E.P.Thompson (1924-1993) was a British historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He was also a member of Workers' Educational Association (WEA).
Hassall commented on his own experience of culture, saying the culture of London for example is on the surface with public museums, galleries and theaters. In contrast to the more remote areas of Wales, where you have to become more involved with the landscape and the people in order to immerse yourself in the culture. An experience he commented on was a walk through the landscape in which he found an arrow head and pondered on the idea that he was probably the first to hols this since the person that used it, questioning when did this object become aesthetically pleasing and not functional?
Hassall also spoke about his own piece of art entitle 'Fetal', in which he spent days in an old storage room of a wine cellar whilst people could come and view him at work. This mixed audience, of people who knew about the show, as well as people who happened to come across it, creates a god-like perspective of looking down on the artist at work. The idea of working in an enclosed space is also somewhat meditative.
In conclusion, I took from this lecture to consider how I can determine my own cultural map. Is it by judging the types of clothes I wear, the types of clubs I go to, what I vote for? Ultimately, my cultural map is a mixture of everything, being subjective not objective and in a constant flux. Culture can be both ordinary and extra ordinary.
