This week we finished reading a book about the highly popular TV show Friends. It’s called ‘I'll Be There for You: The one about Friends’ and it’s the definitive retrospective of Friends, exploring all aspects of the show from its unlikely origins to the elusive reasons why we still watch it. The author Kelsey Miller is a journalist and pop culture expert and relives the show's most iconic moments, analyses the ways in which Friends is occasionally problematic and examines the many trends it inspired, from the rise of coffee-shop culture to Friendsgivings to the ultimate 90s haircut, the Rachel. Weaving incisive commentary, revelatory interviews and behind-the-scenes anecdotes involving high-profile guest stars, it’s the most comprehensive take on Friends. We would really like to use the new knowledge from the book to make some art about friends. There are some obvious issues, the first being that it’s so important to so many people, secondly that it’s such a massive symbol and therefore carries so much meaning if it’s appropriated. We’ll continue thinking about it and see what comes up. Our initial thoughts are about the side characters, extras, and sets that make this fictional world so believable and comforting. Another thing we were considering was the archetypal nature of the characters and how the audience relate to each of them for different reasons.