MA Art in the Contemporary World

MA Art in the Contemporary World is a taught programme that examines the critical, theoretical, historical and social contexts of contemporary art practice and bridges the relationship between theory and practice by providing pathways for both practitioners and theorists. This innovative programme welcomes graduates from a variety of backgrounds, including: fine art; art history; philosophy; literature; film studies; architecture; communications; or design. We are actively interested in recruiting from across a range of disciplines, in order to generate a dynamic mix of student research interests. 

 

Inter-institutional collaboration is a significant feature of the MA Art in the Contemporary World and diverse projects have been developed through our strong links with the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Hugh Lane Gallery, University College Dublin and Goldsmiths College London. Through collaboration with the National Irish Visual Arts Library at NCAD, the MA ACW staff have also developed symposia relating to course themes: invited speakers at such events have included writers Brian Dillon, Sally O’Reilly and David Toop and artists Pavel Büchler, Phil Collins, Jeremy Millar and Susan Philipsz. Graduates from this challenging course have gone on to receive international awards and residencies, to take up respected curatorial positions and to publish writings in prominent academic journals and art magazines.

 

The course is composed of four related strands of study. 

 

Practices: Practices is a year long seminar exploring the range and diversity of current international and local art practices. This strand involves two study modules (one per semester). Indicative modules:


·       Cinematic Visions (semester 1): This seminar employs the idea of ‘the cinematic’ as a point of departure for exploring contemporary art practices.


Art and the Everyday (semester 2): This seminar explores the various ways in which contemporary artists develop practices in relation everyday situations or specific sites.

 

Situations: A range of elective modules addressing theoretical debates on cultural and social contexts for art practice today. Indicative modules include


·       Spatial Cultures: examining aspects of space and culture with particular reference to theories of urbanism in art and architecture. Spatial Cultures is run in collaboration with the School of Architecture, University College Dublin. 

·       Modern Manhattan: 20th century Manhattan as a case study for modernity in the context of historical and theoretical debates in art, architecture and culture. This module is run in collaboration with the MA in Art History, UCD. 

·       Play: exploring correlations between ‘play’ and artistic practice. This module addresses how play relates to creative production; interpretation; the formation of modern subjectivities; social organisation and representation. 

·       Ethics and Culture: investigating debates in contemporary philosophy that relate to the interconnections between ethics and art practice. Students will have the opportunity to undertake detailed study of key thinkers such as Alain Badiou, Emmanuel Levinas and Luce Irigarary.

·       Curating Now: An exploration of the key tendencies and debates in contemporary curatorial practice.

·       Art, Aesthetics, Environment: a study of relations between ecology, aesthetics and ethics, focusing on such questions as eco-feminism and “deep ecology”.

 

Theories

Theories runs over the year and comprises 2 seminars (one per semester). Participants will gain an understanding of key methodologies with respect to the study of contemporary art and its cultural and historical contexts. Particular focus will be placed on the visual analysis of materials and mediums. 

·       Expressions Modernity (semester 1): This seminar looks at different definitions of modernism. Particular focus is placed on the key developments in modern practice from which definitions of modernism have emerged. Students will develop a critical literacy in the discourse(s) of modernism and modernity.

·       The Politics of Participation (semester 2): This seminar provides a grounding in the core issues and theories of participation, social organization and political agency which are relevant to contemporary cultural discourse. Students will develop a critical knowledge of the present conditions of possibility for participation in its many forms.

Writing

This is a student-led seminar taking place throughout the whole year in which participants explore and critique different models and strategies for writing on art. Students will also reflect on their own practice as writers and engage in peer review critiques. Topics covered might include: contemporary criticism; contemporary art history; artists’ writings’; writing as art practice.

 

The MA Art in the Contemporary World is a taught programme with lectures and seminars on two days of the week for full-time students, and on one day of the week for part-time students. The duration of the programme is 12 months full-time, 24 months part-time. Students attend classes from September to June, and submit a major piece of work in the autumn. This major research project offers an opportunity for each student to evolve a self-set project engaging particular personal interests in contemporary art and culture.

Students can apply for one of two pathways: 

Theory Pathway

This pathway allows students from a wide range of backgrounds to analyse and debate contemporary art and its place in today's world. Students are encouraged to generate innovative research projects that explore and critique diverse strategies for engaging with art today. This highly flexible pathway therefore supports not only theoretical/historical research but also more experimental modes of art writing and curatorial or collaborative projects. Artists can also choose this pathway as a means of reflecting intensively on current practices and debates in order to help contextualise and critically enrich their own practice. 

Combined practice and theory pathway

This pathway is run as a collaboration between the Faculties of Fine Art & Visual Culture. Intended for artists, students following this route will participate in a series of theory/writing modules while also developing independent self-directed art projects. This pathway is well suited to artists wishing to explore and test new models of theory-practice interaction in contemporary art. 

Typical fees for this programme are €4,500 without studio, €4,700 with full-time studio or €2,300 part-time. For non-EU students the fees are approximately €17,000 euro. (These figures are guidelines and subject to annual revision).

Application Guidelines 

Theory Pathway

·       Applicants submit a clear statement of intent (minimum of 500 words) indicating the reason for wishing to pursue the programme. » 5 copies

·       Applicants submit a recent example of written work. » 5 copies

Practice & Theory Pathway

·       Applicants submit a clear statement of intent (minimum of 500 words) indicating the reason for wishing to pursue the programme. » 5 copies

·       Applicants submit a recent example of written work. » 5 copies

·       The application must be supported by visual documentation or other documentation demonstrating previous practical work: slides, CD, video, catalogues. Slides must be accompanied by a slide list.

 

Contact: Declan Long (longd@ncad.ie) or Dr. Francis Halsall (halsallf@ncad.ie)

Art in the Contemporary World