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This case study focuses on three areas in relation to the social impact of art, across the categories of `cultural life' and `public discourse'.
1) Artistic collaborations with non-artistic specialists in order to generate new interdisciplinary pathways
2) Artistic collaborations with non-artists within a given community or non-artistic institutional setting in order to create new forms of artist-audience participation
3) The sharing of knowledge/skills between either non-artistic specialists or a non-specialist audience and artists in the production of a shared task or project.
4) Performance-based practice inside and outside of the gallery
The outward facing nature of this research, then, addresses the way such work tests the prevailing competences, boundaries and identities of artist and audience alike. This means researchers are involved with both artistic and non-artistic funding-bodies and agencies as the basis for work on a range of critical issues affecting the borders between the art institution and non-artistic settings and contexts.
Professor Alex Danchev's research on the relationship between art, artists and politics has underpinned material changes to curatorial approach and practice at the Imperial War Museum, contributed to the planning of exhibitions at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, London, and has added depth to museums' and galleries' public programmes. It has stimulated new thought and practice amongst artists and writers, and has generated wider public debate about art, artists and politics. It has enriched the cultural debate by engaging thinkers, writers, broadcasters, practitioners, curators and educators, and the diverse publics with whom they engage.
The leading open submission exhibition `EASTinternational' is significant in establishing the reputations of prominent artists and curators who have become major forces in contemporary art in the UK and across the world. `EASTinternational' parallels the rise of the Young British Artists, and is not dependent on an established commercial network. Many influential curators and dealers have used the exhibition as a serious sounding board for new artists, who otherwise might not have been provided a platform through which to engage with high profile practitioners, curators and dealers, and to access new markets. In researching contemporary and emerging practice, identifying topical exhibition themes, commissioning new works, originating solo exhibitions and developing international networks `EASTinternational' has supported the professional, career and commercial development of over 700 artists, curators and dealers, and enhanced critical discourse in a variety of disciplines.
The impact of Professor Taylor's work in interpreting modern and contemporary art has taken place on two complementary levels: on the one hand the lucid and accessible exposition, for a wide international reading public, of some of the most difficult, intractable, or provocative works of recent and contemporary art; and on the other, more specialist readings, again for an international reading public, of key tendencies in the broader range of modern art, from Cubism to the present day. Wide readership across Asia, Europe, and the United States has secured increased public understanding of art, and has influenced both policy and art practice.
This case study demonstrates the impact of the Cass' research that has promoted and supported the now pivotal role of Installation art and Artists' Writing on the wider field of artistic and curatorial practice over the last decade and more specifically since 2008.
The body of research based on de Oliveira/Oxley's activities as curators and writers has been instrumental in the development of emerging forms of practice and critical discourse. Installation art highlighted significant changes in the understanding of the idea of the `medium', the institution and the relationship between artists, curators and audiences. This research is documented on their website www.writinginstallation.org.
Research at the University of Bristol on the international contexts of British art has made a distinctive contribution to a renaissance of British art studies that began in the late 1980s. Over the past five years, scholars at Bristol have worked with museums in London, the regions and overseas to engage the widest possible audience in fresh thinking about British art. Exhibitions and catalogue essays informed by their research have raised awareness of individual artists and changed public and critical perceptions of British art as a whole. They have also brought many benefits to the museum partners, attracting visitors, generating income and enhancing the museums' understanding of their own collections. Some exhibitions have inspired additional collaborations which have fed back into research and further extended audiences for British art.
The primary impact of the research in the exhibition and the catalogue entitled The Bruce Lacey Experience is the Tate's commitment to acquiring additional pieces of Lacey's work (the gallery presently owns two works) and to purchase Lacey's archive. The exhibition that David Mellor curated at the Camden Arts Centre (CAC) jointly with Jeremy Deller also directly affected contemporary art curators and the public by influencing outputs on Lacey in film: both the film of the artist made by Deller, and Lacey's own films, released as a DVD set through the British Film Institute (BFI) in conjunction with the exhibition.
Buckley's research on the relationship between art and conflict has led to the establishment of the Artraker Fund. The Fund was established in 2012 and awards art that helps raise awareness, communicate, stimulate debate and transform our understanding of war, violent conflict and social upheaval. It is intended to show how art can play a central role in transforming our understanding and experience of war, violent conflict and social upheaval. Buckley's research on the role of art in the co-creation of `experiences of freedom' has helped to show why such a fund is necessary, and to distinguish it from other art prizes. It stresses the potential of art to co-create experiences of freedom when they are most needed and least accessible.
Through the public exhibition of his own video practice and his dialogic approach to the presentation of other artists' works Richard Grayson's research projects as an artist-curator have impacted significantly on cultural life and public discourse around contemporary visual arts in the UK and internationally. Specifically his research has:
a) provided opportunities for audiences to experience new artworks and exhibitions which question conventional social narratives and world views;
b) through exhibitions, critical writing and gallery discussions, contributed to the development of public understanding of contemporary visual art.
This case study focuses particularly on the positive critical reception and longer-term impacts generated by Grayson's video work, The Golden Space City of God (2009) and two recent curatorial projects, Polytechnic (2011) and Revolver (2012).
Art history at Essex has a long tradition of research in Latin American art. Since 1993 this research activity has included academic publications, exhibition curating and catalogue production, and the development of the Essex Collection of Latin American Art (ESCALA). This research has informed the work that Essex art historians have undertaken to raise the profile of the history of Latin American art. The impact of this research has been achieved through collaboration with major art institutions including Tate and Pinta and through exhibitions of work collected by ESCALA. Through these activities Essex art historians have influenced Tate's collections and exhibitions, introduced Latin American artists to the global art market, and taught regional, national, and international publics about the significance of Latin American art.