Workshop in the Workshop

  • Katrine Hjelde: BAFA Chelsea College of Arts; FL∆G collective
  • Richard Elliott: Workshop Coordinator Chelsea College of Arts; FL∆G collective

This Presentation starts at 10:30 in room T1009. Back to Parallel Session 1

Brief description of session and activities

We propos a paper presentation and discussion around  ‘Workshop in the Workshop’ - an exhibition/symposium event within the 3D Workshops, D block, Chelsea College of Arts, facilitated/initiated by Katrine Hjelde and FL∆G collective, an pedagogic art research group associated with Chelsea, in collaboration with Richard Elliott and workshop technicians.   The exhibition included a social event/PV and a one-day symposium, with exhibitors and speakers ranging from artists, academics, technicians, alumni and students. The workshop was explored as a physical and discursive site for engagement around the themes of skills and material knowledge in and outside the contemporary art school.  The project was funded by and made possible through the Curriculum Development Funding Award received by Katrine Hjelde and Richard Elliott.

Skill and material knowledge relates to an investigation of the workshop’s role for enterprise and employability for (fine art) graduates, and how this interrelationship is considered in relation to current fine art pedagogy.   It was innovative to host a discursive event in the Workshop and this temporary shift from ‘making to talking and showing’ also thus opened this space up for a range of students who do not normally use the workshop as part of their practice.

More than anything we wanted to raise questions around skill and knowledge – particularly in relation to more material aspects of the art school experience in terms of what art student ‘know’ and how this knowledge can be useful for society as well as for the individual student as they transition into practitioners outside the institution.

For the discussion we want to raise how we can take risks in terms of how space is used and how this can create shifts where staff, academic and technical staff can work alongside as well as with students to create critical learning situations.

Will students be involved in the session? If so how?

We would like to invite a couple of students and or alumni who took part in this project to join us on the day.  

What will participants take away from the session?

A consideration of the physical and discursive spaces of the art and design school. How is teaching and leaning sited in relation to  specific spaces and how can shifts in how we use and occupy space enable innovation and risk.