module specification

This Critical and Contextual Studies module is shared across MA Curating the Contemporary, MA Fine Art and MA Photography. Students will be introduced to key theoretical frameworks that influence and respond to practices and contexts in contemporary art and culture.

Students will develop the skills necessary to complete their own research and will also learn to evaluate critical thinking relevant to their practice. The module is delivered through a series of lectures, seminars and off site visits and involves students in productive cross course discussion and debate. Relationships between theory and practice will be explored within an overarching historical narrative.

The module aims to:

• Support students studying Curating, Fine Art and Photography to develop their critical awareness and understanding of related theory and contexts;
• Enable students to explore the history of ideas and practices relevant to their subject specialism;
• Prepare students with the necessary critical, reflective and research skills to tackle the challenges and demands of art related study at PG level;
• Provide students with a theoretical framework from which they can explore and understand the implications and responsibilities associated with their area of practice.

The main aim of the module is, to support students to develop the necessary critical, contextual and research base for their practice. It will introduce students to key issues and themes and engage them in interrogation and productive discussion and debate that will be enriched by different perspectives of practice. Students will also benefit form the opportunity to meet with peers on other courses and develop networks to support future collaborations and discourse.

The module covers key themes that will offer students a depth of insight in to the territories that artists, curators and photographers navigate as practitioners. Themes may include, for example:

Appropriation; Post Medium Practice;  Art and the Archive; Cinema, Photography and Painting; The Everyday; Participation; Beauty and the Gothic; The Global Contemporary.

Each student will choose a specific theme to research in depth, based upon the programme of lectures and visits and choose an art object, photoraph or exhibition to focus on as a case study in relation to the theme. They will give a presentation on their research to their peers and module tutors before further developing their research and presenting their findings in the form of an essay.
 

The Learning and Teaching strategy for the module is to both inform students and actively engage them in a critical discussion and research related to the themes. This is achieved through:

Lectures – illustrated lectures will offer students a framework and key ideas in relation to the themes of the programme. Each lecture will be accompanied by a pre-reading list, an abstract and lecture notes available on web-learn

Seminars – students will engage in critical discussion with peers following each lecture, this will enable them to share views, ask questions and relate the theme of the lecture to their own experiences and practice.

Essay supervision – individual and group tutorials will be available to students on the module and support them to frame their area of research and develop the essay’s main argument.

Study trips - at least one scheduled study trip will be organised for students. This will encourage a more detailed understanding of context and presentational issues associated with practice.

In addition, students are encouraged to make maximum use of the resources available to them in terms of the IT provision, both within the Faculty and the library. Blended Learning /weblearn includes the provision of course and module information on the web, lecture notes, feedback, and blogs are used to enhance independent learning.

On successful completion of the module the student will be able to:

1. Present a coherent, well reasoned and evidenced response to the issues and debates introduced in the module.
2. Demonstrate a systematic and rigorous approach to study and self management;
3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the contexts, theories and debates relevant to their practice in Curation, Fine Art or Photography;
4. Identify and employ relevant independent research skills and methodologies.

Assessment includes a combination of formative and summative methods. The formative review stage involves students in a presentation to their peers, on the their essay theme and offers them direct verbal feedback in the session. Students are expected to take notes of feedback and advice and to write a brief evaluation summary. The final summative assessment will be based upon the submission of an essay (indicative word count 3000-4000) including bibliography.

The assessment will be based upon the following criteria:

• Appropriate use of research methods
• Quality of analysis and interpretation
• Subject knowledge and relevance
• Quality of communication and presentation
• Appropriate technical competence

The following are indicative only. Refereed journals/articles and electronic resources: issued according to syllabus.

Aranda, J. et al (eds) (2010) What is Contemporary Art? E-flux Journal
Beech, D. (2009) Beauty London: Whitechapel
Benjamin, W. (2002) The Arcades Project Harvard University Press
Bourriaud, N. (2002) Relational Aesthetics Les Presses du Réel
Campany, D. (2008) Photography and Cinema London: Reaktion
Clemens, V. (1999) The Return of the Repressed: Gothic Horror from the Castle of Otranto to Alien New York: State University Press
Danto, A. (1998) After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History Princeton University Press
De Certeau, M. (2002) The Practice of Everyday Life London: Berkeley: University of California Press
De Duve, T. (1998) Kant After Duchamp MIT Press
Dillon, B. (2011) Ruins London: Whitechapel Art Gallery
Doane, M. (2003) The Emergence of Cinematic Time Harvard, Mass.: Harvard University Press
Eco, U. (2007) On Ugliness London: Secker and Warburg
Edmundson, M. (1997) Nightmare on Main Street: Angels, Sadomasochism and the Culture of Gothic Harvard, Mass.: Harvard University Press
Elkins, J. (2011) Art and Globalisation Manchester University Press
Foster, H. (1999) The Anti-Aesthetic The New Press
Gere, C. (2006) Art, Time and Technology New York: Berg
Gilbert-Roth, J. (2000) Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime New York: Allworth Press
Hacking, J. and Campany, D. (2012) Photography: The Whole Story London: Thames and Hudson
Harrison, M. (2006) In Camera – Francis Bacon: Photography, Film and the Practice of Painting London: Thames and Hudson
Hickey, D. (1987) Air Guitar Art Issues Press
Johnstone, S. (2008) The Everyday London: Whitechapel Art Gallery
Krauss, R. (2000) A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the age of the Post-Medium Condition London: Thames and Hudson

Merewether, C. (2006) The Archive London: Whitechapel
Morley, S. (2010) The Sublime London: Whitechapel Art Gallery
Mulvey, L. (2005) Death 24x a Second London: Reaktion Books
Potts, A. (2000) The Sculptural Imagination Yale University Press
Ranciere, J. (2009) The Emancipated Spectator London: Verso
Rees, A. (2011) Expanded Cinema London: Tate
Richter, G. (2008) Overpainted Photographs Berlin: Hatje Cantz
Soutter, L. (2013) Why Art Photography? London: Routledge
Stallabrass, J. (2004) Art Incorporated Oxford: Oxford University Press
Thompson, N. (2012) Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art MIT Press
Vice, S. (1996) Psychoanalytic Criticism Cambridge: Polity Press
Williams, G. (2007) The Gothic London: Whitechapel Art Gallery
Zizek, S. (DVD) The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema