Exhibition review of ‘Practices of Enquiry: Making UAL Teaching Visible’ at Chelsea College of Arts, 14th - 18th November 2016

Ollie Cartlidge, graduate of BA (Hons) Photography, class of 2016, London College of Communication

Abstract

A photo essay exhibition review of ‘Practices of Enquiry: Making UAL Teaching Visible’ at Chelsea College of Arts, 14th - 18th November 2016.

Keywords

enquiry-based learning, Practices of Enquiry, visualising teaching, photo essay, exhibition review

The recent ‘Practices of Enquiry’ exhibition in Chelsea College’s Cookhouse Gallery was UAL’s first attempt at exhibiting teaching. Organised by the Teaching and Learning Exchange, the show was the culmination of a six month research collaboration between UAL students, recent graduates and tutors, investigating enquiry-based, student-driven learning across the colleges.

Described by the graduate curator, Elliott Burns, as a ‘complex game of pass the parcel’, the process that led up to the exhibition echoed the content of the work on show. A team of student researchers were hired to interview teaching staff, and write case studies that expressed enquiry-based learning elements of their teaching practice. These texts were then transposed by student designers who came up with ideas for visualizing them. These designs were sent back to the original tutors and further tweaked and negotiated. When resolved, the objects were fabricated by other students. A highly convoluted process, which sees the creation of the final object effectively sculpted along the way by a series of curated events and processes. What you are left with at the end is eleven installations that, although they vary drastically, all express (and indeed are a product of) enquiry-based learning.

Figure 1: The exhibition’s premise was to treat teaching as content, and show it visually in a college gallery space. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 2: Shibboleth Shechter’s ‘Evaluation Station’ (bottom centre) asked the viewer to participate in the work, by filling in forms that question their relationship with collaboration, in a suitably cyclical and witty way. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 3: Heather Barnett’s MA Art and Science students presented work in response to a randomly generated combination of Matter | Method | Material. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 4: Richard Reynolds and Richie Manu’s ‘Applied Imagination Matrices’ plot student self analysis along a series of intriguing axes, entitled from ‘blind optimism’ to ‘utter despair’ and ‘procrastination’ to ‘productivity’. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 5: Tracey Waller’s ‘Meta-assessment’ wall piece also invited visitor participation, this time focusing on assessment and how it could be improved. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 6: Andy Lee’s ‘Shooting from the Hip Audio Guide’ talked visitors through how to make a short film using just your phone, reflecting the habits of a younger generation and giving the freedom of production to just about anyone. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 7: Short quotes about teaching from the tutors represented were featured all around the exhibition. This one sums up the whole premise rather elegantly. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 8: The central space of the gallery was filled with an installation of chairs drawn from the six UAL college sites. According to the exhibition publication, these represented UAL’s ‘diverse community and serve as a reminder of the rich potential of any tool for teaching, if used judiciously’. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).
Figure 9: The exhibition was accompanied by a packed event programme, allowing dialogue inspired by the work to continue. Source: Ollie Cartlidge (2016).

It is refreshing to see that the University is open to exploring the nature of its teaching, and more importantly has involved students every step of the way. Through the nature of its inception and creation Practices of Enquiry has become a self-perpetuating machine, reinforcing that which it wishes to explore. Often art can be seen as aloof, but not so here. Hopefully this is just the start of a continuous effort to collaboratively analyse and improve the teaching at UAL.

References

University of the Arts London (2016) Practices of Enquiry: Making UAL Teaching Visible, UAL Teaching and Learning Exchange, Chelsea College of Arts (UAL), 14-18 November. Available at: http://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning/shared-practice/practices-of-enquiry/ (Accessed: 6 December 2016).

Biography

Ollie Cartlidge graduated from BA (Hons) Photography at London College of Communication in 2016. Since leaving he has continued his art practice, painted some boats and made a guitar. His photography work is based around the mechanisms of visual communication. He is currently working on a project entitled ‘Leaving Home/Finding Home’, using his photography as an archive he is exploring the didactic relationship between past and present and the act of leaving one life behind to start another. Aside from his art practice he also photographs exhibitions and events. Contact him at: olliecartlidge@gmail.com