On not knowing: how artists teach
Send your proposal for our in person conference in Glasgow next June. Deadline for proposals for panels is the 30th of November.
About the On not knowing conference
The not knowing is crucial to art, is what permits art to be made. Without the scanning process engendered by not knowing, without the possibility of having the mind move in unanticipated directions, there would be no invention.
Donald Barthelme, Not-Knowing, 1997[1]
How do artists teach in higher education, galleries and beyond, within the current climate. If not knowing is crucial to making art[2], is it also important in the teaching of it? As artist-teachers, what might we learn from each other, and how do artists’ pedagogies change and evolve?
Within art schools, academies, departments of art, and across the range of environments in which artists teach or facilitate learning, there has for some time now been a sustained questioning of the values and assumptions that had previously underpinned various aspects of artist’s pedagogies[3].
This conference sets out to determine what is special about the way artists teach, asking how and why artists’ pedagogies in the post compulsory sector have developed in the first part of the 21st century. Structural challenges including massification, standardisation,[4] and financial constraints have had significant impacts but so does our relation to culture and ideology. A changing world requires us to address issues of justice and equity with varying degrees of urgency, to explore virtual and hybrid approaches in the pandemic, and to reconsider our pedagogical practices in relation to critical methodologies. How are we changing curricula in light of ongoing challenges to the canon?
There has also been a shift in the socialising aspect of Fine Art education which had typically asked the student to come towards the educator’s world through the process of learning, more recently however students have begun asking educators to come towards their world so that this learning might be more effective. Within this context the reliance on student centred approaches has been critiqued for promoting a consumer culture[5] and failing to put anything on the table to which students might respond and grow[6]. Yet art schools still offer a glimmer of possibility for the critical education of individuals. As Barthelme suggests, ‘not knowing’ is crucial to the creative process, but also, we suggest, vital to pedagogy in the arts and the way artists teach.
The On Not Knowing: How Artists Teach conference will share and explore the various approaches, methods and understandings of artists who teach in the field of higher education and beyond.
A partnership between two universities
The conference is convened by the Glasgow School of Art in partnership with Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Art.
Steering Committee
Professor Jaana Erkkilä-Hill (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Elizabeth Fisher (Northumbria University), Professor Rebecca Fortnum (GSA), Dr Marianne Greated (GSA), Dr Luis Guerra (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Roddy Hunter (GSA), Rory O’Neill (GSA SA), Professor Magnus Quaife (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Timothy Smith (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Henry Ward (Freelands Foundation).
The call
We are seeking proposals (300 word abstract) to convene 2.5 hour in person sessions around a theme or area of interest. Proposals for hybrid sessions will be considered on the basis of need, if for example presenting in person disadvantages a speaker or speakers. Proposals can come from groups or individuals (groups working across institutions will be particularly welcome).
- Your proposal abstract should outline the title, theme and content of your proposed session in 300 words (approx.)
- Sessions can take a range of formats from paper presentations to performances, workshops or alternative formats. Your proposal should clarify which formats you are seeking.
- Every session should include approximately the same time for discussion and/or participation by delegates as it does for delivered content.
- If you session includes papers they should be no more than 30 minutes although shorter formats are encouraged.
- In a separate section you should include a clear description of any technical requirements.
- You must include the email contact(s) of the session convenor(s).
- All information should be included in a single word document titled: surname not knowing conference abstract
- Please email your abstract to: HowArtistsTeach@gsa.ac.uk and title your email “On Not Knowing Conference Abstract”
Key Dates
- Call for sessions: 17/10/22
- Deadline for proposals for sessions: 30/11/22
- Deadline for proposals for panels: 30/11/22
- Notification of decisions: 17/12/22
- Deadline for finalised session descriptions and speaker bios: 28/02/23
- Conference: 9-10/06/23
Contact information for the conference
For more information please contact: HowArtistsTeach@gsa.ac.uk
[1] Not Knowing: The Essays and Interviews, Donald Barthelme, Vintage Books 1999
[2] On Not Knowing: How artists think, edited by E.Fisher and R.Fortnum, Black Dog Press, 2013
[3] See for example Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education, by S.Orr and A.Shreeve, Routledge, 2018; and Envisioning the Future of Arts Education, Edward P. Clapp, proceedings of the Second World Conference on Arts Education, 2010.
[4] Factories of Knowledge: Industries of Creativity, by Gerald Raunig, semiotext(e), 2013.
[5] World-Centred Education: A View for the Present, by Gert Biesta, Routledge, 2021.
[6] In Defence of the School: a Public Issue, by J.Masschelein and M.Simons, Translated by J.McMartin, E-ducation, Culture & Society Publishers, 2013.
About the On not knowing conference
The not knowing is crucial to art, is what permits art to be made. Without the scanning process engendered by not knowing, without the possibility of having the mind move in unanticipated directions, there would be no invention.
Donald Barthelme, Not-Knowing, 1997[1]
How do artists teach in higher education, galleries and beyond, within the current climate. If not knowing is crucial to making art[2], is it also important in the teaching of it? As artist-teachers, what might we learn from each other, and how do artists’ pedagogies change and evolve?
Within art schools, academies, departments of art, and across the range of environments in which artists teach or facilitate learning, there has for some time now been a sustained questioning of the values and assumptions that had previously underpinned various aspects of artist’s pedagogies[3].
This conference sets out to determine what is special about the way artists teach, asking how and why artists’ pedagogies in the post compulsory sector have developed in the first part of the 21st century. Structural challenges including massification, standardisation,[4] and financial constraints have had significant impacts but so does our relation to culture and ideology. A changing world requires us to address issues of justice and equity with varying degrees of urgency, to explore virtual and hybrid approaches in the pandemic, and to reconsider our pedagogical practices in relation to critical methodologies. How are we changing curricula in light of ongoing challenges to the canon?
There has also been a shift in the socialising aspect of Fine Art education which had typically asked the student to come towards the educator’s world through the process of learning, more recently however students have begun asking educators to come towards their world so that this learning might be more effective. Within this context the reliance on student centred approaches has been critiqued for promoting a consumer culture[5] and failing to put anything on the table to which students might respond and grow[6]. Yet art schools still offer a glimmer of possibility for the critical education of individuals. As Barthelme suggests, ‘not knowing’ is crucial to the creative process, but also, we suggest, vital to pedagogy in the arts and the way artists teach.
The On Not Knowing: How Artists Teach conference will share and explore the various approaches, methods and understandings of artists who teach in the field of higher education and beyond.
A partnership between two universities
The conference is convened by the Glasgow School of Art in partnership with Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Art.
Steering Committee
Professor Jaana Erkkilä-Hill (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Elizabeth Fisher (Northumbria University), Professor Rebecca Fortnum (GSA), Dr Marianne Greated (GSA), Dr Luis Guerra (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Roddy Hunter (GSA), Rory O’Neill (GSA SA), Professor Magnus Quaife (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Timothy Smith (Uniarts Helsinki), Dr Henry Ward (Freelands Foundation).
The call
We are seeking proposals (300 word abstract) to convene 2.5 hour in person sessions around a theme or area of interest. Proposals for hybrid sessions will be considered on the basis of need, if for example presenting in person disadvantages a speaker or speakers. Proposals can come from groups or individuals (groups working across institutions will be particularly welcome).
- Your proposal abstract should outline the title, theme and content of your proposed session in 300 words (approx.)
- Sessions can take a range of formats from paper presentations to performances, workshops or alternative formats. Your proposal should clarify which formats you are seeking.
- Every session should include approximately the same time for discussion and/or participation by delegates as it does for delivered content.
- If you session includes papers they should be no more than 30 minutes although shorter formats are encouraged.
- In a separate section you should include a clear description of any technical requirements.
- You must include the email contact(s) of the session convenor(s).
- All information should be included in a single word document titled: surname not knowing conference abstract
- Please email your abstract to: HowArtistsTeach@gsa.ac.uk and title your email “On Not Knowing Conference Abstract”
Key Dates
- Call for sessions: 17/10/22
- Deadline for proposals for sessions: 30/11/22
- Deadline for proposals for panels: 30/11/22
- Notification of decisions: 17/12/22
- Deadline for finalised session descriptions and speaker bios: 28/02/23
- Conference: 9-10/06/23
Contact information for the conference
For more information please contact: HowArtistsTeach@gsa.ac.uk
[1] Not Knowing: The Essays and Interviews, Donald Barthelme, Vintage Books 1999
[2] On Not Knowing: How artists think, edited by E.Fisher and R.Fortnum, Black Dog Press, 2013
[3] See for example Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education, by S.Orr and A.Shreeve, Routledge, 2018; and Envisioning the Future of Arts Education, Edward P. Clapp, proceedings of the Second World Conference on Arts Education, 2010.
[4] Factories of Knowledge: Industries of Creativity, by Gerald Raunig, semiotext(e), 2013.
[5] World-Centred Education: A View for the Present, by Gert Biesta, Routledge, 2021.
[6] In Defence of the School: a Public Issue, by J.Masschelein and M.Simons, Translated by J.McMartin, E-ducation, Culture & Society Publishers, 2013.