This presentation by Jon Cairns was part of the 'Art, Autobiography, Memoir' symposium at Central Saint Martins, 13 February 2014. The symposium was a programme within the Intimacy Unguarded research project. More information on the symposium and an audio recording of the presentation can be found on the events page: http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/csm/2014/02/13/intimacy-unguarded/ Jon Cairns is a senior lecturer in BA Fine Art at Central St Martins. Recent research has engaged with the exploration of intimate affect in the context of public performance (Contemporary Theatre Review 2012) and questions of value in the context of recession (Visual Culture in Britain 2013). Collaborative practice with artist Julia Spicer, has included online work and curation, centring on explorations of the fictive and the fabulatory.