Arguing Objects

This course considers different methodological approaches to works of art, craft and design in order to illuminate their potential range of meanings. It is structured around seminar presentations and responses by staff, students and academic visitors, including artists, curators and writers, and involves visits to collections and displays at national institutions where different examples of research approaches are demonstrated and tested. Students are required to choose an art, craft or design object as the focus of their study. This may be a work in any medium. The only requirement is that at some time in the recent past, students have seen their chosen object first-hand. Through discussion with the course convenor and their peers, students will develop a body of research in which the potential meanings of the chosen object are traced in terms of its origins, the collection in which it is housed, relevant current debates and contemporary critical frameworks. This research will include a contextualised account of the object's history and provenance, and an exploration of different modes of analysis and interpretation. Students should seek to extend our current understanding of the object through substantiated interpretation. Students are encouraged to contact the course convener to discuss their choice of object.