Please follow this link - www.maryannefrancis.org/43.html - for the script - with pictures! - of a talk that I gave to Chelsea MA students.  The talk used the written part of my PhD (a 60,000 text) to respond to the question 'What is an artist's writing?'.  In the PhD (back in 2000), I was very interested in constructing an analogue for the 'asethetic of diversity' that I was exploring in my practice, which culminated in an exhibition at Beaconsfield, London - 'Mary Anne Francis: Group Show'. For pictures etc see www.maryannefrancis.org/15.html

The issue of whether an artist's writing should resonate, aesthetically, with their art-practice is, of course, open to debate - 'should' sounding dangerously prescriptive.  I'm interested in the ethics of possible relations between an aritst's writing and their art - relations which could take many forms.  This is one of the many things that could be a concern of the Writing-Art Research Group.

On the basis that most artists and designers write around their practice (‘for’, ‘on’ and ‘after’ are just some nuances…) this proposed Research Group aims to open up a forum for developing and reflecting on discussion in the area.  And a forum in which to produce exciting, challenging and useful work – without prescribing what form it might take.

Needless to say, the proposed territory - at least to begin with – is amorphous, perhaps provisional in outline, and certainly broad.  What do we mean by ‘writing’?  If ‘photography’ is ‘writing with light’ is that included in a study of ‘writing’  And how is that helpful?  If we follow Derrida, do we include speech (as an instance of ‘general writing’?)  Are we interested in digital writing in its many forms?

Then again, there’s the question of the purpose of looking at ‘writing’ (beyond the fact that artist and designers write).  What is it useful and / or interesting to find out?  What is already known and how do we want to build on this?

If you would like to get involved in this Research Group which will be constituted around its members’ interests and contemporary debate – please mail me (Mary Anne) or sign up below with e-mail details.  We will then aim for an inaugural meeting in September!

All staff from UAL and beyond welcome – as too, research students.

Some possible topics – please add others!

• What is an artist’s and / or designer’s writing?

• What is ‘academic writing’?  (Not to assume we know what it ‘is’, or that it has an essence…)

• Agents of writing: machines, humans, digital technologies, genre, discourse…

• Writing and inter-disciplinarity / in-disciplinarity / trans-disciplinarity and all the rest

• Why write?

• Spoken text

• Performed writing / writing as performative / time-based writing

• Image-text

• Publishing – modes and means

• The Dissertation?

• Textuality, not writing

• Writing skills

• Writing and music

• Not writing / the argument for writing in the art & design curriculum

• Writing and the practice-based PhD

maryannefranics[at]hotmail[dot]com

0.5 Research Fellow in Writing + Art
Chelsea College