Tag Archives: critical studies

🪺Bundles of time🧧

🪺I’ve never been particularly excited about the start of a new year. It’s a completely random slicing and bundling of time, which doesn’t reflect my experience of continuity—from one state to another, through one phase to the next. Whether you celebrate the solar or lunar new year, these holidays can be inconvenient interruptions to an ongoing process of change. But having said that, when you’re studying or teaching, your year is parcelled up into terms. Each term begins with a burst of energy and ends in exhaustion, if you’re lucky, crash or burn out if not. If you manage to have a break, the cycle begins again the following term. But what happens if you don’t get a chance to recharge your batteries? Has burn out become a permanent condition for many of us? Perhaps the holidays give us an opportunity to resist and have a rest, a chance to reclaim off-time. Perhaps we need to reaffirm the annual milestones that we mark and celebrate. They give us occasion to pause and reflect on these bundles of experience, to celebrate what we have learned and achieved—which in turn, gives us the necessary perspective to plan ahead for the future.

🧧I hope you had a break over the holidays, that your year got off to a great start, and that we will have many occasions to connect, collaborate, celebrate, rest, reflect and plan again this year.

🥁Among the highlights of my year that passed, was a shift from working in collectives, to working in partnerships. The work is still collaborative, but there is more continuity and it is much less stressful. When we work in collectives, we address a group of people. We stand on a metaphorical pulpit when we articulate ourselves, and the people in the room are not always the same. Even if we document our discussions and keep accurate meeting minutes, there is so much that is left unsaid, unexamined, unexpressed and undebated. As a result, we experience slippage, miscommunication, misinterpretation, misunderstanding and missed opportunities, stalls in momentum, commitment and agreement or disagreement within the group. I’m currently working in two partnerships and looking forward to share our news with you soon!

🚡Collectives nevertheless provide crucial sustenance for artists, and I’m dedicated to developing better formats for collective ways of working. We’re currently engaged in writing the constitution of the peer support group I’m a member of—to articulate our aims, values and working methods. Wish us luck!

📌First up in events scheduled this year is another round of Artquest One-to-Ones, coming up in early March. If you want to be the first to hear about upcoming dates I recommend subscribing to the Artquest newsletter. Apart from timely updates on forthcoming Artquest events, you will also receive a monthly round up of opportunities and updates on policies that affect the arts, reports on artists’ working lives and other relevant news.

🪸Alternatively, you can book a consultation with me to discuss an upcoming project or ongoing mentorship. For further info and to book a free 15 min chat please visit the consultation page.

⚖️As you may know if you’ve been following for a while, I’ve been working on new courses, seminars and events series. The topics range from studio practice and critical studies to professional practice, curating and exhibition-making. The formats range from courses that last for a term to ongoing weekly events. With this plethora of options it’s been hard to prioritise and I could really use your help. If you have a minute to spare, please fill in the expression of interest form, to let me know which topics or formats you would be interested in.

⛷️See below for upcoming events and watch this space for new events and courses in the summer term. Take care, I look forward to catch up with you soon.

🖍️Critical Theory in Contemporary Art Practice
Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London
4 – 8 Aug 2025, Mon-Fri 10:00-16:00 BST/GMT+1
£820, 16 John Islip St, London SW1P 4JU
Develop your practice and extend your knowledge of critical practices, theories and discourses of contemporary art. This online/hybrid course integrates practice and theory and fosters experimentation and collaborative study in a community of peers.

🍒Art + Critique, Autumn 2024🚀
Critical & Contextual Studies in Art Practice Online
14 Oct 2025 – 3 Mar 2026, Tuesdays 18:30-20:30 BST/GMT+1
Pay What You Can £598 / £488 / £378
Develop your practice and extend your knowledge of critical practices, theories and discourses of contemporary art. This online/hybrid course integrates practice and theory and fosters experimentation and collaborative study in a community of peers.

🖼️Curating Contemporary Art, Winter 2025✏️
Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London
15 – 19 Dec 2025, Mon-Fri 10:00-16:00 BST/GMT+1
£800, 16 John Islip St, London SW1P 4JU
Develop your practice and extend your knowledge of critical practices, theories and discourses of contemporary art. This online/hybrid course integrates practice and theory and fosters experimentation and collaborative study in a community of peers.

📌Artquest One to One📢
Free one-to-one remote advice sessions for London-based artists
3 – 8 March 2025, 10:00-18:00 GMT
Book a free Artquest one-to-one advice session to get feedback about your work, build a strategy for an upcoming project, get practical career advice, discuss the logistics of operating as an artist and find out about other arts organisations and how they can support you.

September Update 🏮🍂

September Update 🏮🍂

The days are getting shorter, the evenings are cooler, and we’ll be spending more time indoors. I usually dread this time of year, but I’m looking forward to getting a lot of work done. At least that’s the plan. Invariably, something always blows my plans out of the water; overcommitting, unexpected workloads or crises, and burn out. But I’m learning to pace myself and take time off. Working longer hours doesn’t necessarily mean getting more done, in fact if you’re tired or stuck it’s better to take a break or even a nap. Continue reading September Update 🏮🍂

New course: Art + Critique

New course: Art + Critique

Very excited to launch a new course! It combines almost a year’s worth of critical studies lectures and seminars, group tutorials and workshops into one term so it’s going to be pretty intense. Designed during the transition from lockdown to whatever it is we have now, it tries to make up for some of the community, context, interaction, challenge, motivation, freedom and future horizons that we lost in the last six months.

Continue reading New course: Art + Critique

CRITICAL STUDIES BIBLIOGRAPHY

CRITICAL STUDIES BIBLIOGRAPHY

A comprehensive bibliography for the Art + Critique Critical & Contextual Studies lecture and seminar series. You can use it as a further reading list or to locate references that are not in the handouts, reader or further reading and resources. Please click the headings for a drop-down list.

Continue reading CRITICAL STUDIES BIBLIOGRAPHY

Art + Critique: Critical & Contextual Studies in Art Practice

art+critique 2024 featured image, cropped image of a black and white studio in the foreground with large windows, outside is an urban landscape with a pink and blue sky, the pink of the sky is reflected in the the studioArt + Critique

CRITICAL & CONTEXTUAL STUDIES IN ART PRACTICE: ONLINE COURSE

Studio practice and critical studies course that integrates practice and theory in a comprehensive programme of lectures, seminars, workshops, off-site visits, tutorials, assignments, feedback and peer support.

The curriculum fosters experimentation and collaborative study in a community of peers. It provides a supportive environment where participants will extend their knowledge of critical theories and discourses, develop their ability to discuss, write about and judge contemporary art, and contextualise their own practice.

Continue reading Art + Critique: Critical & Contextual Studies in Art Practice

Critical Theory in Contemporary Art Practice

critical theory in contemporary art practice_banner

Critical Theory in Contemporary Art Practice

This course maps the theories and discourses that inform the production and reception of contemporary art, providing a supportive environment to develop your practice and articulate your ideas on the production, exhibition and interpretation of art.

Continue reading Critical Theory in Contemporary Art Practice

CTHEORY BIBLIOGRAPHY

CTHEORY BIBLIOGRAPHY

A comprehensive bibliography for the Critical Theory in Contemporary Art Practice lecture and seminar series. You can use it as a further reading list or to locate references that are not in the handouts. Please click the headings for a drop-down list.

Continue reading CTHEORY BIBLIOGRAPHY

ART PRACTICE & RESEARCH RESOURCES

ART PRACTICE & RESEARCH RESOURCES

A thematic list of resources for art practice and research, click the headings for a drop-down list. For a list of resources for curators please follow the link. Continue reading ART PRACTICE & RESEARCH RESOURCES