Can we write about our art (a paper, thesis, essay, etcetera), merging artistic insight and theoretical reference, in an imaginative way?

Tutor

Maya Rasker, PhDArts candidate

For whom?

For 2nd, 3rd an 4th year BA students of the KABK and Leiden University and MA students of KABK.

When

10 Meetings, Wednesdays 11.00-14.00h, Semester II 2021 (Febr.-May)

Study load

3 EC (30 contact hours and 54 self study hours)

About this course

Can we write about our art (a paper, thesis, essay, etcetera), merging artistic insight and theoretical reference, in an imaginative way? Can ‘fiction’ serve as a tool for formal inquiry? Can ‘theory’ be treated as a friend? The course On Fiction and Forensics raises questions about the conventions in critical writing and proposes new spaces to experiment with referencing, to the use of footnotes, and to the application of fictional elements. Thus it aims to broaden and brighten up the practice of writing artistic research.    

There are no admission requirements for this elective course.

For KABK students: Apply between 10 and 12 February 2021 by registering for the course in OSIRIS.

For Leiden University students: Apply before 3 February 2021 by registering for the course on uSiS.

12 students can register for this course.

The course will be in English.

For questions Emily Huurdeman, coordinator of the lectorate, at lectoraatktp@kabk.nl

Wednesdays 11.00-14.00h (see online/offline below)

  • March 3rd 2021 (11.00-14.00h) room PB101
  • March 10th 2021 (11.00-14.00h) online
  • March 17th 2021 (11.00-14.00h) room PB101
  • March 24th 2021 (11.00-14.00h) online
  • March 31 st 2021 (11.00-14.00h) room BP101
  • April 7th 2021 (11.00-14.00h) online
  • April 14th 2021 (11.00-14.00h) PB101
  • April 21st 2021 (11.00-14.00h) online
  • May 12th (11.00-14.00 & 15.00-18.00) PB101
  • assesments: May 19th 11.00-14.00 PB111

The program will guide you towards the production of an end text – tailor-made type and size – that serves as, and results in a textual experiment in line with your current artistic research issues.

Competencies to be addressed

− Creative ability

− Capacity for critical reflection

− Capacity for growth and innovation

− Communicative ability

− Contextual awareness  


Assessment criteria

Presence: passive ---> active

Participation: negative ---> positive

Critical reflection: weak ---> strong

Conceptual research: shallow ---> thorough

Execution: simple ---> enriched

Presentation: anonymous ---> expressive

Paul Magee, ‘Alternative futures for the creative writing doctorate (by way of the past)’, in: TEXT: Journal of writing and writing courses Vol. 24, No. 1 (April 2020), pp. 1-21

Anthony Grafton, The Footnote, a Curious History, Cambridge (US), 1997, pp. 1-33: Chapter 1: ‘Footnotes, The Origin of a Species’.

Ursula LeGuin, 'The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction' (1988) in: Cheryll Glotfely and Harold Fromm (eds.), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literacy Ecology, Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1996, pp. 149-154.

Jon K. Shaw and Theo Reeves-Evison, eds., Fiction as Method, Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2017: pp. 6-71 (Introduction).

No laptops allowed in the class room. Students should bring pens, pencils, and enough paper to enjoy a lot of hand writing in class.

THEMES AND LECTURES

Introduction teacher, programme (content, form, aim), end work, assessment criteria.

Introduction of participants.

Exploration of the concept and intuitions of ‘facts and fiction’ in writing.

Assignment (in class): Writing assignment

Close reading, discussion, analysis of the written (max 6).

Homework (preparation for session 4): Anthony Grafton, The Footnote, a Curious History, Cambridge (US), 1997, pp. 1-33: Chapter 1: ‘Footnotes, The Origin of a Species’.

Close reading, discussion, analysis of the written (max 6).

Lecture on the concept of the footnote (and endnote, and author-date reference) as a device for justification and narrativity. Discussion on the prepared text by Anthony Grafton.

Assignment (in class): short writing assignment.

Homework: further elaboration of the in class writing assignment (==> to be send around).

Reading, discussion and analysis of the written.

Lecture on the application / possibilities of footnotes in relation to creative / expressive writing.

Assignment (in class): breakout groups: discussion of possible end text ideas.

Homework: plan / idea towards the end text (==> to be send around).

Reading: Paul Magee, ‘Alternative futures for the creative writing doctorate (by way of the past)’, in: TEXT: Journal of writing and writing courses Vol. 24, No. 1 (April 2020), pp. 1-21

Discussion on the prepared text by Paul Magee.

Towards the end: discussion of the end text plans.

Homework: version 1 end text (==> to be send around and commented on).

Reading, discussion and analysis of the written; tips and trics for improvements.

Homework: towards the end text.

Individual consultation.

Reading, discussion, assessment of the end texts.

ABOUT THE TEACHER

After a career as creative producer in the film industry, Rasker (Málaga, 1965) turned her ambition to writing: essayism, journalism, theatre, scenario. With her prize-winning debut Unknown Destination (2000) she made her entrance in the world of literature. Her work is published in the United States, Spain, Russia, Germany, Hungaria and Turkey. In 2012 she completed her Master in Artistic Research (Universiteit van Amsterdam). The thesis, on the position of the author after publication of the work, was appreciated with cum laude. As lecturer at the Master Artistic Research in and through Cinema in Amsterdam, and other MA and BA art institutes, she designs and teaches courses on writing and (artistic) research, on the transformation of the autobiography, and on the notion of ‘the beginning’ in art production and research. She was Research Coordinator for the School of Media at the University of the Arts Utrecht from 2014-2017.

This course is part of the Art Research Programme of the Lectorate Art Theory & Practice.

For questions about the courses in the Art Research Programme, please contact Emily Huurdeman, coordinator of the lectorate, at lectoraatktp@kabk.nl.