Postgraduate Course: The Need to Document: Contemporary Art from Performance to Biopolitics (HIAR11089)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on the deployment of documentary strategies by artists from the 1960s to the present including photography, moving image and sound. Incorporating an examination of performance, 'global conceptualism', social practice and the complexities of art's so called 'documentary turn', we will analyse the decisive role that documentation has played in the heterogeneous intersections between art and life in the 20th and 21st centuries. |
| Course description |
Though the compulsion to document has undoubtedly taken on new levels of urgency since 1990, it is certainly not a new concern within contemporary art. In this course wec onsider the ways in which documentary modes relate to artists' concerns with performance, dematerialisation, social relations, political struggle and knowledge production. Artists and collectives whose work may be examined include UltraRed, Forensic Architecture, Alberta Whittle, The Voice of Domestic Workers, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Rachel O'Reilly, Nelson Makengo and Harun Farocki. Particular attention will be paid to why the demand for art documentation increased in parallel with the shifting political and cultural realities induced by globalisation and the complexities of capitalist life.
Teaching will be delivered through weekly seminars (2 hours per week). The seminar format will encourage active participation through class discussion chaired by the Course Organiser and guided group work. Screenings, exhibition visits, artist talks and a close engagement with the University's Research Collection of Contemporary Art form a core part of the syllabus. Students are expected to prepare for each seminar by reading key set texts (typically 3-4 articles or book chapters), undertaking independent research on specific artworks and watching moving image works as directed.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9,
External Visit Hours 1,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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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 2 assessment components.
1. Essay, 2000 words, 50%, Weeks 8-10. Relating to all Learning Outcomes.
2. Portfolio (Curatorial Project Proposal), 2000 words, 50%, Exam Diet. Relating to all Learning Outcomes.
Further Information:
Portfolio (Curatorial Project Proposal), 50%, consisting of
a. institution-focused project proposal based on provided template and including artwork checklist with images, 1,500 words (60%). Relating to all Learning Outcomes.
b. audience focused project introduction, 350 words (20%). Relating to Learning Outcomes 2, 3 and 4.
c. sample label for one artwork or art project, 150 words (20%). Relating to Learning Outcome 4. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
- Students will submit an Essay plan in Week 5. Written feedback on the plan from the Course Organiser will be given by the end of Week 6.
- Students will present their curatorial ideas for the Portfolio in Weeks 9-10, receiving oral feedback from the peers and the Course Organiser.
- Analytical skills required for the first assessment will be used and expanded in the second assessment, though the Curatorial Project Proposal will require you to address your ideas to a different audience and context. Feedback on each assessment thus can be applied to the other.
Summative Feedback
The Course Organiser will give written feedback on the Essay and Portfolio. Students will be given the opportunity to meet 1:1 with the CO to discuss feedback.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically situate artists¿ various engagements with documentary modes in relation to social, political and art historical contexts since the 1960s.
- Effectively structure arguments which synthesise theoretical and artistic positions.
- Apply art historical knowledge creatively using curatorial strategies and practices.
- Communicate ideas effectively orally and through written outputs targeted at a range of audiences.
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Reading List
Demos, T. J. The Migrant Image: The Art and Politics of Documentary during Global Crisis. Duke University Press, 2013.
Enwezor, Okwui. Archive Fever. The International Centre for Photography and Steidl Publishers, 2008.
Jones, Amelia, and Adrian Heathfield, eds. Perform, Record, Repeat: Live Art in History. Intellect Books, 2012.
Jones, Chris, and Elliot Perkins. "Towards Organizing? Listening Work in Southwark, South London." A Journal of Militant Sound Inquiry 1 (2024): 155¿74.
Rosler, Martha. ¿In Around and Afterthoughts (on Documentary Photography).¿ In The Contest of Meaning: Critical Histories of Photography, edited by Richard Bolton. The MIT Press, 1989. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry:
Your analytical and critical thinking skills will be strengthened in seminars and summative assessments through synthesising the arguments of others and developing your own perspectives through analysing artworks and reflecting on theoretical contributions.
Personal Effectiveness:
The course offers opportunities for you to apply your learning in creative ways while developing new skills in curatorial thinking, strategies and responsive planning through the second summative assessment assignment.
Communication:
The seminars and summative assessments will encourage you to communicate complex ideas and arguments in discussion and in writing using a range of media from formal academic writing to structured exhibition proposals and concise gallery interpretation materials. |
| Keywords | Contemporary Art,Performance Art,Globalisation,Documents,Biopolitics,Feminism,Participatory Pr |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kirsten Lloyd
Tel: (0131 6)51 5799
Email: Kirsten.Lloyd@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mx Hannah Pennie Morrison
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: Hannah.PM@ed.ac.uk |
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