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Art In Public Sphere On The Edge Ideas in Public Space Cultures of Representation Design & Innovation C4DI Project Space Design Master Class Programme |
On the Edge research programme On the Edge is a strategic research programme within the School concerned with raising questions and developing new thinking about the role of artists in the public sphere. Within this research ‘the edge’ describes a space of constant change, a threshold of new experience, with the potential for creative transformation.
Seminar 4 ‘Working in Public: Art, Practice and Policy’ at the Scottish Parliament, 25 September 2007 An important quality of the research is 'disinterestedness', of stepping back and allowing the space to think critically and differently about a set of issues and processes that may have gone unquestioned. Another quality is 'inhabiting the problem'. We mean by this that we engage with the significant role of critical theory by exploring theory and practice as profoundly interconnected in experience. “Activity that is not checked by observation of what follows from it may be temporarily enjoyed. But intellectually it leads nowhere. It does not provide knowledge about the situations in which action occurs nor does it lead to clarification and expansion of ideas” We work with other sectors and disciplines including education, heritage, community development and cultural policy in the development of a learning space across academic and professional sectors. As individuals contribute to and draw from the shared experience of evolving live projects, we refine and develop understanding about the role of the artist in its poetic, social and political dimensions. We have also focused on producing quality resources and contributed experience wherever possible to research and professional practice debates. On the Edge was launched in 2001 with a research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It has since attracted funding from the public and private sector to support a number of high profile projects, some of which have been developed in remote rural places in Northern Scotland, including Shetland, drawing together local, national and international contributors. We disseminate critical thinking through reports, books and websites such as: We are currently contributing to two major national initiatives. ‘The Artist as Leader’, offers an alternative concept of leadership to that of organisational management that in turn will inform the changing cultural landscape of Scotland, working in partnershuip with Cultural Enterprise office, Glasgow and Performing Arts Labs, London. We are also developing shared research with Suzanne Lacy, internationally renowned artist and writer on socially engaged art practice, supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and the Scottish Arts Council. ‘Working in Public: Art, Practice and Policy’ will inform the development of a new national resource for Scotland, the Public Art Resource and Research, Scotland (PAR+RS). ON THE EDGE funders include: Arts and Humanities Research Council
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