Contemporary Art Theory MA (eca)

The University of Edinburgh

Established in 2001, the Masters of Contemporary Art Theory (MA CAT) is a post-studio programme that supports the research and practices of artists and aspiring art professionals. The MA CAT encourages practices that are speculative and reflective, developing artistic research on, and in, a range of media, sites and organisations. The programme supports an applied knowledge of art now, grounding schooling in the practices of art and contemporary art theory as well as extra-disciplinary and intermedial approaches. The taught curriculum consists of an innovative series of learning sprints designed to support the development of your artistic research and practice through: workshops practica partnerships with art organisations carefully scaffolded approaches to collaborative inquiry (‘problem-based learning’) peer-production (‘paragogy’). You will create art projects designed to engage and develop emerging hypereconomies of contemporary art and its variety of media, technologies, images, artefacts, tactics, texts, cultural contexts and professional practices. Our philosophy and values A defining aspect of our theory programme is the emphasis we place upon speculative scepticism – not starting from the position of knowing what post-studio practice is; rather, being motivated by speculation on what it might be. We generate a paragogic atmosphere that supports mutual cooperation; a dynamic, intellectually ambitious environment in which staff and students can learn together. You will generate and embody an assemblage of practices, combining process of production, translation and consumption. Our students make this happen; they often work on collaborative forms of practice and inquiry. The programme staff are therefore eager to support applicants based on their ability to work as part of a creative team as much as we are interested in their artistic and academic potential. We attract students with very different backgrounds and experiences. This difference generates dissensus, diversity and a richness that is key to learning about, and expanding, the field of contemporary art. The focus on building a supportive creative community through innovative forms of peer-generated knowledge (such as open learning and problem-based learning), on the rigorous and experimental combination of theory and practice and the international profile of the student body makes our master’s programme unique. The CAT faculty and our partnership organisations regularly identify and examine what are (currently) accepted notions of artistic production as a means of encouraging our students to develop a highly ambitious research-practice. To do this, academic staff aim to provide specialist support for students wishing to pursue research on and in established fields of contemporary art practices and theory, while fully engaging with the ever-changing context of emerging media and innovative forms of critical and organisational praxis. What and how you will study Artists think and act. Being contemporary means engaging with multiple perspectives and different ways of learning. Students of contemporary art theory conduct research in relation to a broad range of creative, cultural and historical contexts in ways that are speculative, writerly, philosophical, organisational, social and economic.