Artistic Research advances artistic knowledge, makes a valuable contribution to the discipline of contemporary art and offers new insights within a broader context of research. The course aims to help you determine, master, synthesise and apply a range of innovative methods that will support the production, distribution and consumption of your own artistic research project

Overview of ARTX11050 (Slides) 40 mins

Induction Lecture for ARTX11050; May 29th 2023 – 80 mins

Research on, and through, Contemporary Art advances knowledge, makes a valuable contribution to the discipline of Contemporary Art and offers new insights within a of broader context of research.

This research capstone course provides you (CATs) with the invaluable experience of designing, conducting, analysing and disseminating your own artistic research project, consolidating the knowledge and understanding gained during the taught stages of your programme. It will support you to become an effective research project manager, able to draw on and design a range of project management techniques and tools. It will help you to become an insightful, responsive, ethical and highly capable, independent researcher who can identify and tackle intellectual risk.

Classes are designed to scaffold, develop and align your artistic research skills with the Vitae Researcher Development Framework. We place a particular emphasis on designing interdisciplinary methods and developing innovative forms of ‘research creation’. The researcher’s journey can be lonely one: CATs will continue to work and play-test in their small supportive groups (basho of 4 or 5 peers) when developing their individual research projects.

You are a researcher

This part of your programme is not taught, it is researcher-led. This means you need to demonstrate that you are a capable independent researcher. This independence is what determines your ‘mastery’ of contemporary art theory. Being independent doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help – your Supervisor and Programme Director are here to mentor and support you – so, if in doubt, ask for help when you need it.

Working in a research-rich context you will develop your research and enquiry-led skills to support your own original research in the core discipline of contemporary art. You may choose to do this autonomously or in partnership with our industry (non-academic organisations, artists, curators, etc.)

As a researcher, you will determine if you wish to pursue artistic research or theoretical research. This determination will be explicit in the final body of work you submit for assessment.

While the final outcome of your research is vital to assessment of your skills, it is your development as an independent researcher that is of paramount importance.

Researcher Development

Your research should enable you to develop all five Characteristics 1-5 of SCQF Level 11 while supporting the research skills and attributes delineated within the UK’s Vitae Researcher Development Framework, the European Higher Education Area’s Salzburg Principles (2010) on researcher development.

Additionally, for those of you taking the project option, it’s expected that you draw upon the (subject-specific) ELIA ‘Florence Principals’ on Artistic Research (2016) and its 2013 SHARE Handbook. Following these frameworks will prepare you to continue to work as researchers both in the professional contemporary artworld and in higher education (SCQF Level 12).

Key Researcher Attributes and Skills

All MA CATs should be able to demonstrate that they are competent researchers. Through the completion of your Masters Project, you should be able to demonstrate your ability to:

• develop peer support networks to support individual research projects.
• offer new insights within a of broader context of research.
• determine, master, synthesise and apply a range of research methods
• understand and apply the ethical frameworks of research to become an insightful, responsive, ethical researcher
• understand and engage with impact and knowledge exchange
• become an effective project manager able to draw on and design a range of project management techniques and tools.
• tackle and manage intellectual risk
• learn how to analyse, evaluate, problem solve and synthesise your own research with that of others.
• foreground self-reflection and carefully evidenced argument construction.
• see beyond immediate questions to unexplored areas that anticipate cutting-edge research questions
• develop and execute a professionally resolved research project and subject this to public scrutiny/peer review
• understand, interpret, create and communicate appropriately within an academic context and an artistic context.
• use visual communication media in ways that are appropriate, clear and consummately designed.

MA CAT Resource List

Please carefully check the bespoke resource list for this course and ensure that you can access the materials you will need to support your research. Please note that the some resources are more obviously supportive of one of the two forms of submission:

Project

Thesis

Support for your Research

General Advice

To get you started, you should take a look at the general advice on research projects offered by our Institute for Academic Development: IAD Support for Writing resources

Dissertations and research projects (link)

Open Workshops

Week 1 of the summer teaching block is the week to ensure that you are enrolled on any Institute for Academic Development Open Workshops that will support the production of your project or your writing.

Open workshops

Planning

You should also produce a working plan for remaining weeks up to the point of submission (Weeks 2-11). Ensure that you share this with your Supervisor.

Managing your Time

IAD’s Time Management resource is useful here:

Time management

It’s important to maintain a strict discipline, researching and writing on a daily basis, and setting yourself with draft deadlines each week.

If you divide up the total number words you can write by the total number of days you have to complete the writing – you will be able to set and meet realistic targets each day.

Use the Pomodoro Technique 🍅 (e.g. Be Focused desktop app for Apple is a typical pomodoro style timer:

Pomodoro involves working in sessions of 20mins with short breaks. You take a long break after 4-5 sessions.

Productivity 101: An Introduction to The Pomodoro Technique 🍅

Planning your Schedule

IAD have created two alternative week planners that you can use to plan your work:

Morning/afternoon/evening week planner (MS Word)  Morning/afternoon/evening week planner (pdf)

Week planner – hour by hour (PDF)       Week planner – hour by hour (Excel)

What is a TASK*?

This is a research course – that means it is not ‘taught’. You do your research and you are wholly responsible for managing your own project. Follow this link to find out more.

What is a Useful feedback?

Useful feedback is formative. It will always focus on what you are doing rather than how well you are doing. Follow this link to find out more.

Portfolio (WordPress Student Tool) for Contemporary Artistic Research

EndNote Web > Link

Please follow this link to find out more about how to use EndNoteWeb…

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