To Do/Reading List

It is said that when tasks are committed to ‘paper’ there is a much greater chance of them getting done.  In that spirit I am sharing the ever-increasing To Do List for my PhD.  It seems a good time to regroup and start to think about Year 2 in the hope that my upgrade document and the resultant oral examination is successful.

• Revise Thesis structure by reviewing each Chapter/Section against the following critieria:

1. Core material both theory and practice
2. Not sure at this stage
3. Cul-de-sac – that which is interesting and might form basis for future research but is not relevant as core material or does not contribute to new insight at this stage

• Review current Chapter 1 draft and revise as appropriate
• Write up Visual Representation of Skye section
• Take stock of Year 1 photography practice
• Plan Year 2 practice to experiment, evaluate and review each of the 10 signifiers in both academic and practical terms
• Discuss plans/ideas with supervisors at first meeting in Year 2 or before

The Upgrade Document I have produced is necessarily a snap-shot and represents a moment in time that has now passed.  As a result, I have produced a long list of reading I want to do which has sparked my interest.  However, this will need to be revised pending the outcome of the revised thesis structure and consideration of the Upgrade Document:

• Research plant/tree sentience
• Read:

1. Vibrant Matter: a political ecology of things – Jane Bennett (2010)
2. The Poetics of Space – Gaston Bachelard (1964)
3. Earth and Reveries of Repose – Gaston Bachelard (1948)
4. Alien Phenomenology: or What It’s Like to Be a Thing – Ian Bogost (2012)
5. Goodbye, Kant!: What Still Stands of the Critique of Pure Reason – Maurizio Ferraris (2013)
6. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest – Suzanne Simard (2021)
7. How to Write a Thesis – Rowena Murray (2002)
8. Bachelard and the Epiphanic Instant – Richard Kearney (2008)

• Continue with my research in contemporary art practice

I plan to finish this reading in September/October alongside a significant period of practice.  In addition, I would like to:

• Prepare for exhibition at An Crubh on the Isle of Skye in October
• Collate some dummy book ideas of my work to date
• Consider the editing, curating and printing of my photographic work
• Consider collaboration with other specialists such as poets, sound recordists and filmmakers

An aspirational list that might change after discussions with my supervisors . . .

 

References

Bachelard, G. (1948). Earth and Reveries of Repose – An Essay on Images of Interiority. Dallas, Texas, Dallas Institute Publications.

Bachelard, G. (1964). The Poetics of Space. New York, Penguin Books.

Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant Matter – A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, Duke University Press.

Bogost, I. (2012). Alien Phenomenology or What It’s Like to be a Thing. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.

Ferraris, M. (2013). Goodbye, Kant! – What Still Stands of the Critique of Pure Reason. New York, State University of New York Press.

Kearney, R. (2008). “Bachelard and the Epiphanic Instant.” Philosophy Today 38: 38-45.

Murray, R. (2002). How to Write a Thesis. London, Open University Press.

Simard, S. (2021). Finding the Mother Tree – Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. New York, Knof, Borzoi Books.