Stage 3 and Pitt Rivers Trip

Alice and Architecture, and Ancient Egyptian artefacts, Oh My!

On Tuesday 13th of March 2018, I visited Pitt Rivers in Oxford as a starting point for stage 3. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite stories and I discovered that Lewis Carroll was inspired by a girl called Alice Liddell to write the Alice in Wonderland stories, in Oxford. I also liked looking at the shrunken heads, shadow puppets and the artefacts from other cultures. The museum was inspirational but, I didn't find much to do with my initial idea for stage 3 which is childbirth, what women go through when they've given birth and the perception of childbirth in the media.

Many celebrities in the media document their pregnancy but they only show the glamorous side of pregnancy and not the issues and the horror stories that some women go through. For example, Khloe Kardashian is 8 months pregnant and recently had a glamorous and expensive baby shower which many celebrities attended. Her sisters all post about how fast they have gotten their weight back down after birth and how hard they have been dieting. This puts pressure on women to look a certain way after they have given birth and for women who've had c-sections have to rest for a long time after birth and can't go to the gym a day after.

I am now researching project titles for stage 3 so that I can start my proposal and start to gather images and more research. some of the titles include; Bodily Openings, Perception, Accouchment, Motherhood and Travail. I am really looking forward to this project and I want to produce a textiles piece that will shock and get a reaction from people.