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Art and Design Practice-Based PHD Supervision
19 July 2010
By Mark Ingham
6 month scoping project: practice-based PhD supervision Literature Review
Following on from discussions held at the supervisors forum on the 4 June 2008, and Border Conflicts on the 21 May 2009 (co-hosted between CLTAD and ICFAR), both centres are now preparing to foreground a future UAL research project in the emerging field of supervision of PhD students engaged in practice-based knowledge and enquiry.
If you have any comments on the supervison of practice-based PhD especiaslly in arta and design you can comment on the Blog I have set up at: http://ualscopingphd.wordpress.com/
In 2000 I started a full-time AHRB funded practice based PhD at Goldsmiths College. This was completed in 2005 and I have continued to practice and be involved in practice-based research ever since. This phase of practice and research culminated in an Arts Council for England funded exhibition at Dilston Grove, Cafe Gallery Projects in 2008. As an artist I have been excited by the dynamic relationships between research, theory and practice and how these relationships can be mutually beneficial to my own and others work. As a supervisor of practice-based PhDs I have taken a keen interest in the continuing and often contradictory developments in the way they are thought about in the educational institutions I have worked in over the last 10 years. The paradoxes and fluidity of the various manifestations of practice-based and practice-led research has both intrigued and frustrated me in equal measure. This scoping project will be an opportunity to look more closely at the current states of debate surrounding practice and research and above all be a useful piece of research to the students and staff of UAL.
Andy Humphrey20 July 2010 at 12:50 PM
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Please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly do you mean by "practice-based" research? As a scientist I'd have thought that almost all research in my own field is practice-based, in the sense that it has to be done in a lab (as opposed to theoretical study, which is mainly carried out on a computer). I'm guessing that this isn't exactly what you mean, though.
Mark Ingham21 July 2010 at 10:07 AM
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Dear Andy I hope below clarifies what is meant by 'practice-based' in art and design research. I always forget that practice can mean many things to many people and apologies for not being as clear as I could have been. Best Mark As Dr Michael Biggs (2000) puts it well in his Paper, Editorial: the foundations of practice-based research. Working Papers in Art and Design, ‘ Practice-based projects are those which include as an integral part the production of an original artefact in addition to, or perhaps instead of, the production of a written thesis. They are naturally of great interest to practising artists and designers, but they are not confined to these disciplines. One may find examples in music, in software design, in engineering, in law; in fact in any subject where the result might be an artefact generated in the laboratory or workplace.’ Retrieved 21.07.2010 from URL http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/artdes_research/papers/wpades/vol1/vol1intro.html ISSN 1466-4917 See also: http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/artdes_research/papers/wpades/ The Art and Design PhD has also be defined as Practice-as-Research and Practice-Led research. The AHRC states The AHRC is committed to supporting and encouraging research where practice as an approach is integral, through building capacity and capability in the creative and performing arts to help sustain and enhance the research base. By ‘creative and performing arts’ the AHRC is referring to subject areas concerned with practice-based visual arts, music and performing arts, and practice-led creative writing. This list is not exhaustive but could include applicants who are visual artists; architects; those working in the applied arts; fashion; curatorial practice or film, video and/or other multi-media; performers; musicians; choreographers; scenographers; theatre or film directors; designers, and creative writers and poets. [http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/RGPLA%20Pamphlet.pdf]
Hannah Dee21 July 2010 at 01:45 PM
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Hi Mark, That's really interesting; we kind-of have the same distinction in science and engineering but rather than being "practice-based" or not, most work involves some form of practice or the production of some artefact (building some software or doing some experiments) and I think very few PhDs are entirely theoretical. Although I am sure someone will be along shortly to correct me on that!