I enjoyed the way that art history and context was interwoven throughout the course. As each unit was presented, different artists and works were introduced in a way that was relevant to the project at hand. I found this to be a refreshing approach, in contrast to a timeline-based introduction to the history of art.
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Interdisciplinarity – is the study of two or more disciplines alongside a critical engagement with subjects in the wider world, that aims to communicate connections through thinking and practice. So, why might we need to engage with the wider world as part of interdisciplinary thinking? As we look beyond the confines of a Western orientated art history towards ideas and influences that emerge from a context of globalisation and cross-cultural engagement, creative artists respond to this in a variety of ways and some common strategies emerge.
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With such a large multidisciplinary group, I wanted to start the day with a lecture on ‘Global Perspectives in Contemporary Creative Arts’. I’m aware that teaching and learning around a historical context for the arts can have a Western bias that feels out of touch with the much broader globalised discourse that is happening today.
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Being elected a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors is both professional validation and also a chance to expand my network of support.
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I began the morning asking students what they thought drawing could be beyond the traditional skills they might have learnt. Some keywords emerged that acted as a guide for the exercises, including drawing as invention, play, process, action, memory, language, non-art, materials and generative.
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The idea of art and design as an agent for social change is vital if we relate it to contemporary debates and approaches that artists are adopting in these effervescent times.
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There are many challenges for students to overcome through distance learning; engaging with other likeminded students to create your own peer network has to be one of the trickiest. I believe that if students can find the time, the use of OCASA funded workshops has to be a tangible benefit to a student’s learning across all programmes.
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As some of you may know Jim Unsworth recently made the difficult decision to stop tutoring with the OCA in order to focus his time on his growing arts practice. I thought it might be a good idea to take it upon myself to write a blog post on Jim in order to celebrate his contribution to arts education and give you my perspective of his sculpture and drawings that span nearly 40 years.
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My role as programme leader for the new Drawing Degree has brought me to Chester University to participate in the iJADE conference 2016. Delegates had come from all round the world to present papers on a wide range of approaches to drawing. My interest in attending was both to discover new perspectives in drawing as a tool for education and also to consider the way practitioners from a wide variety of fields are using drawing as a major part of their research.
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What is the Digital Draw? This is the question that has been buzzing round my head since I attended a day long Seminar at the Drawing Room in London. I wanted to report back to you with my findings from the day and try to bring up some ideas that you might like to debate below.
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