Fine Art MA (Online)

This module asks you open your practice to the many kinds of creative partnerships that can create a sustained and successful career.

No artist works in a vacuum, and all successful artists have developed tools to work with other people in a variety of capacities. We will ask you to identify collaborative partners and execute a project that is relevant to your wider interests as an artist.

This may take the form of working with other artists or creatives but can also include technicians or experts from other fields from whom you gain knowledge or expertise. The module is structured to help you build the skills to navigate complex and often fluid projects. You will learn communication and planning skills and gain insight into a huge variety and methods of collaborative practices.

You will have two assessment points on the module. The first is a work in progress portfolio that captures the development of the project, and the second is a reflective report that addresses the project outcomes.

By the end of the module you will have expanded the creative limits of your artwork and gained confidence working with others and managing projects. Additionally, you will have learned how sources outside your own fine art practice can enhance and expand your work and thinking. These are all valuable skills for artists who continually collaborate to help fabricate, show, or distribute their artwork.

The sustainable strategies module addresses the larger impact of your work both environmentally but also economically, and considers how you can sustain an art practice for the long term. The module will give you the tools to understand how the 'big ideas' you have can become reality, and how you can be sensitive to their impact.

By exploring a variety of creative strategies involved in the production, resolution, and dissemination of your contemporary art practice, you'll be able to reflect upon the ways in which you can maintain your practice's sustainability.

The module has two assessment points, one is a portfolio of artwork and second is a documentary film that outlines your approach and plans for sustaining your practice.

Critically, you will consider your art practice in relation to personal, economic and environmental sustainability, and devise strategies and workflows that are conscious of environmental impact, your own wellbeing, and the long-term career development of your practice. On completing the module, you will be able to demonstrate a growing self-sufficiency in your professional practice.

(30 credits) 

Operating like a cultural critic or theorist, this module provides the opportunity for you to research historical and contemporary contexts. For example, this could be the debates, complex global networks and positions that surround your art practice. 

The subjects of this module will be in relation to your own art practice but not directly about it.

By the end of this module you will have fully-located how research operates within your practice. You will have gained much further insight into a specific subject area that surrounds your practice. You will also have gained an understanding of how this initial research could be extended into further study beyond the MA.

This module is assessed in one submission as either a written essay or a multi-media presentation.

(30 credits) 

Drawing upon the knowledge and experiences gained from the previous four modules you will produce a revised project proposal leading to an ambitious, critical and professional project delivered to a public audience.

This project can take the approach of practice through research or research-informed practice. The final major project will focus your interest and should reflect your awareness of the contexts, collaborative possibilities, and sustainable goals of your practice. You will work continuously on your art practice over the course of two study blocks to realise this project.

You will be assessed at two points on this module. The first is the project proposal that addresses what you will do during your final major project. The second component is a portfolio and report outlining how the project worked and documenting the final outcomes.

You will demonstrate increasing autonomy in respect of your research skills and will build on your networks to support the development of your work. As the consideration of audiences and contexts are key concerns throughout the course, you are strongly encouraged to publish your final major project within the public domain. If appropriate, collaboration, and partnerships with individuals, groups, or institutions can also be a part of the final major project.