Social Practice in Art and Performance
| Module title | Social Practice in Art and Performance |
|---|---|
| Module code | DRA2073 |
| Academic year | 2020/1 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Kerrie Schaefer (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
This module explores what art critic/academic Claire Bishop refers to as the ‘social turn’ in arts practice (2012) and the subsequent rise of ‘socially-engaged’ performance or ‘social practice’. Our exploration of this moment examines critical concepts such as emancipated spectatorship and relational aesthetics, and explores debates concerning site/place, community, participation, collaboration/co-creation, engagement and affectivity. At the same time this module aims to reflect on the relationship between social practice and applied/community theatre. The module will examine a broad range of social practices in order to explore points of connection between art and performance discourses, which will hopefully enrich both fields.
Module aims - intentions of the module
Taking as its point of departure art critic/academic Claire Bishop’s identification of a ‘social turn’ in art practice, this module aims to introduce you to a broad range of international art and performance practices which claim social and aesthetic objectives.
This module aims to:
- Impart a historical and critical understanding of ‘social practice’ in the arts, including theatre and performance
- Encourage theoretically informed analyses of socially- engaged art making and spectating.
- Encourage critical engagement with various theoretical developments in relation to social practice in art and performance, such as ‘relational aesthetics’ and ‘emancipated spectatorship’,
- Critically interrogate concepts such as site-specificity, community, participation, collaboration and affectivity in relation to specific practices.
- Through close reading and critical analysis of theoretical material as well as theatrical practices, to widen our understanding of what is at stake for makers, participants and publics in socially engaged art and performance.
While reading about different practices and analysing the theoretical frameworks, ideologies, and philosophies that underpin them, there will be the opportunity for you undertake small-group experiment, analysis and presentation on these differing modes of art and performance, and to pursue independent research into an area of your interest.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate knowledge of a range and variety of socially engaged practices in art and performance
- 2. Demonstrate an understanding of key theoretical approaches to the study of social practice in art and performance
- 3. Demonstrate a creative and critical engagement with processes of socially-engaged art and performance making
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Contribute research to small groups in effective presentations, to evaluate visual evidence and analyse, critique and manipulate complex material
- 5. Apply library and IT skills in independent additional research
- 6. To work effectively with others in small task-orientated groups and to initiate and sustain creative, analytic and interpretative work within strict time limits
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Develop personal research skills using personal initiative; to set personal objectives and to identify and evaluate personal learning strategies
- 8. Develop group cooperation skills, including the ability to give and receive constructive critical feedback and to improve communication skills and analytic abilities in discussions
- 9. Collaborate in various groups and group sizes, to learn elements of teamwork and presentation
- 10. Balance between self-direction and collaborative work; self-management, collaborative working skills, problem solving, critical analysis and valuing own and others ideas and beliefs
Syllabus plan
The module begins with a series of lectures introducing you to key theories, practices and critical debates in social practice. This will be accompanied by structured seminar tasks exploring examples of social practice, and pair and small-group critical analysis of theoretical (aesthetic and sociological/philosophical) approaches and reading group tasks on the scholarly literature.
The middle weeks of the module will be a series of small-group student-led presentations further investigating critical issues raised in and through lectures and seminar discussions. Presentations may focus on topics including community, public space, site-specificity, relational aesthetics, modes of spectatorship, citizenship, participation and engagement, co-creation and collaboration, affectivity, discourses of care and support, and so on.
The final weeks of the module will allow you to develop individual research interests linked to the final essay of the module.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 69 | 231 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 33 | Seminars: a combination of staff-led lectures, student presentations, analysis, tasks and discussion in seminars. Blended (online/live) provision. |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 36 | Small group and pair preparation. Blended (online/live) provision. Preparation for weekly tasks, reports, discussions, and presentations. |
| Guided independent study | 231 | Reading and individual preparation for presentations, essay writing, portfolio writing. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small group presentation pitch | 10 minutes | 1-10 | Peer and staff oral commentary |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 60 | 2000 words | 1-3, 5, 7, 10 | Written |
| Group presentation (paired or in threes) | 40 | 40 (15-20 minutes per student) | 1-4, 6-10 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-3, 5, 7, 10 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Group presentation | Individual presentation 20 minutes | 1-3, 4, 6, 7-10 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
- Claire Bishop, “The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents” Artforum 44.6 (February 2006): 178-183
- Claire Bishop, Artificial Hells . London: Verso, 2012
- Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics . Les Presses du Reel, 1998.
- Kate Crehan. Community Art. An Anthropological Perspective . London; New York: Berg, 2011.
- Pablo Helguera. Education for Socially Engaged Art . New York: Jorge Pinto Books, 2011.
- Sophie Hope . Participating in the Wrong Way? Four experiments. Cultural Democracy Editions, 2012.
- Shannon Jackson. Social Works. Performing Art, Supporting Publics. Routledge 2011.
- Baz Kershaw, The Politics of Performance: radical theatre as cultural intervention . London: Routledge, 1992
- Baz Kershaw, Theatre Ecology . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
- Grant Kester. Conversation Pieces . University of California Press, 2004.
- Petra Kuppers. Community Performance: An Introduction . Routledge, 2007.
- Petra Kuppers and Gwen Robertson. The Community Performance Reader . Routledge, 2007.
- Miwon Kwon. One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity . MIT Press, 2002.
- Helen Nicholson. Applied Drama. The Gift of Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
- Sheila Preston and Tim Prentki (Eds.) The Applied Theatre Reader. London: Routledge, 2008.
- Jacques Ranciere, The Emancipated Spectator . London: Verso, 2009
- Jacques Ranciere, Staging the People . London, Verso, 2011.
- Nicholas Ridout, ‘Performance and Democracy’, in Tracy C. Davis (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Performance Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Michael Rohd ‘Translations: Engaging Engagement’ http://www.howlround.com/translations-engaging-engagement
- Michael Rohd ‘Translations: The Distinction between Social and Civic Practice and Why I Find It Useful’ http://www.howlround.com/translations-the-distinction-between-social-civic-practice-and-why-i-find-it-useful
- Michael Rohd (R)Ev-ifesto: Michael Rohd http://www.tcgcircle.org/2013/03/revifesto-michael-rohd/ and find the transcript here http://www.howlround.com/translations-listening-is-the-new-revolution
- Nicki Shaughnessy Applying Performance: Live Art, Socially Engaged Theatre and Affective Practice , Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2012 312pp
- Thompson, J. Performance Affects. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
- Thompson, J., Richard Schechner. "Why Social Theatre." TDR: The Journal of Performance Studies T181(2004) – special issue on Social Theatre
- David Wiles, Theatre and Citizenship . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 05/02/2014 |
| Last revision date | 24/07/2020 |