Apply for the MA Track Artistic Research

Outline MA track Artistic Research

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences / Maastricht University

General Aims

Starting in September 2010, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University offers a new master track: Artistic Research.The MA Track Artistic Research, embedded within the MA program Arts and Science, offers you the possibility to develop your own artistic practice by means of intensive and focused artistic research. You will learn to formulate interesting research problems, to design a challenging artistic research track, to determine the adequate parameters (collaboration, location, production, coaching, etc.) for your work, to develop an adequate research strategy and to communicate the insights gained by your research in the form of a fully-fledged art work, whatever its nature may be. And, finally, you will be offered the possibility, as a future artist, to obtain an academic degree.

Within this MA Track you will be confronted with the work and research of different artists and scientists. The encounters in workshops or with guest lectures will allow you to develop your personal research track. This new MA track offers you an interdisciplinary laboratory for artistic experimental research. You will be challenged both by scientists and artists to investigate research questions for which neither science nor art can provide adequate answers. Most importantly, you will challenge the conventions of your medium of expression, you will work at its fringes or you will willingly transgress them.

You will develop your work, as an artist, within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the arts faculties in Maastricht (Theatre Academy, Music Academy and Academy of Fine Arts) and with Maastricht-based cultural organizations such as Intro in Situ, Huis van Bourgondië and Marres, who will facilitate, coach and, if relevant, present the intermediate or final result(s) of your artistic research. Your work in the MA track will be embedded in two academic traditions that are at the heart of our Faculty’s research: the practice of anthropological and ethnographic research and science and technology studies. The combination of these two paradigms and a sharp focus on the development of individual artistic research tracks constitutes the quintessence of this MA track.

Period 1: September-October

Make it new! Problems of cultural (re)production

In the first module of the master’s program you will be introduced to the worlds of art, science and its intersections. This joint module provides insight into the various ways in which cultural scientists and artists are active in society, against the background of major shifts in the ‘knowledge society’, the ‘creative society’, and the ‘society of citizens’. This module combines various methods, such as tutorial group meetings, skills trainings and master meetings. You will learn how to design and contextualize research processes, both scientific and artistic. You will also be introduced to the basic concepts of philosophy of art, offering you the necessary conceptual tools and frameworks to interpret and analyze your own work and that of others, on an historical, social and philosophical level.

Period 2: November-December

Artistic Research: methodologies, traditions, challenges

In the second module you will learn how artists – both historical and contemporary – design and develop their own artistic research and you will be introduced to concrete methodologies for artistic research. The first part of the module focuses on specific oeuvres (e.g. Van Gogh, Pasolini, Cage): you will analyze how these artists developed their personal research track and their artistic universe. In the second part of the module you will be offered an introduction to concrete methodologies for artistic research. The academic traditions of anthropology and ethnography will serve as a starting point (think of, for example, the importance of oral history in community arts). How can I develop a personal fascination into an interesting problem? What methodology should I use? How can I document my own artistic research track? How can I make the results of my research public? Simultaneously you will be asked to take the first steps in the design of your own research project. During both the first and the second period you will also be offered the opportunity to partake in practice-based workshops with other artistic researchers.

Period 3: January

Criticism and (self-)reflexion

In the third module your research project will be the starting point for a discussion with a tutor and your fellow-students. During several discussion sessions students will present their research projects to their colleagues. These presentations will act as a starting point for a critical discussion of the research design and its contextual embedment.

Period 4 & 5: February-June

Artistic Research: practice and dissemination

The final part of the MA track is devoted to the concrete realization of your own research project and of its artistic end result. You will receive coaching both by a faculty staff member and an artist-mentor of your choice. You will be offered the opportunity to work at one of the partner institutions.

Application

The MA Track is open to students who obtained a Bachelor degree at a university or an art school. Candidates will be selected on the basis of their previous artistic work, whether this work was developed within or outside an art school.

The application guidelines for the MA Track Artistic Research can be found on the website of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.