The Student Placement Scheme: teaching and learning post-studio practice

Abstract

This article is concerned with the context, development, implementation and potential benefits of ‘post-studio’ teaching and learning on the BA (Hons) Fine Art Critical Practice course at the University of Brighton. The article aims to address two questions: (1) What and where is the studio – where are students making their work? (2) How are the changing spaces of fine art education affecting students and the staff who teach them? At Brighton we currently offer five separate BA (Hons) Fine Art courses; Critical Practice, Painting, Performance, Printmaking and Sculpture. There are a number of advantages to this structure, but its success is dependent on each course offering a distinctly different philosophy, experience and outcome for students. On the Fine Art Critical Practice course, our second year students are required to work without a studio for the entire academic year. The idea of formally incorporating a post-studio situation into the curriculum came about through shared interest in the activities of the Artists Placement Group (APG) and their claim that ‘the context was half the work’. Academic staff were also keen to challenge the institutional orthodoxy of studio-based art teaching within art education. The Student Placement Scheme has also assisted us in further differentiating Fine Art Critical Practice from the other fine art courses on offer at Brighton and elsewhere.