Samuel Jones
Researcher
Samuel Jones is a researcher at Demos. His research interests include culture and the arts, museums and galleries, creativity and the communication of ideas and knowledge through the cultural sector. In particular, he is interested in cross-cultural communications and the role of culture in international relations. In other work, he has focused on Global English and conversations. Recently, he has undertaken research in both the US and China.
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It's a Material World
We've just launched our latest pamphlet - It's a Material World. It deals with the social importance of caring for the material world, and the part that the conservation sector has in helping us to do that. It also suggests a role for the public in looking after and tending for the material symbols of the various things, ideas, and beliefs that they value.
You can see the video here ... the photos here ... and you can download audio from the event here. continue reading on 28th November 2008 - Crowded Thoughts James Surowiecki - he of the Wisdom of Crowds - has an article in this week's New Yorker. In it, he argues that 'when people talk about the ongoing tumult in the stock market, they typically blame the investors' lack of information ... but this information isn't necessarily making investors, or the market any smarter. In fact, what may be driving the market crazy of late is that it knows too much'.For Surowiecki, 'markets work best when investors are thinking for themselves, and... continue reading on 4th November 2008 Comments (1)
- The Sphinx's new riddle: the Material World This article in the New Statesman points out the rich range of cultural influences that have shaped our built environment. We all know that Tony Blair lived in Islington before he moved a few postcodes over to SW1, and that conjures up very 19th C. images of terraces and broad, but paved streets. But how many of us would expect the appearance of a sphinx or an obelisk? The article's point is that there is a rich cultural dialogue in our built environment, and we can... continue reading on 22nd October 2008
- Podcast: Social Change and Contemporary Art In June, I spoke at an event launching Peckham Spaces' Peckham TV project. We've put together a podcase of the event, including excerpts of what I and the participating artists, The People Speak and Harold Offeh said. The podcast also includes some of the discussion with members of the audience. continue reading on 4th September 2008 in Demos Podcasts
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Overcoming Cultural Inertia
Last week, I spoke at the Edinburgh International of Politics at an event which asked '"What Does the New Europe Mean For Artists and Cultural Policy Makers?".
The debate focused on the relationship between cultural practice and engagement and identity in an interconnected world.
I've copied the text into this blogpost. continue reading on 26th August 2008 in The Cultural Age - Protecting the Lord Protector We're currently doing some work on heritage conservation and the importance of caring for the material world.Two of the core themes will be the symbolic importance of conservation, and the opportunities for engageing people in caring for different heritage and cultural forms and the implications that has for identity.With this in mind, it was interesting to see the work currently being done to clean and restore the statue of Oliver Cromwell on Cromwell Green in front of the Houses of... continue reading on 20th August 2008 in Saved for the Nation
- The Cultural Age - Integration and Cohesion Earlier this week, we held the second of our two seminars on The Cultural Age.It focused on integration and cohesion. One of the most interesting things to emerge was that much is going on in the cultural sector, policy-making and academic research but, often, each is unaware of what is going on in the other. At the very least, some of those ends could be tied up in conversations between participants of Monday's session. Another area of debate was long-term change. ... continue reading on 27th June 2008 in The Cultural Age
- Cultural and Artistic Practice and Democratic Participation Last week, I spoke at the launch of Peckham Space, a project run by Camberwell College of Arts that looks at the role or participation in contemporary art.The speech covered a range of topics, in particular that of creative and artistitc production as a democratic space and its potential in relation to politics. You can read a text of the speech, here ... and a podcast of the event will follow soon. continue reading on 27th June 2008
- Social Capital and the Material World Last week, I spoke at a summit on Conservation Education convened by the Textile Conservation Centre. I presented the interim thinking from our project, Saved for the Nation.I've put the speech and the presentation I gave on the website. They outline one of the ideas we are developing in the project, which is about the symbolism of caring for the material world, and what it means in relation to wider agenda, from identity and communities, to building cultural literacy. continue reading on 20th June 2008 in Saved for the Nation
- Contemporary Art and Social Change A couple of months ago, I wrote a review of Provoking Democracy, a book about the role of artisitc production in a democracy.We'll be revisiting this, and other topics, when we speak at the launch of Peckham Space in a couple of weeks. It's a project run by Camberwell College of Arts and promotes participation in contemporary art as a means of social expression.It's at 7.30 pm at Camberwell School of Art ... you can find out more details here and here continue reading on 9th June 2008