Masters of Research in Creative Practices
Post-Graduate Forum

Practice-Led Research:
Multiple Perspectives in a Contemporary Art Context

Excavation of the Contemporary Art Context
Libby Wallace, Tekla Wozniak, Fiona Annis & Jess Ferrone
Mentor: Jim Harold

As a relatively new species of academic inquiry, practice-led research is a generative enquiry that ‘draws on subjective, interdisciplinary and emergent methodologies that have the potential to extend the frontiers of research.’ We propose three speakers who are exemplars in their fields and who offer particular insight into the application of research, specifically in the domains of curation, art practice, and academic theory. The invited speakers offer a range of specialized perspectives from their respective contributions to the contemporary art context.


Speakers

Judit Bodor is an art historian and freelance curator living in York, UK. Between 1999 and 2004 she has been involved in the activities of Artpool Art Research Centre an internationally established avant-garde art archive and exhibition space in Budapest, Hungary (www.artpool.hu). Since 2002 she has been researching and lecturing on archiving contemporary art and contemporary art archives as part of international series of art events, symposia and residency projects throughout Europe including Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, England and Northern Ireland. Currently she is a lecturer in BA Arts & Cultural Management and award leader of MA Curating in the Field of Art at Dartington College of Arts, UK. Since September 2006 she is also responsible for the public programme of The Gallery at the College.

Katrina Brown is founding Director of The Common Guild, a new visual arts organization based in Glasgow that is dedicated to producing an international programme of contemporary visual art projects, exhibitions, and events. Prior to her work with The Common Guild, Katrina was Curator and Deputy Director of the highly successful Dundee Contemporary Arts, and was responsible for its internationally-renowned programme of visual arts exhibitions, which introduced a number of significant international artists to Scottish and UK audiences as well as supported artists based in Scotland via the commissioning of new works and publications. She has also worked at Tate Liverpool and Tramway, Glasgow and was a committee member of Transmission Gallery in the early 1990s.

Christine Borland is Scottish born and based and is one of the countries most prominent artists. She is currently an Academic Researcher at Glasgow School of Art where her involvement in teaching extends over ten years and includes lecturing in the Sculpture/ Environmental Art Department. Short-listed for the Turner Prize in 1997, Christine is particularly distinguished for her deployment of both current and archaic medical protocols, forensic science practices, and engagement with biotechnology tools and ethics, to create complex and informed artwork. These intersections are revealed in a spectrum of projects ranging from gallery installations, book works, and public sculpture projects. Christine’s approach is particularly relevant to this symposium, in respect to how the process of research, embodied in work involving interdisciplinary collaboration, unfolds and informs contemporary art practice.