module specification

This module establishes the core narrative of the MA Public Art and Performance course and is designed to provide students with a conceptual and practical journey through artistic, cultural and ethical considerations in creating works of public art and performative practices. The module directly references the London and international art scenes, with a variety of off-site activities in public galleries and institutions.
In doing so, the module aims to:

- provide a practical and cultural framework in public art and performative practices, to be applied across the MA;
- encourage an interdisciplinary approach to public art, based on both creative practice and cultural enquiry;
- relate directly to case studies within the art scenes in London and internationally;
- draw on current discourses in the subject of public art and performances, exploring artistic, cultural and ethical questions.

N/A

This module adopts a range of strategies which will alternate across the course of the year in three main strands: observation, creation, reflection.

Observation will involve the study and direct experience of public art and performative projects in the London and international art scenes. This will be enabled by off-site visits and activities in relevant art institutions. LO1, LO2, LO5

Creation will entail practical exploration of public art and performative ideas, in the form of tutor-led workshops and independent development of creative work. LO1, LO3, LO4

Reflection will include lectures, seminars and reflective tasks debating and evaluating the issues raised by practices in the field, including the self-led projects. LO2, LO5

The module is consistently interdisciplinary and, as such, makes use of a variety of learning strategies, both practical and theoretical. Scheduled teaching will involve a range of activities drawing on the aforementioned three strands: observation, creation, reflection.

Independent tasks will be encouraged throughout, specifically focused on the projects developed within the creation strand of the module.

Students are expected to supplement the knowledge covered in class with additional research, both through reading and field observations of actual case studies. Blended learning and online resources will be used to implement tasks and further research.

Furthermore, students will reference their work theoretically in the accompanying module FA07044 Research for Practice, so that the combination of both provides a methodological model in integrating theory and practice.

On completion of this module, students will have gained:

LO1 knowledge of interdisciplinary public art and performative practices, based on both practice and theory;
LO2 an insight into the London and international public art scenes, through direct case studies of projects and curatorial programmes;
LO3 the ability to carry out a range of artistic and/or curatorial projects to given deadlines and constraints
LO4 the ability to practically adapt strategies employed in the professional public art and performance sector;
LO5 experience in observing and culturally evaluating current events within public art and performative practices.

Assessment activities in this module are designed to reflect the interdisciplinary and practically-focused nature of the subject.

At different stages in the module, students will develop short-term practical projects, increasingly preparing them for the complexity of their final MA project (FA7P48) in the summer. Such projects will respond to given themes, but will be progressively tailored to the individual interests and disciplines of each student. Projects may include exhibitions, public experiences, performative actions and curated events: the details of this will depend on each context and discipline and the student will be assessed on both the outcomes and process leading to these.  With each task students will be expected to formally present their artistic and/or curatorial vision through critiques and viva voce sessions, which will also be considered in their assessment.

Please view reading list here: https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/4760F10F-6906-D0F6-A522-3C87D8341F0F.html?lang=en-GB&login=1