sustained phenomenological and ethnographic attention to Hastings reveal about the mutually constituting relationship between an implicated self and a place shaped by long decline?
or….
What does it feel like to live inside a town’s long decline – and how does that place change me at the same time as I am learning to read it?
This question is rough, in it’s early stages and needs refining. This question is organic. I expect it to continue being refined throughout the duration of the project. As work is made, processes are introduced, human collaborators come on board (I want to use the initial proposal to reach out over local networks), locations visited, research carried out, the question will develop under those influences.
The project timeline and the contributing timings, should also be viewed as organic. Again, from professional experience, I understand that project timings contract and expand, especially as expectations change and more so when a project runs over an extensive period of time (as this will do – unit end is March 2027). Again, with a refined proposal, lines can be drawn in the sand, but these should be seen as speculative, ideal and open to change. The proposal will bring a sense of initial tasks (research and practical) and I’ll be able to allot timings to these based on an estimate of where I can fit these in during my week. If and when I’m able to bring collaborators and contributors on board, timings will need to be negotiated with them to address their needs and responsibilities. I expect to have to reassess and refactor the project timeline at least monthly, if not more frequently.
I have no fixed expectation on processes or end-goal – in fact, my end-goal at this moment in time (and it will probably stay that way) is to develop an archive of material. Processes, interim and end-goals will, as with everything else, develop and change over time. I am not materially-led, I am led by the ideas that I have, the materials I choose to use are applied to manifest the idea. In the proposal, I will define some start points, a few specific, time-bound and measurable objectives from which I can begin working. I will let these and their results lead me to the next steps and the next objectives. As I have learnt from researching John Akomfrah’s work, working creatively is about recognising the ‘germinations’, the earliest stages of an idea or thought and knowing to nurture them through research, process and materiality. This creative nurturing cannot be precisely planned for as you don’t know what germinations are going to begin sprouting at any point during a project. The key is knowing how and having the organisational processes and responsive attitude in place.