In my workshops a couple of weeks back, I mentioned attending a lecture by Alasdair Foster, who (amongst a list of notable achievements and experience) is currently a doctoral researcher in the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, Monash University, Melbourne.

The lecture was titled ‘CREATING SHARED CULTURE – ART AND THE PRO-AM’, and provided a great insight into the development of maker culture and the historical context that this emerged out of (similarly to Bolter’s article on the entanglement of art & politics throughout the 20th century).  For any of you interested in ‘professional-amateur’ practice, or looking for useful research into online communities and content creation, you should check out his work.