MA – Art in the Contemporary World

The Master of Arts - Art in the Contemporary World is a taught programme that examines contemporary art practices and their critical, theoretical, historical and social contexts. The course offers an opportunity for focused engagement with the varied challenges presented by today's most ambitious art practices, bridging the relationship between theory and practice by creating exciting study opportunities 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.

Graduates from the MA Art in the Contemporary World 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 MA Art in the Contemporary World aims to function as a valuable forum for debate on contemporary art theory and practice, regularly hosting public events involving course participants. Bringing key international speakers to NCAD is an essential part of this process. During 2008-2009 the course staged a series of talks on curatorial practice that included presentations by many highly respected emerging and established figures (including: Massimiliano Gioni, Director of Special Exhibitions at the New Museum in New York; Andrea Schlieker, curator of the Folkestone Triennial; Katrina Brown, Director of the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art; and Elena Filipovic, co-curator of the 5th Berlin Biennial). A seminar on 'Art Publishing in the Contemporary World' was also held: an event which featured contributions from prominent figures from academia and art publishing (including Frieze magazine associate editor Dan Fox and art writer/Goldsmiths College lecturer Maria Fusco). Other recent speakers at course events have included legendary cult film-maker Kenneth Anger, influential US artists Larry Miller (Fluxus) and Lynda Benglis and internationally acclaimed Lebanese artist Walid Raad. Through collaboration with the NCAD Gallery and the National Irish Visual Arts Library (a rich archival resource based at the college), the MA ACW staff have also over recent years developed symposia relating to course themes; invited speakers at these events have included artists Pavel Büchler, Phil Collins, Jeremy Millar and Susan Philipsz and writers Brian Dillon, Sally O’Reilly and David Toop.

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 in the Contemporary World: 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”.
Literary Visions: Exploring contemporary art’s fascination with key figures in modern and contemporary literature such as W.G Sebald and J.G Ballard.

Theories: This strand 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 of 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:

1. Visual Culture:

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.

2. Combined Visual Culture/Fine Art Pathway

This pathway is run as a collaboration between the Faculties of Visual Culture and Fine Art. 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.

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

See the course blog at www.acw.ie

Typical fees for this programme are €4,000 without studio, €4,200 with full-time studio or €2,700 part-time. For non-EU students the fees are approximately €17,000 euro. (These figures are guidelines and subject to annual revision click here for information on fees.).

Application Guidelines

Visual Culture Pathway

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

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

Practice & Theory Pathway

1.submit a clear statement of intent (minimum of 500 words) which indicates your reason for wishing to pursue the programme. (5 copies)

2.You are required to submit a recent example of written work. (5 copies)

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

Click here to visit the dedicated Art in the Contemporary World website.

Postgraduate Proscpectus

Download: NCAD Postgraduate Prospectus 2012-2013 - (PDF 6.6MB)

Closing Dates

Click here for all postgraduate closing dates.

Contact

If you have specific questions about postgraduate applications please contact the Admissions Office at:

Phone: 353 (0)1 6364200
Fax: 353 (0)1 6364207
E-mail: fios@ncad.ie

Office Hours 9:30-12:45 and 14:00-17:00.

[The Admissions Office is closed to the public on Friday afternoons.]

If you have more general questions about postgraduate study at NCAD please contact: postgraduate@ncad.ie