MFA January 2017 Seminar Information: All Students

The January 2017 MFA Seminar Programme Schedule accompanying these notes, schedules and details every day and specific times and activities within the seminar that you will be expected to attend.

The January MFA Seminar is one of four annual themed seminars that deliver key content and learning opportunities for individual students, and welcomes in our new, Year 1 (Part1) students, marking both the beginning of Year 2 (Part 3) for some, and the end of the postgraduate programme of study for our graduating Year 2 (Part 4) students.

The 2017 January Seminar Art as Research is also a formal assessment point for all students, except those beginning their postgraduate study at Year 1 (Part 1 Students). All students’ work will be exhibited at St Georges Bay Studios from January 21-26 so as to facilitate this assessment and allow for introductions between Part 1 and Part 3 students to occur. The seminar is shaped by critical feedback and discussion of all the work on display, and on Wednesday, 25 January, the official opening of the Part 4 Graduating Exhibition.

Our Guest External Examiner for this Art as Research Seminar is the artist and academic Simon Morris, from Massey University, Wellington (see bio below). He will join MFA Faculty Noel Ivanoff and Tanya Eccleston, and 2017 Critic in Residence Anthony Byrt, in facilitating the assessment of the submitted work of our Part 3 and 4 students, and will deliver an artist talk on his work on Wednesday 25 January in the Pearce Seminar Room.

Simon Morris, Yellow Ochre Room, 2015, acrylic paint. Commissioned by Christchurch Art Gallery. Photo: John Collie

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ALL STUDENTSEnrolment and admissionsAll students must have completed all enrolment obligations with the admissions and student finance administrators before Saturday 14 January 2017.

Pre-Seminar Installation Times and Dates

The St Georges Studio Road Studios and Pearce Gallery are accessible for all students to start installing their exhibitions from Monday 9 January. Any queries please contact Noel Ivanoff at noeli@whitecliffe.ac.nz

New Part 1 Students: Studio IntroductionsSunday, 22 January | SGBRS Please select 2 - 4 pieces of your recent work that have some significance to what you want to develop/research in the next two years of your MFA study and install in the Pearce Gallery, St Georges Bay Studios from Friday 20 January, ready for your 10 minute introduction to your work. You will be expected to speak to the work in a way that orientates your peers and faculty towards what you wish to develop, and informs them as to what you most value about what it is that you do. Five minutes is allocated to allow questions at the end of your ten minute presentation. Please see the January Summer Seminar Schedule, page 4 for details. Please work with each other to agree appropriate and equivalent space allocation within the Pearce gallery. Your work is required to remain up all week during the seminar days (21-26 January).

Part 3 Students: Studio Introductions

Please can you each prepare a short 5 minute introduction to your presented work and the ideas and/or intentions informing the work you have presented. We are asking that you do this as a way of introducing yourselves to the new Part 1 students, and as a means to refresh your own critical intentions for the work’s development. The object of the exercise is to introduce your practice to your new peers in the studios. See page 3 for a detailed schedule of introduction.

Part 3 Students: Studio Research II Assessment and Installation

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The St Georges Studio Road Studios will be accessible for installation preparation from Monday January 9. Please arrange to install work in the studio spaces as allocated (see SGBRS Map attached) during these times. Please provide all your own tools, paint, and installation equipment, including extension leads and any lighting equipment if required. Ladders are available on request.

Studio Assessment Procedure

Work is to be installed to exhibition standard in consultation with your studio supervisors and must be accompanied by an artist statement.  The assessment panel will include MFA Faculty, Noel Ivanoff and Tanya Eccleston, MFA Critic in Residence, Anthony Byrt, the External Assessor Simon Morris and your studio and/or contextual supervisor. All students should refer again to their 2017 MFA Programme Manual for guidelines as to your role in these assessments, however the structure of engagement is provided here, below.

5 - 10 minutes Faculty Panel and External Assessor only with work (no student)5 - 10 minutes Student joins Faculty Panel for Q and A regarding the work.10 - 15 minutes Faculty Panel and External Assessor only with work (no student)10 – 15 minutes Student joins Faculty Panel for feedback.

Assessments are approx. 30 minutes duration for each student. Formal studio assessments are designed to replicate, as closely as possible, examination conditions while giving you the opportunity to receive verbal and written feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your work in relation to the assessment criteria. Emphasis is placed on assessing the ability of your studio work, in conjunction with an artist statement and exhibition catalogue, to speak for itself within an exhibition context. For this reason, the Faculty Panel and the External Examiner spend time with the studio exhibition without you (the student) present in much the same way as you will be assessed for your MFA Degree. Please refer to the MFA Programme Manual for more detail concerning the assessment process, grading schedule and criteria.

Critical Exchange and Feedback: Respondent–led Critique

The critique model we have elected to use for the seminar is one based on a peer-led small group critique or review. Each Part 3 student is assigned to lead one of these group critiques, and assumes the role of a critical 'respondent'. Respondents each take time to look at the work prior to the critique and write notes that will act as a framework for discussion about the work. Faculty may be present in these critiques, but the onus is on the designated respondent to lead the discussion.

All Part 3 students have been assigned a critique group and will be expected to participate in each of the critiques designated for their group. Part 1 students are invited to attend and observe these critiques. The critique process will take place over two days: Monday, 23 and Tuesday 24. Students are asked to develop their responses and familiarise

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themselves with the work of all members of their group on the Monday and the critiques are scheduled to take place on the Tuesday. See pages 5 and 6 of the MFA January Seminar Schedule for allocated critique times, groups and studios.

Library Based ResearchAll Students: We encourage each of you to make an appointment with the Library Research Co-ordinator, Erich Ranfft to discuss your research intentions and interests for the year ahead. Please meet with your supervisors where possible (Part 1's will be assigned supervisors during the January 2017 seminar), before meeting with Erich in the Library.

Please use the Parkin Library at the Balfour Road Campus to research independently, use the computers available and/or seek research advice from the Library staff at any time. Library Opening hours are listed at the top of each page of the schedule.

Research Supervision 2017

Supervisor Evaluation Forms: All Year 2 students are to complete these and return to the Academic Registrar, Jacquie Phipps jacquiep@whitecliffe.ac.nz no later than Thursday, 19 January, 2017.

New Year 1 (P1) students will be assigned supervisors during the January seminar. Noel will discuss possible supervision arrangements for the semester with each of you.

Part 3 Students: Supervisor Meetings Please consult with your supervisors and arrange meetings during set-up and/or before your scheduled assessment where possible please. Your supervisor/s will be present at your assessment and should have a clear understanding of your intentions for the work by the time of your scheduled assessment event.

Refreshment BreaksMorning and afternoon tea and lunches will be provided daily in the Common Room on Level 3 of Balfour Road Campus.A range of food options including vegetarian and gluten free, will be made available but students who have a medical condition or serious food allergy that necessitates alternative dietary requirements please contact Tanya tanyae@whitecliffe.ac.nz

Attendance

Full attendance at all seminar events is compulsory for all students on the MFA programme. Please contact the Director of the MFA Programme, Noel Ivanoff, noeli@whitecliffe.ac.nz if for any reason you are unable to attend any of the scheduled seminar.

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Guest and External Examiner, January 2017Simon Morris

Simon Morris is an artist whose work focuses on painting, site responsive wall painting and installation. He exhibits his work nationally and internationally and he continues to explore interests in abstraction and the possibilities that emerge from self-imposed restraints on structure, materials and process. Simon teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the College of Creative Arts, Massey University.

In 2016 Artist Simon Morris was granted the prestigious Fulbright-Wallace Arts Trust Award of a residency at the Headlands Centre for the Arts in Sausalito, California, which he will take up in July 2017.

We look forward to seeing you at the January Seminar and wish you all the best for a stimulating, productive, and enjoyable week.

Noel Ivanoff

Director MFAnoeli@whitecliffe.ac.nz

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