Print

Throughout your studies, you will debate questions of originality, authenticity, and value in the realm of multiplying images. You will navigate the intricate difference between hard copy and screen-based images, amidst discussions about NFTs as well as the role of social media.

Your work will be enhanced by access to well-equipped technical workshops although you will not be expected to develop new technical approaches. Rather, a key focus of your study will be to reflect on how technologies are used to communicate and distribute images, ideas and understandings.

Term 1

Orientation, Induction and Experimentation (45 credits)

We begin with the notion of orientation, a term originating from ‘orient’, ‘a person's basic attitude, beliefs, or feelings in relation to a particular subject or issue.’

• Where do I begin?
• What is my current practice/interest /skill set?
• What interests me in the wider field?
• What work by other artists/writers is relevant to my practice?
• How do I describe/speak about what I do?

The programme will start with a series of orientation sessions and technical inductions. Seminars and external visits to exhibitions and archives will help you understand the expanded field of Print in the context of the broad field of contemporary art. You will be encouraged to experiment with new ways of making to challenge existing models of thinking and demonstrate this through studio practice.

Term 2

Development and Context (30 credits)

The aim of this unit is to focus on deepening an engagement with both producing work and through discussion, understanding the ways in which it might be read, displayed and contextualised. To this end the holding of a group exhibition/event, and a publication project give you deadlines and experience of professional contexts.

Urgency of the Arts - School-wide unit (15 credits)

In term 2, School of Arts and Humanities Masters’ students will participate in a School-wide unit called "The Urgency of the Arts." In this unit we ask how arts and humanities research and practice can engage with our current socio-political climate, and how might it shape, be necessary and essential in contemporary cultural debates.

The unit introduces you to a diverse range of perspectives, approaches and methods relevant to contemporary practice and thought in the arts and humanities. The delivery, predominantly based on workshops and featuring specialist presentations by leading artists, aims to assist you in recognizing, questioning, expanding, and reevaluating your own artistic practices and disciplinary assumptions. Through interactions with staff and students from across the School, as well as through a variety of methodological approaches, you will develop an understanding of the contemporary concerns that shape and influence artistic practice. You will be encouraged to reflect on these as a means to articulate the potential of your own work within the context of broad cultural landscapes and urgent cultural debates.

Terms 1&2

AcrossRCA - College-wide unit (15 credits)

Across terms 1 and 2, you will participate in AcrossRCA. This unit aims to support you to meet the challenges of a complex, uncertain and changing world by bringing you together to work collaboratively in cross-programme interdisciplinary teams. In your team you will develop a self-initiated themed project, informed by expertise within and beyond the College. These projects will challenge you to collectively use your intellect and imagination to address key cultural, social, environmental and economic challenges. In doing so, you will develop and reflect on the abilities required to translate knowledge into action, and help demonstrate the contribution that the creative arts can make to our understanding and experience of the world.

Term 3

Independent Research Project (60 credits)

The 60-credit Independent Research Project (IRP) is an opportunity to build a body of work that addresses the key ambitions of your research and practice. You will work towards presenting a work (or works) in the IRP Public Exhibition, which enables you to explore how you can activate your work in a public context, experiment with the most appropriate forms of realising your ideas and gain critical feedback. The IRP public event takes place during the unit and will be followed by a period of reflection and further development, which emphasises planning for continued practice and research post-graduation.

The IRP emphasises the sharing of work with an audience. The focus is on completing work which synthesises and builds on your studies in the previous two terms. You will be expected to make and exhibit in the context of a group exhibition. Most Print students would work in exhibition, though a few may choose publication as the principal form. You will have submitted a plan for your independent research project at the end of the second term based on the experience of the exhibition and publications projects in the Development and Context unit.

In the weeks after the public event you will be encouraged to build upon your practices, consolidating the skills you have developed across the year, both technical and conceptual. This will be in dialogue with tutors and technical staff helping you to realise ongoing works and the articulation of a professional identity as an artist, as you consider your practice looking forward. You will not be expected to develop new technical approaches but only build on skills gained where appropriate. This period will include opportunities to share work in progress and your plans for the future with peers, discussion of potential projects, publicising work and preparation for exhibitions and events outside the RCA timeline. Thinking ahead to accessing resources for artists and considering access to print facilities, this will be a period for reflection and preparation.

AcrossRCA is a compulsory 30-credit unit which is delivered as part of all MA programmes.

Situated at the core of your RCA experience, this ambitious interdisciplinary College-wide unit supports you in responding to the challenges of complex, uncertain and changing physical and digital worlds. Developed in response to student feedback, AcrossRCA creates an exciting opportunity for you to collaborate meaningfully across programmes.

Challenging you to use your imagination and intellect to respond to urgent contemporary themes, this ambitious unit will provide you with the opportunity to:

• make connections across disciplines
• think critically about your creative practice
• develop creative networks within and beyond the College
• generate innovative responses to complex problems
• reflect on how to propose ideas for positive change in local and/or global contexts

AcrossRCA launches with a series of presentations and panel discussions from acclaimed speakers who will introduce the themes and act as inspirational starting points for your collaborative team response.

Delivered online and in-person across two terms, the unit has been designed to complement your disciplinary studies and to provide you with a platform to thrive beyond graduation.