“A renowned sociologist goes native” by Leslie Camhi (click on profile below to download)

A Canadian who came to Britain on a Commonwealth Scholarship, Thornton’s PhD was published by Polity Press as Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. She co-edited the first edition of The Subcultures Reader.

Thornton was once a member of faculty at Sussex University where she ran the MA in Media Studies. For one long year, Thornton did undercover research as a brand planner in an advertising agency. Her plan was to write a book but she settled on publishing an article (see Critical Quarterly) and had two children instead.

Since 2003, Thornton has been investigating the social and cultural dynamics of contemporary art. Her book, Seven Days in the Art World, is based on extensive ethnographic research, including in-depth interviews with over 250 people and hundreds of hours of participant observation.

Thornton is a frequent guest speaker. She has contributed to a wide range of conference panels and conversations on stage. In the past year, Thornton has given talks at Cambridge and Oxford Universities (England), the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths’ College (London), the Stadelschule (Frankfurt), Aarhus University (Denmark), Bocconi University (Milan), UNAM (Mexico City), UCLA (Los Angeles), the Corcoran (Washington DC), the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), and Vancity Theater (Vancouver), among others.

.

Selected online interviews

With Andras Szanto for ArtWorldSalon (29 Oct 2008)

With Ana Finel Honigman for Dazed Digital and V Magazine (13 Nov 2008)

With Ron Hogan for GalleyCat (1 Dec 2008)

With Janet Coleman for WBAI’s Cat Radio Cafe (22 Dec 2008)

With Soledad Garcia for Supercream Magazine (Dec 2008)

With Charlene Lau for Canadian Art (April 2009)

With David Goodman for BOMB (January 2010)

With Marilyn Bauer for TC Palm (18 February 2010)

See BOOKS pages for interviews in foreign languages such as Spanish.

An Apology:

From The Telegraph (26 Sept 2009)