Undergraduate Course: Art in Context 2 (ARTX08093)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | Art in Context 2 takes art out of the ECA studios and into the city of Edinburgh unfolding ideas into and out of specific contexts within the city of Edinburgh. |
| Course description |
Art in Context 2 builds on and expands learning acquired in Art in Context 1, foregrounding and situating contemporary art practice in relation to the city of Edinburgh through a series of lectures, collaborative discussions, practical tasks, and field work. Unique to Art in Context 2 is professional practice teaching including a suite of sessions delivered by an invited selection of rotating partners whose work in the city of Edinburgh is directly connected to the employability of artists and/or development of artist skills.
You will gain an understanding of the skillset required to be an artist in real-world situations thereby equipping you for engaging with professional practice beyond the timeframe of your degree. You will engage in practical tasks, readings and consult other media before each session. Ultimately, you will engage with experimentation to situate your practice within the shifting and complex demands of the contemporary city with sensitivity to the role of artists and artistic institutions within the fabric of society.
The course is delivered through lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops which encourage you to unfold your ideas through a range of diverse formats. By drawing on the diverse practical and theoretical knowledge of the academic staff in Art whose work intersects with the city as a site, you will consider and practically engage with how art can operate, for example, as a catalyst for communities and collective thinking, an interventionist strategy or a fictional construct.
In the first half of the semester, there is a lecture and a seminar every two weeks, with staff-led workshops every alternative week. Each session lasts two to three hours. In the second half of the semester, two-to-three-hour workshop sessions enable you to develop your practice in line with the theoretical concepts studied. These will be supported by academic staff in the School of Art.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Art in Practice 1 (ARTX08090) AND
Art in Context 1 (ARTX08091)
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Co-requisites | Students MUST also take:
Art in Practice 2 (ARTX08092)
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| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please note that direct entrants to the BA Fine Art Programme may disregard the recommended pre-requisites.
This course is not open as an elective and is only available to those on the BA Fine Art degree programme. |
| Additional Costs | On this course you are required to buy basic stationary to support your study e.g., a notebook. Depending on quality, the costs range from £2 to £30. This is not a practice-based course. This is a contextual studies course; therefore, you are only expected to be able to produce written, verbal, or audio-visual work. For this reason, you are only required to purchase a notebook and have access to a computer or other technological devices, and these can be either your own device or accessed through the University book-it systems or computer labs. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 6,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10,
External Visit Hours 16,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
349 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 3 assessment components.
1. Research log, 600-700 words, 30%, December assessment period, assessed equally against all three Learning Outcomes.
2. Group Proposal, 8-10 minutes, 30%, May assessment period, assessed equally against all three Learning Outcomes
3. Written, Audio or Video Essay, 1,200-1,500 words or 4-6 minutes, 40%, May assessment period, assessed equally against all three Learning Outcomes
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is a Research log, 600-700 words
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is an Individual Proposal Presentation, 2-3 minutes
- The resit task for assessment component 3 is a Written, Audio or Video Essay, 4-6 minutes or 1,200-1,500 words
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary.
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
1. Research Log: Students will write research logs in response to Lectures, Workshops or Site Visits in Semester
1. Formative feedback on research log submissions will be given by a tutor between weeks 7-9 of Semester
1. Students will then submit a single, refined research log (incorporating formative feedback) as summative component 1 in the December Exam Diet.
2. Group Proposal: Between weeks 7-9 of Semester 2, students will give a formative verbal presentation of their group proposal project. Students will receive verbal feedback from their peers and tutor during the formative verbal presentations. Students will then submit a video presentation of their group project, incorporating formative feedback, in the May exam diet as summative assessment component 2.
3. Essay: Between weeks 5-7 of Semester 2, students will submit a formative essay plan of 800 words (regardless of the medium for their intended summative submission) for a written, audio or video essay. Students will receive written feedback from a tutor on their essay plan. Students will then submit their summative Essay in the May exam diet, incorporating formative essay plan feedback and summative feedback on the Research Log (summative component 1).
Summative Feedback
Students will be provided with individual written feedback and grades on their summative submissions, which will be provided via Learn Ultra VLE as per University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Research how ideas in contemporary art unfold in specific contexts
- Communicate ideas within, or related to, contemporary art using a choice of skills in a variety of different registers e.g., written, oral, formal/informal
- Orientate themselves in relation to critical frameworks relevant to contemporary art and its relationship to specific contexts and wider communities
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Reading List
Crone Bridget, Sam Nightingale, Polly Stainton (2023) Fieldwork for Future Ecologies Radical Practice for Art and Art-Based Research. Eindhoven: Onomatopee
Rohtmaa-Jackson, Mark (2023) Contemporary Exhibition-Making and Management Curating IMT Gallery as a Hybrid Space. London: Routledge
Stacey, Frances (2014) Constructed Situations: A New History of the Situationist International. London: Pluto Press
Thoburn, Nicholas (2016) Anti-Book on the Art and Politics of Radical Publishing / Nicholas Thoburn. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
Woolard, Caroline (2022) Art, Engagement, Economy the Working Practice of Caroline Woolard. Eindhoven: Onomatopee |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry
Investigating the broad critical and contextual dimensions of contemporary art will develop your research skills.
Personal and intellectual autonomy
Making connections between intention, process, outcome, context and dissemination in contemporary art will help you develop personal and intellectual autonomy.
Personal effectiveness
Developing ideas through to outcomes that confirm an ability to select and use relevant sources related to contemporary art and ideas will enhance your assertiveness and confidence.
Communication
By articulating ideas and information in visual, oral and written form about current ideas and debates in contemporary art, you will become a more effective communicator. |
| Keywords | Contemporary Art,Artistic Research,Site-Specific Art,Art Institutions |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alice Planel-Frederiks
Tel:
Email: Alice.Planel-Frederiks@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Hollie Gilligan
Tel:
Email: hgilliga@ed.ac.uk |
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