Further Developments of the Pitch
A reflection of previous projects has focused my attention on the location, language, identity and history of Cornwall. It is the purpose of this final project to explore these themes in closer detail. The aim will be to discuss the significance of Cornish history and language to discover the true identity of Cornwall and its people. While initial research will explore the question: What are the key characteristics of Cornish identity? I aim to narrow this research down to focus on Bodmin. This initial question is raised through the data from the 2011 census which identifies that a small minority of people had described themselves as being Cornish, further data from the office for national statistics in 2018 reports the population of Cornwall stood at 566,000. Of these, it is estimated that 83,500 consider themselves as being of Cornish nationality. (14%)
The current economic landscape of Cornwall is and has been changing for the past 20 years. With more affordable local homes being built and the increase of second homes being left vacant for the majority of the year the tension between locals and tourists is a constant struggle. It is argued that Cornish people are being priced out of their county, this idea is explored in the recent BAFTA-winning film BAIT. Without tourism Cornwall’s economy would struggle, it is a provision that provides employment and growth in the area. It remains a constant source of disagreement and division between people.
Historically, the Cornish and English stem from different roots and, although the Cornish homeland is today administered as if it were a part of England, unlike Wales in 1536, it was never legally incorporated into England. Nigel Pengelly 2010
While I aim to start my research exploring Cornwall’s history, I intend to focus on my local town and uncover its history and identity through the use of Design. Bodmin is under-investment from a range of projects that aims to build better connections with other towns through cycle paths and parks, from luxury hotels and more affordable homes. Bodmin is going through a stage of re-developments and at the heart of this can be found the into-bodmin project that aims to raise the profile of the town and community spirit.
In this time of growth and change, I started to think about the identity of Cornwall and Cornish people. In previous projects, I had explored the language and history of this county but thus far I have not explored its people. People who define themselves not as English or British but Cornish. The 2011 census identified around 7% of the British population had identified as Cornish by selecting other and writing the term Cornish. This goes some way to demonstrate my point that Cornwall, with its rich history, its language and its inherent sense of identity is being forced into a modern economy that threatens its roots. Cornwall celebrates his Celtic roots and is acknowledged as being one of the four Celtic nationalities in the UK. From this research, I ask the question, what are the key characteristics of being Cornish? What are the values, traditions and identifying characteristics of someone who is truly Cornish?
Sigmund Freud describes identity as the person one believes, wishes, or hopes oneself to be, as distinct from the actual object, one’s (or another’s) actual person. Abraham Maslow also describes the need for belonging and to have a sense of connection within his Hierarchy of needs.
This project will aim to uncover the identity of Bodmin and its core values through the use of design. Further research into the local area and people will use community engagement projects with connections to the school and collaborating with Into-Bodmin, a cultural engagement charity. I aim to explore the identity of Bodmin and Cornish values using design as a tool to do so. The research will include a series of interviews and surveys. From this, I propose in-depth interviews that will be shared as podcasts. These podcasts will aim to interview local people of all ages and backgrounds.
My purpose and aims are to explore the identity of Bodmin and its people. If Newquay is a surfing town, Padstow, Mevagissey and Looe are fishing towns. If Pendeen, Camborne, Redruth, and St Just are all historic mining towns, what is the identity of Bodmin? It was once the ‘capital’ of Bodmin, the law courts are in Bodmin, the historic Jail is in Bodmin but do these establishments define the identity of Bodmin in the same way that a mining, fishing or market town define their locations? I propose the question, therefore; Is it possible to use design to explore the identity of a location?
As previously suggested, this project focuses on people and their stories, I intend to use design as a tool to engage with and collaborate with people to uncover the identity of Bodmin. Posing questions such as: What are the key characteristics of Bodmin? What is Bodmin known for? What makes someone Cornish? A survey of 20 young people identified that 50% of these believes themselves to be of Cornish identity. I intend to expand on this initial self-initiated research and use data and interviews a visual response to the question How can the cultural, political and economic landscape help to define the identity of a location?
The contextual analysis will explore people responses to the question, What does it mean to be Cornish? A questionnaire will be developed to identify key characteristics and importantly gather information of people. I aim to utilise this method of investigation to talk to people and listen to their stories. I believe that people are at the heart of this project and that to gain a better understanding of Cornwall, its culture and history I need to explore stories.
Targeting the local population of Bodmin will help define this project but will also act as the target audience. This project aims to unite people and build upon the work identified by the into-Bodmin project. Working with the local school I hope to discover the views of Bodmin next generation, how do they see their town? While I intend to connect with a vast majority of people from the local area I aim to encompass a range of demographics from School students, Local business owners, Mixed generations, this is to inform my research and help support my writing in this journey to uncover a visual response to the question proposed.
The implementation of design will be used across a wide range of areas in this project, research will inform ideas that will be used to develop a visual response to the question posed. This project aims to be an exploration of ideas and uses design to engage people through projects that also aim to answer questions of identity and location. The journey will be documented through video, sound and design, this will inform written works that add commentary and contextual analysis. The implementation of design from the first point will explore a typographic response to questions posed. Using interviews as a source of data, I propose a visual response that encapsulates each interviewees ideas. Art, Design, Media and Photography students from the school will generate their visual response to questions of identity and area. These will be displayed in vacant spaces in the town and in the old public library space that the into-Bodmin now inhabit. This space is been transformed into a community hub, cafe, office space and houses other charities that aim to support its residents. With this, I aim to engage with a mixture of demographics that will also respond to questions about design, identity and location. All of this research can be encapsulated and documented in a book that reflects on the history of the town but also seeks to explore the future of Bodmin. Within this book, I will continue to collaborate with into-Bodmin and a Geographical performing arts group that have been commissioned to explore history and establishments in the town.
Further Designer research / links
Paula Schers semi accurate maps explore data and visual design that comment on a range of socio-economic subjects. From the number of voters per state, to the Scher states that these paintings started out as a nonsensical visualisation of data, from the numbers on her credit cards to then moving into political data. She goes on to say that the paintings are an act of weaving little pieces of information to make a bigger thing. My initial research thus far has provided me with data and statistics, I have yet more data to collate and wonder if my exploration into these questions of identity could also explore a visual outcome that collates this information. In an age of data driven identity, personal identification numbers, phone numbers, bank accounts we are a series of numbers within a system, our identity becomes a number.
Colophon Foundry developed a typeface based on the Welsh language in collaboration with the Welsh based design studio Smörgåsbord. This typeface was commissioned by the Welsh government to embody the history and all things welsh to bring a nod to the forward facing tourism board. The type was designed to offer the flexibility and fluidity of the end user, Smörgåsbord to switch between English and the Welsh alphabet. While not a new idea, I believe that there could be an interesting link to this project and one of my previous projects where I had also developed my own interpretation of a type influenced by its location. This may not result in the final outcome but could certainly form part of a designed response to the proposed questions.
Crests & Coats of arms
While editing my pitch I started to think about the coat of arms or crests linked to places. The first example is from Barnsley my home town that shows the links between its mining and market histories. The second example is from the South Yorkshire district, as Yorkshire is the biggest county, it has been divided into four constituencies, North, East, South and West. Each of these has its own distinct history and therefor its own coat of arms. The third example is that of Cornwall as a county and too depicts its industrial history and ecological wildlife. The final example is an image that shows from a google search but shows no further information. This is something that I wish to investigate further.
Today I had a little look through the Cornish reference section of the Library, I found some really interesting material, archived examples of the Cornish Guardian, A Cornish dictionary, a book that looks at the history of place names and discusses the relevance to Cornish history. I also found The Survey of Cornwall by Richard Carew, first published in 1602. Inside it documents the then landscape of the land and doing this shows a series of Maps that I found interesting.
Bibliography
Hipsters & the High Street (Urban & Cultural Geography at King’s)
What Do Landscapes Tell Us About Our Culture? | Linnea Sando | TEDxHelena
Why we need more cultural landscapes.
Colophon Foundry (Welsh) https://www.colophon-foundry.org/custom/wales/
City Maps (Paula Scher)
Abstract: Art of the Design/ Paula Scher
Pixels and Serifs. 