Project Idea - Autism awareness leaflet

Since back in the summer I have been thinking about doing a project to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders, more specifically to help new parents spot the signs and get an early diagnosis and the necessary support. We first suspected that my son Arthur had ASD because his speech development was significantly delayed. Also, he had a tendency to line up all his toy cars:



With this in mind, I had the idea of creating a concertina leaflet that featured a simple single-line drawing of a row of cars, buses, trucks and bikes, all the way across the front and back. Dotted above and beyond the line at regular intervals would be things to look out for in your child. The final piece of information would be about the tendency to line up toys, revealing the thought behind the visual.

It's a pretty raw idea at the moment and it would not be a substantial project, so maybe it's one I will come back to if I have time after all my other work is complete.

Project Idea - Hot food comes to Cafe Sion

The big news this year at Sion Hill is that we finally have a daily hot food option! In general the food is actually okay and costs no more than one of the crappy sandwich. Service with a smile is still obviously not an option though. I was thinking it might be an idea to do a small publication or app that celebrates this breakthrough - I banged on about a lack of hot meals in every student rep meeting in the first and second year, along with the provision to pay by card (this has happened too).

It's just an idea at this stage, but I have been photographing my meals for a while just in case I want to go ahead with a little project. It's quite good fun looking back at the food and trying to identify what it was:



I think that one was okay, despite being vegetarian, although it was a bit heavy on courgette. On a Monday we don't get a regular hot meal, instead there is the option of "pasta machine", which the lovely ladies of Cafe Sion are still struggling to get to grips with. It's basically quick-cook penne pasta with a choice of vegetable or meatball ragu for £1.80, which to be fair is reasonable. However, the vege option seems to be just the carnivore version sans-meatball, yet for the same price! Also, we have found that the number of meatballs varies considerably - from a mighty six to as few as two.

Project Idea - "Sorry, there is no photography"

When I visited London for a few days at the end of November, I visited a lot of galleries and exhibitions. I saw some great work but I think my most enduring memory was hearing the strange phrase "sorry, there is no photography". I am sure everyone has heard this at an art gallery from time to time, and probably wondered why photography is not allowed (is it really so that you buy souvenir prints or books in the gift shop?), but the fact that I heard it so much over a short amount of time made it really stick. I must point out that the comment was only directed at me once, at the Whitechapel Gallery.

What I found most strange was the precise wording that I heard on a few different occasions...

SORRY, THERE IS NO PHOTOGRAPHY

What a weird thing to say. This got me thinking about a world in which photography did not exist - could I make an interesting project from this concept? I tried thinking of the most iconic photos of all time and how their messages would have been conveyed without photography. Perhaps I could put on an exhibition where all of the "photos" were just text descriptions of the original scenes, with a "sorry, there is no photography" logo in the corner. Perhaps something like this:



I think an exhibition of these "photos" would look really great. Perhaps I could have a sign at the entrance saying "photography permitted".