Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Study Details: MRes 2 years full-time
MRes Art is made up of three specialist pathways: Theory and Philosophy; Moving Image; and Exhibition Studies. MRes Art uses research and writing to develop modes of questioning, speculative thinking and critical evaluation. Drawing upon a wealth of scholarly expertise from the staff team, visiting lecturers and practitioners, the course considers the relationship of contemporary art research to wider aesthetic, cultural and socio-political issues.
There are opportunities for students on each pathway to come together for shared taught components. You will also be encouraged to develop student-led activities. In the past, our students have collaborated on research events and publications, as well as the Tate Exchange programme at Tate Modern.
From early pioneers of the twentieth century to contemporary moving image media, this pathway investigates the intersections of film, video and disciplines including photography, painting, performance, poetry and literature. MRes Art: Moving Image actively encourages new approaches to critical discourse. It is designed to appeal to writers and artists as well as those with an interest in art research.
Taught in close association with LUX, the Moving Image pathway focuses on the theoretical and historical study of artists’ moving image. Closely tied to the British Artists’ Film and Video Study Collection at Central Saint Martins, the Moving Image pathway represents one of the leading centres for moving image scholarship. It develops in-depth knowledge and exploration of one of the most visible and fast-growing contexts for arts practice. Drawing on theories from the arts and humanities, MRes Art: Moving Image develops research in a dialogue with an expanding and exciting field of moving image practice. The curriculum includes both physical and online; gallery visits, artist events, festivals, screenings and talks from visiting experts. Through this, you will engage with the urgent debates arising from current research in dialogue with historical precedents and contemporary discourse.
We are committed to developing ethical art practices. To achieve this, we are working to embed UAL's Principles for Climate, Social and Racial Justice into the course.
The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:
AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning
Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:
Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.
For fees and funding information, please see website
Our Postgraduate Art Programme offers valuable opportunities to build transferable professional knowledge and skills. The exchange of perspectives with others through shared units, reading groups and debates helps establish stimulating and productive networks.
The focus on proposing and developing a major independent programme of study is supported by a shared professional practice lecture series featuring guest speakers plus opportunities to attend symposia and critique work in progress across subject areas. The Postgraduate Art Programme has wide-ranging links with professional organisations, collections and galleries, and includes opportunities for interaction and networking according to your personal career direction.
MRes Art: Moving Image is unique in its relationship with LUX, the national public arts agency that explores ideas around artists' moving image and supports practice through a range of activities including distribution of works, exhibitions, education publishing and research. The pathway is supported by professional expertise from LUX and benefits from its extensive connections.
MRes Art: Moving Image anticipates both academic and professional outcomes for its students, enabling graduates to pursue a range of careers in artists' moving image culture. Some may opt for academic scholarship through doctoral research. Others may choose or continue in professions within curating and film programming, distribution, publishing and journalism. Possible career contexts include festivals, biennales, galleries, museums and archives. And for some graduates MRes Art: Moving Image will enable further enrichment of their own practice as artists working with moving image.
Unit 1: Framing Artists' Moving Image
Through seminars and lectures, this unit establishes knowledge of key thinkers and debates which have emerged throughout the development of artists’ moving image. It is split into four thematic parts: modern primitives, materialisms, the expanded field and the ethnographic turn.
Unit 2: Methodologies and Methods I
Unit 2 is an opportunity for all the students in the MRes Art course to study together. The unit has two distinct components: methodologies and methods. Methodologies aims to make you aware of a range of methodological approaches that have shaped debates in your field of study. These include, but are not limited to, structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial and decolonial studies. Methods aims to equip you with essential research skills.
Unit 3: Methodologies and Methods II
Following on from Unit 2, this unit deepens your understanding of specific artistic and discursive methods. You will examine how they operate in specific texts, debates and events by relating them to the pathways’ respective subject areas. Seminars and workshops are integral to the unit, in which methods of research and writing are collectively tested.
Unit 4: Individual Research Project
Unit 4 has two parts. In part one, you will examine key texts from a number of different fields which address directly, or indirectly, artists' moving image. These include architecture, ethnography, phenomenology and feminism. You will be expected to attend weekly online seminars and complete set reading. This is complemented by a screening programme. You will be guided through a series of archival or curated screenings within the British Artists’ Film and Video Study Collection. You will also work on a group project with LUX.
Part two is designed to support the successful completion of your final dissertation project. During this part of the curriculum, your own research and practice becomes central to the programme. You will be expected to attend seminar sessions and to support your peers as part of a research community. At the end of Unit 4 you are assessed through presentation of your realised research project.
Important note concerning academic progression through your course:
If you are required to retake a unit you will need to cease further study on the course until you have passed the unit concerned. Once you have successfully passed this unit, you will be able to proceed onto the next unit. Retaking a unit might require you to take time out of study, which could affect other things such as student loans or the visa status for international students.
Start your creative future at University of the Arts London About University of the Arts London (UAL) University of the Arts London (UAL) is hos...
