Course summary

The MLitt Art Writing is based on two principal elements: a unique understanding of art writing as an interdisciplinary studio practice and the opportunity to bring new work to a public audience or readership through project-based partnerships with local organisations or bodies. With emphasis on reflexive and critical practice-based enquiry, the programme reflects the increasing interest in the development of alternative forms of critical and theoretical writing and the reconfiguring of the relationship between writing and artistic practice. The practice and study of art writing involves creative, philosophical, critical and theoretical approaches to writing about, writing with, and writing as art. Drawing from disciplines including visual art, art criticism, art history and literature, this interdisciplinary field is as much about creative production as it is concerned with critical discourse. Students will be encouraged to consider art writing as an emergent genre and to examine its cultural and literary forms, histories, content and contexts. Encouraging self-directed exploration and practice, and supported by peers and access to the wider creative community of Glasgow, students will focus on the development and dissemination of their own expansive, innovative and impactful modes of creative critical writing, reading, editorial and research practices. Students are expected to write effectively from a position of curiosity, knowledge and purpose and to publish and present within the expanded field of art criticism and interdisciplinary writing. The programme offers a series of research and practice visits, professional practice workshops and masterclasses, and a series of visiting lectures from leading experts in the field. Project placements with local specialists and organisations allow students to test and develop their practice in an external environment and to bring new work to a public audience or readership. Engagement and participation in local cultural activity is seen as crucial to both individual student development, the ethos of the Art Writing programme and the city at large. Students are expected to present final project work for Graduate Degree Show and also as part of a satellite MLitt Art Writing event at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow.