Contemporary Practices in Art and Design

Contemporary Practices in Art and Design is a research strand that serves to support and make visible the creative and critical practice of NCAD researchers engaged in and with contemporary practice in art, design and craft. It is a complex, multi-disciplinary research strand that anchors a number of disparate research groups:

Paint Tube

painttube is a research group engaged and interested in Painting within contemporary fine art practice. painttube is connected to an expanding network of Irish and International painting groups delivering events that explore painting in contemporary visual arts practice.

painttube embraces current painting as a diverse practice and expanding field with reference to historical and critical realms. (http://painttube.wordpress.com)

Participatory Culture

Participation is popular; arts councils, higher education providers and policy makers encourage participation. Yet participation is complex and not easily achieved, as issues of power, inequality, ethics and relationship between different bodies, groups and communities require sustained attention over time.

Participatory Culture is a multi-disciplinary research cluster exploring: participation and culture across a spectrum practices in fine art, education, equity and social justice; questions of voice and authority in society and the politics of institutions; the ethics of representation and forms of resistance to authoritarian systems of knowledge production.

Theories of Contemporary Art: Situation, Modernity, Mediums and Philosophy

This themeatic addresses the theories and practices of contemporary art. It considers the different theoretical and practical contexts within which contemporary practice can be situated. Broadly speaking there are four main themes around which the research in the faculty is clustered; they are conceived of in terms of space, history, form and thought. They are:

Situation (space)

Definitions and theories of the situated-ness of contemporary practice seek to reveal and question the place and purpose of art in the world. This includes interrogating the specificity of place in relation to art practice and negotiating the relationships between local and global situations and practices.

Modernity (history)

Definitions and theories of Modernism and Modernity continue to exert an influence on the theory and practice of contemporary art and there is a broad renegotiation of the modernist project within contemporary art history as well as curatorial discourse, art practice and criticism.

Mediums (form)

Definitions and theories of artistic media form a dominant strand within the theory and practice of contemporary art. This includes interrogating the definitions and particularities of different media; revealing the historical specificity of new and old media and producing theoretical accounts of the different perceptual qualities and affects of different media.

Philosophies (thought)

Definitions and theories of art draw upon a wide variety of theoretical sources including philosophy, aesthetics, cultural theory, sociology amongst others. They must negotiate the complex intertwining (of distinction and overlay) between different modes of thinking and writing such as art history, criticism and philosophy.

The Making Process Methodology of Art & Design Practices

‘A practitioners knowledge synthesizes intellectual, creative, experimental and interpretative skills, argualey exceeding the forms of knowledge privileged by and in conventional research’

Verbeke Johan (2009) Call for Papers Abstract ‘Communicating (by Design)

This research group questions the need to make, to make what does not exist, the craftsmanship of making, and due diligence to the made outcome. It looks at The Role of Making Art and Artifact, addressing the fundamental need to ‘make’ art / artifacts and is put into the context of a world view that is questioning outputs and outcomes that are made. It explores The Role of Experiential Methodology, central to the theories and practices of an art and design college.

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