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Open Toolkits

Open Toolkits

OERs composed by MA Contemporary Art Theory Students

Reading Time: 6 minutesFlame icon created by Freepik – Flaticon Open Toolkits ’25 BarCamp 14:10-16:20 18th November 2025   West Court, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh   A BarCamp is a stucture for presenting and playtesting a UX; in this case, an Open Toolkit. Open Toolkits ’25 runs prior to the open publication of this year’s […]

Toolkit icons created by juicy_fish - Flaticon

Reading Time: < 1 minuteOpen Toolkits are free, open resources created by artists and arts organisations for the purpose of sharing their practices   2025’s cohort of MA Contemporary Art Theory students will each create an Open Toolkit to share with you. Each Toolkit enables an open way of inhabiting a practice by taking part in it. An archive […]

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Reading Time: 3 minutesPlease note you are creating a POST (*not a ‘page’)  

Reading Time: 4 minutesSummary: This open toolkit guides learners through a connected and systematic sequence of observing, questioning, comparing, and rewriting in response to a contemporary artwork. The process emphasises interpretation as a constructive act shaped by perspective rather than correctness. To support online learners who lack real-time interaction, this version includes a collective comment section at the […]

Photograph of abstract spatial drawing printed onto acetate

Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction The activity will teach you a practical, repeatable method for abstracting a real space. You will follow a set of steps to produce a rough piece of work, which you may then choose to refine or use as a basis for further experimentation. You may either work digitally or on paper, which can aid […]

Reading Time: 2 minutesSummary: Explore the subconscious through art mediums (painting, installation, digital creation, etc.) to deepen self-awareness and identity; provide a safe outlet for emotions to help release repressed feelings such as anxiety and trauma, and relieve psychological stress; promote interpersonal interaction and collaboration, and cultivate empathy and social skills in group art therapy. Materials needed: pens、paper […]

Reading Time: 4 minutesSummary: This open toolkit aims to help learners develop curatorial writing skills through direct engagement with a contemporary artwork. By observing, questioning, and rewriting, participants learn how visual evidence and contextual knowledge shape interpretation. The process emphasizes interpretation as construction, not as finding a correct meaning.   Learning Outcomes: After the session, learners will be […]

Reading Time: 4 minutesSummary: This open toolkit aims to help learners develop curatorial writing skills through direct engagement with a contemporary artwork. By observing, questioning, and rewriting, participants learn how visual evidence and contextual knowledge shape interpretation. The process emphasizes interpretation as construction, not as finding a correct meaning.   Learning Outcomes: After the session, learners will be […]

Reading Time: 5 minutes  This practice is for anyone — all genders, all backgrounds.   Feminist Decluttering  is about noticing the silent rules society puts on us: how we “should” look,  behave, spend time, and constantly try to be “better”.  Instead,  we are here to take back our space, our time, and our right to live for ourselves.   “Instead of spending time and energy catering to the gaze and social discipline, I follow Orlan’s spirit: ‘My goal […]

A neatly arranged tea set on a wooden table, including a gaiwan, white teacups, a glass pitcher, and tea tools, placed in front of a wooden cabinet with a large blue vase, a small architectural model, and a book on display.

Reading Time: 3 minutes1.Introduction (1 minute) This course takes tea art practice as the entry point, guiding learners to re-examine the composition of daily items, behaviors and relationships through the arrangement, brewing and tasting of tea sets. The arrangement of tea sets, the control of rhythm and the occurrence of interaction make participants realize that art is not […]

https://unsplash.com/photos/grey-microphone-on-stand-in-room-boYNDezoa10

Reading Time: 4 minutesSynopsis A practical guide for creation, teaching learners to obtain script texts from the website of the radio drama, and complete the performance of the radio drama by imitating the author’s expression styles and rhythm control.   Introduction   Have you ever wanted to stand in front of the microphone and boldly release your voice? […]

Several small yellow mushrooms grew on the green grass.

Reading Time: 2 minutes🪧 Introduce   Clay is one of the most common mediums in art therapy and psychotherapy.   Clay symbolizes the “source of life,” embodying the connection between the human psyche and the material world.   Through clay, inner thoughts and emotions can be made concrete and visualized, helping people to clearly understand themselves and alleviate […]

Upward eyeline arrow indicating where to look above the camera.

Reading Time: 3 minutesSynopsis A 20-minute, step-by-step toolkit that helps any learner turn nerves into energy and deliver a clear 30-second opening using paced breathing, a personal self-talk line, and an if-then plan. How this toolkit connects You will read for 30 seconds twice. The Practice Text Pack gives you short public-domain passages to read. The Mini Workbook […]

Reading Time: 6 minutesHI – Wake up, Welcome to 2025 Cyber Generation. You, Human, WHY WE NEED STUPID YOU 🙂

This is a warm painting. Above it reads “Embrace your imperfect self .“ In the picture, a smiling self drawn by solid lines is tightly embracing another "imperfect" self outlined by dotted lines, with thoughts, graffiti, and mend marks on its body. The core message it conveys is: true completeness comes from accepting all of our seemingly chaotic and incomplete parts.

Reading Time: 4 minutesDear friend, Welcome to this corner of courage and authenticity. Perhaps you have been trapped by the idea of “must be perfect” for a long time, consuming your inner energy and leaving you without the courage to start so many things; Or maybe you’re just curious about self-exploration. No matter who you are, welcome to join this short […]

Reading Time: 2 minutesIntroduction & Aim Much like in life, the creative process often leads us into moments of uncertainty or “lack of inspiration.” Makers, artisans, and artists whose well-being depends on their creations know about it very well. These moments, however, are not to be feared. Instead, they offer an opportunity to shift perspectives, pushing us to […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes  Engage in double-loop thinking to develop a form of escape by following these steps:   Collect material (1-2 mins) paper, clay, pens, pencils, wood, plasticine, stone, fabric, cardboard    Think of a form of escape, imagine any design   (4 mins) daydream, music, spiral, book, text, boat, arch, tower, rope, sphere, open door   […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes“We perform ourselves in everyday life.”——Erving Goffman – The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Introduction (1 minutes) Everyday Exhibition is an online, self-paced micro-curation toolkit that invites you to slow down and rediscover the aesthetics hidden in your daily life. It does not require a specific space, a tidy home, or any special tools. […]

A collage portrait of a young man made from newspaper clippings; titled "a young man collage (2022)"

Reading Time: 4 minutes  The core impact of media does not come from the “content” it carries, but from the media itself as “an extension of humans.”     Specific Learning Objectives: By selecting, pasting, and annotating media materials, complete a collage portrait and use art works to reflect on media. Through reflection, understand the core concept of […]

In 1964, Andy Warhol used a ready-made soap from the supermarket as one's own work of art.

Reading Time: 2 minutesSection 1: Introduction – Art is All Around You ( 2 mins) What do you think art is? A masterpiece of oil painting in a museum that requires years of training?Contemporary art says: No. Art can be an idea. A single choice. section 1 Look at the images:   Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes (1964): Supermarket […]

My data art

Reading Time: 4 minutesData Art Classroom Toolkit   Data is everywhere—our emotions, daily routines, habits, environment, and choices all involve data. In this toolkit, you will learn how to transform simple numbers from your life into visually expressive artworks using p5.js. No prior coding experience is required—you only need curiosity and some personal data.     First, here […]

Soft states recording

Reading Time: 4 minutes( Note: this is not a tool for diagnosis or treatment!) What’s your emotion now? We always divide life into stages, separate the length of life through one thing after another, and summarize emotions. When we break up and lose our loved one, we will summarize this difficult time as a sad emotion. However, the […]

Reading Time: 2 minutesConcept Your pocket is a miniature museum of your daily life. The objects you carry are not random—they are unconscious traces of time, behavior, and identity. In Pocket Archive, participants act as both archaeologist and curator: excavating the objects they carry, arranging them as an “exhibition,” and discovering the hidden connection between body, habits, and […]

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