Peer Review for Kirsty Smith

The content of Kirsty’s blog is quite comprehensive, covering the continuous updates from #1 to #13. It includes exhibition cases (such as #1 Bodies of Work, #2 Blue Monday Embassy), as well as course summaries (#5 Cross-Disciplinary Curation), theoretical readings (Glissant, O’Neill, etc.), and the development process of the project from #6 presentation to #13 publication proposal, demonstrating a strong commitment to research and practical advancement.

From the perspective of content development, the blog has shown a clear shift: from the exhibition project centered on gloaming in #6 at Embassy Gallery and Water of Leith, it gradually shifts to collective publishing and artist-led collaboration in the later posts.. This shift itself has potential, but currently lacks sufficient explanation. For instance, in #9 it is mentioned that the shift is from an exhibition-based project to a publishing-based and collaborative model, but it does not clearly explain what motivates this change, making the project logic seem abrupt.

In terms of research and theoretical application, the blog demonstrates a wide range of references. For instance, the introduction of “constellation” in #9, and the reflection on counter-public in #11 all provide multiple perspectives for the project. However, these theories were not continuously used in the later stages (#12, #13), resulting in a gap between theory and practice. This could be strengthened by using de Certeau’s (1984) concept of everyday practice and Kester’s (2004, pp.17-18) dialogical art, and artist-led publishing examples such as The Serving Library (2026).

In terms of the specific project construction, the later content is already relatively clear. For example, in #13, through the works of artists such as Rose Nicholas, Leah Moodie, and Esther Hesketh, an attempt was made to establish the theme of familiar unknown. However, these choices lack explanations. How the relationships among the artists respond to the “opacity” and language issues raised in the earlier stage still have room for further exploration.

In visual and structural terms, the blog lacks a clear main page, cover images, and a unified visual system, which makes different stages appear visually scattered. Some posts also contain long paragraphs without subheadings, which reduces readability. The reverse reading order further affects navigation.

At the reflection level, the blog documents the changes in the project, but provides less analysis of the reasons and effects of these changes. In particular, the shift from exhibition to publishing needs more explanation. Clarifying this shift would strengthen the project’s persuasiveness and its definition as a curatorial method.

Overall, the advantage of this blog lies in its broad research scope and continuous practice. However, the current core issue is the lack of explanation for the project shift and the failure of the theory to be continuously integrated into later decisions. If specific theories (such as de Certeau’s everyday practice or the dialogical art framework) can be used to reconnect the previous and subsequent stages and enhance the explanation of the artist’s choices and publication structure, the overall content will be more coherent and have greater critical depth.

Reference List

de Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Kester, G. (2004) Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art. Berkeley: University of California Press.

The Serving Library (2026) Collection of The Serving Library. Available at: https://www.servinglibrary.org (Accessed: 20 April 2026).