Studio Art for Interdisciplinary Practice module (DJ51035)

This module will introduce you to contemporary art as a form of practical thinking and critical making. Each week we will be investigating a key question that can be asked of contemporary art, broadly seen as a cross-medial and cross-disciplinary practice, such as: What is the role of the artist in contemporary society? How have artistic practices changed in the digital age? What is relational aesthetics? Does the sublime still exist? Can we speak of political art in a post-political age?

We will introduce the theoretical approaches that allow you to develop answers to these questions, from feminism, postcolonialism and queer theory to astrophysics and big data patterning, covering some of the key debates in contemporary art today. This module will also enable you to develop experimental methodologies in a range of media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, performance, and digital art. By the end of the module, you will be able to critically analyse a variety of art practices and their relationship to different cultural, historical and philosophical contexts. You will also be able to incorporate this knowledge into your critical practical work.

Assessment: 100% coursework

Intended Learning Outcomes:

• demonstrate development of working methods, both technical and conceptual
• understand how to articulate a critical position
• use reflective methods in the definition of your research and practice
• demonstrate consideration of suitability of methods
• develop skills to lead and to engage in discussions
• develop interpersonal and presentation skills, organisational and time management skills

Learning and teaching Methods: 

• lectures
• self-led seminars
• workshops
• small-group activities
• individual tutorials with the module leader and specialised staff
• studio work
• open-studio critiques
• independent study

Module leader: Prof. Natasha Lushetich