The Department of Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, supports the development of art research in and through Fine Art, Curating, Art Writing and across disciplines. We consider all elements of the MPhil/PhD to be sites of rigorous experimentation and encourage you to develop your research through processes of making, thinking, collaborating, investigating, experimenting, analysing and speculating.
We understand that the shape and trajectory of your research may change as you make connections and develop your practice throughout the course of your research. We will work with you to develop the most appropriate Ð and generative Ð means of pursuing, documenting and disseminating your findings, as best befits your project.
It is important to note that the MPhil/PhD is not an extension of the MFA. The MFA is geared specifically to the development of your art practice, and is academically recognised as the terminal professional degree for fine artists. Distinct from this, the MPhil/PhD Art is a 3-4 year (full-time) or 6-8 year (part-time) research programme, the pursuit of which may involve your already-established practice, or may require the development new modes of practice specific to the project.
The PhD is also distinct from ongoing studio practice or a residency. A PhD asks you to place your work in relation to that of other practitioners in a contemporary and/or historical context, be they artists or other cultural workers, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, or others. In this respect, the model of the PhD encourages you to follow your curiosity for Ð and make connections with and between Ð the thought, work and action of others.
Another distinguishing aspect of art research is the need to document process, and you will be encouraged to think expansively about how you do so. How might documentation become a space for reflecting on decisions made, however intuitively you arrive at these in the first instance? How might documentation communicate the mode of enquiry as much as the findings? How might documentation draw attention to detail and process and the complexity inherent in thinking, making, questioning and communicating art?
Skills
Our art programmes aim to equip you with the necessary skills to develop independent thought and confidence in your practice. In addition, these skills are of use in other career paths you may wish to follow.
Careers
Our researchers have been successful in many fields including media, museums, galleries, education, the music business and academia. Many have continued to be successful, practising artists long after graduating, and have won major prizes and exhibited around the world.
