Postgraduate Course: Art: Post Studio (ARTX11055)
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 | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | Post Studio challenges you to continue developing your studio practice in relation to an external source (outside the College of Art) such as an archive, organisation, community or particular location that will inform your work. You will be encouraged to take a decisive 'deep-dive' and develop a new body of work that draws on and extends the practice developed in Studio. Combined, the Studio and Post-Studio courses prepare you for Art: Master's Exhibition. |
| Course description |
This course is structured across three stages. In the first weeks, you will develop a proposal for producing new work in relation to a specific site (such as a public space, historic building or archive) or context (such as a community or platform). This stage is supported through a mid-course formative review where you share your proposal with the tutor and other students for feedback and troubleshooting. Both independent and collaborative proposals are supported. In the second stage, you are guided in developing, making and installing the work independently either in an appropriate off-site location that you have identified or in one of ECA project spaces. During this time, you will be encouraged to assist your peers with practical and logistical challenges that may require extra hands. In the final, third stage you will collate and edit a digital portfolio, for assessment, that demonstrates the trajectory of your practice as it has developed through the post studio context.
While you may be focused on off-site work during this course, the studio remains a space for experimentation, research and sharing of ideas and outcomes with peers, tutors and external guests. The development of your practice is supported by three 1-1 tutorials as well as three thematic group seminars co-delivered with guest speakers who draw on their expertise of working in specific post studio contexts, for example site-specific installation, socially engaged practice, performance, or publication practices. Risk assessment and ethical considerations for working outside of the studio are built into the course seminars and workshops. It is essential that you commit to the H&S and ethical policies introduced as appropriate. Between taught sessions, you are required to engage in extensive independent research, fieldwork, technical development and documentation of progression.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Students are recommended to budget a minimum of £50.00 for general basic materials.
However, depending on your project's focus, you may optionally choose to incur costs associated with realising aspects of your work. Such costs are not compulsory and would depend on the nature of your project.
Students may be expected to support the cost of local or national travel to local galleries and museums via public transportation for research. We would advise budgeting an additional £50 for this travel per year. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 9,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 21,
Fieldwork Hours 21,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
336 )
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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 1 component of assessment.
1) Digital Portfolio [20-25 pages, 1500 words], 100%, April exam diet, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
Further information:
The digital portfolio will include primarily images of your work as it has developed during the course, supported by a written statement, typically one page/500 words, and 3 x tutorial logs (250 words each). Additional written information can be included where required beside specific images - up to a maximum of 250 words in total).
Support for the development of the digital portfolio is provided through guidance on Learn, the formative learning opportunities, and access to appropriate technical resources.
Resubmission Information
Students will submit to the original assessment brief.
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
1) Digital Portfolio [20-25 pages, 1500 words], 100%, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Students receive formative feedback verbally from a dedicated tutor in three 1-1 tutorials at appropriate points; in small group reviews of their proposal (mid-point); and in group presentations of individual documentation for critical input (in the lead up to the portfolio submission). Students are also guided in writing up self-assessment feedback in relation to the Learning Outcomes following their presentation. Peer-to-peer feedback is exchanged in the group presentations, in the collaborative process of making and installing work as well as more informally through regular dialogue and debate in the studio.
Summative Feedback
Written summative feedback is provided on the final portfolio by the studio tutor via Learn.
Students have the opportunity to discuss this feedback with the Programme director or other appropriate tutor at the start of Art: Masters Exhibition to support feedforward.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Effectively engage an external source, through focused research and development, to realise a self-directed proposal that informs and enhances the practice.
- Analyse and evaluate emerging outcomes using primary and secondary sources to critically reflect on and contextualise how working with an external source has informed and enhanced the practice.
- Communicate the focus of the enquiry with critical consideration for the context and audience through appropriate staging, visual documentation and concise articulation.
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Reading List
Bishop, Claire, Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. Verso, 2023.
Bourriaud, Nicholas, Relational Aesthetics [English Language Version], Les Presse Du Reel, 1998.
Doherty, Claire (ed). Contemporary Art: From Studio to Situation, Black dog Press, London, 2004.
In and Out of the Studio: Lessons of Post-Studio Art, 2023: https://www.ici-berlin.org/events/in-and-out-of-the-studio/
Robins, Claire. Curious Lessons in the Museum: The Pedagogic Potential of Artists' Interventions, Routledge, London, 2016.
Schrag, Anthony. Socially Engaged Art and Ethics: Power, Politics and Participation. Routledge, London, 2025. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Curiosity: In researching and identifying an external site or partner that will inform their own practice students learn to follow their hunches, harness opportunities and take initiative.
Collaboration: The process of working together and supporting each other in off-site research and production fosters strong collaboration skills, while learning about standards for Health and safety and ethics in Art practice helps to develop an understanding and respect for the needs, perspectives and actions of others.
Communication: Connecting with external people and organisations helps students hone effective communication skills. The task of presenting the proposal and project documentation for group feedback further fosters the ability to convey effective meaning while responding to peer sharing requires active listening and advocacy.
Adaptivity: By working away from the studio in alternative sites that can be unpredictable, students learn skills in being flexible as circumstances may change; coping with uncertainty and ambiguity; applying personal drive, motivation and determination to resolve ambitions. |
| Keywords | site-specific Art,publics,performance,collaboration,socially engaged practice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Sneddon
Tel:
Email: a.sneddon@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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