Critical Writing in Art & Design welcomes
applications to develop critical perspectives on contemporary art and
design (including fashion, graphic design, applied arts and
architecture) at MPhil or PhD level. Research students undertake an individual programme of studies which will generally result in the
production of a thesis. Other kinds of written works can also be considered if they fit within the College's definitions of 'research by project'. Within these broad parameters, we are
particularly interested in encouraging new thinking into aspects of the
history and contemporary practice of criticism; critical theory and its
relations to contemporary art and design; the changing face and content of the media; and word and image relations. We are also
keen to support interdisciplinary work (in, for instance, the
borderlands between art and anthropology or between graphic design and
journalism).
As a leading art school, the RCA provides a stimulating environment
in which to undertake a research degree. It provides many direct
opportunities to exchange ideas and views with artists, designers,
curators, critics, and art and design historians. Moreover, research students here
often explore the exhibition as a format for the dissemination of their
ideas.
As a relatively small programme, research students in Critical Writing in Art & Design work alongside their peers in the School of Humanities (programmes of History of Design, Curating Contemporary Art and Critical & Historical Studies (CHS), a college-wide provider of critical and historical discourse to all MA
students at the RCA). This arrangement also extends the pool of expertise
of supervisors.
PhD and MPhil research students in Critical Writing in Art & Design are working on the following themes:
- the phenomenon of Art Writing in Britain since c. 2000
- a critical examination of Open Source design processes
- the changing face of graphic design in Latvia since the end of the Soviet Union
- bad art, bad writing: Towards a critical aesthetics of disruption
- utopianism and communist visions in new media art
Bill Balaskas, MPhil by thesis
Anda Boluza, MPhil by thesis
Ajay Hothi, MPhil by thesis
Travis Jeppesen, PhD by thesis
Florian Schmidt, MPhil by thesis