All of the interviews revealed a shared experience of a kind of learning that is rooted deeply in the processes of the studio, and in spending time with someone committed to medium-specificity.

Stage 2 opened up questions to students, academics and artists through a series of seminars, workshops, discussion groups and conferences to begin to disseminate and explore the emerging themes of practical pedagogy and learning communities.

ACTIVITY:

June 2012:

Norwich University of the Arts
Seminar and studio visit to Anthony Caro

Participants:
Yr2 & 3 BA fine art sculpture students from Norwich University of the Arts visited Anthony Caro’s studio for discussion with Caro, studio manager Patrick Cunningham and the studio assistants John Wallbank and Oliver Cheyne. Discussion centred on ways of making (both assisted and independent) career paths and artists development.

Outcome:
After the visit, a live forum discussion took place with Anthony Caro responding to comments and students work across the Fine Art department, using the University’s Virtual Learning Environment. Students reflected on the experience and its impact on their practices in blogs. Student blog example:

Gemma Melton 2012

December 2013:

Norwich University of the Arts
Research event

Speakers:
Professor Marcia Pointon, Tom Simmons, Liam Wells, Suri Krishnamma, Phil Archer, Neil Bousfield and Jenny Dunseath. NUA staff, BA, MA and PhD students and collaborators were invited to examine and discuss research projects and the contexts in which art, design, architecture and media are produced, understood, used, exchanged and sustained.

January 2014:

Norwich University of the Arts
Seminar: Caro feast

Participants:
A seminar event for BA Yr1, 2 and 3 Fine art undergraduate students discussing the role of assistants in the production of art with Jenny Dunseath. The session involved a presentation and discussion with students centred on their experiences of making. The session looked at the 2010 interview with Caro and two key texts: Dr Michael Petry’s The art of not making: the new artist/artisan relationship (2011) and Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman (2009).

September 2014:

Meeting Tate Britain

Participants:
Dr Mark Wilsher and Jenny Dunseath meet and discuss project aims and direction with Penelope Curtis at Tate Britain. She says of the project:

‘I think this could be a really interesting project in which students could assemble and talk through some of these very pertinent issues.’
Penelope Curtis 2014

September 2014:

Meeting New Art Centre, Roche Court

Participants:
Madeline Beesborough and Stephen Feeke, Jenny Dunseath and Mark Wilsher met to discuss project aims and direction with New Art Centre, Roche Court.

October 2014:

Central St Martins, London
Collaborating with Caro Symposium

Organised by Sam Cornish and Mark Dunhill. The symposium explored the sculpture and teaching of Anthony Caro (1924-2013) through a series of talks and panel discussions with artists, academics and studio assistants. Drawing on the testimony of fellow artists, studio assistants, and his colleagues at St Martin's and Triangle, the symposium sets out to explore Caro’s legacy from different generations perspectives. Speakers: William Tucker, Tim Scott, David Evison, Peter Hide, Robin Greenwood, Hamish Black, Jenny Dunseath, Frances Richardson, Anna Best, Elena Crippa, Ian Dawson, Olivia Bax and Neil Ayling.

March 2015:

Barford Sculptures ltd, Camden London
Discussion group

Participants:
Pool group co-ordinated by Olivia Bax, Charles Hewlings and Gina Medcalf, Claire Baily, Jean-Philippe Dordolo, Neil Ayling, John Wallbank, Jenny Dunseath, Hywel Livingstone, Rafael Blasco-Ciscar, Ed Goolden, Sophie Hoyle. In preparation for the Pool exhibition at The Cut, Halesworth the group discussed each individual’s practice and mutual sculptural concerns.

August 2015:

The Cut, Halesworth Discussion group

Participants:
A site visit and meeting with Tony Casement at The Cut with Pool group Olivia Bax, Claire Baily, Jean-Philippe Dordolo, Neil Ayling, Jenny Dunseath, Hywel Livingstone, Rafael Blasco-Ciscar, Charles Hewlings and Gina Medcalf.

November 2015:

Bath Spa University
Research event: Projects, Process and Audiences

Speakers introduced and chaired by Mike Tooby with Dr Robert Luzar, Jenny Dunseath and Keith Harrison. 

An opportunity for BSU staff, MA and PhD students to discuss current research projects discussing the way projects build the relationships between process, exhibition and presentation, and audience.

November 2015:

Bath School of Art & Design, Bath Spa University
Seminar and academic workshop: Behave stupidly with reason

Participants:
A studio based workshop and seminar for Yr2 undergraduate Fine Art students exploring Caro’s educational devices and approaches to making with Jenny Dunseath. The session involved students re-enacting activities from Caro’s teaching program at St Martins. The session explored the currency of learning and explored modes of sharing of knowledge. Students analysed and referenced the following key texts:

Jon Thompson, William Tucker and Yehuda Safran Gravity & grace: the changing condition of sculpture 1965 - 1975 Arts Council of Great Britain and The South Bank Centre, London (1993)
William Tucker The Language of Sculpture London Thames & Hudson (1974)
Rosalind Krauss Passages in Modern Sculpture MIT press (1981)
Jon Wood, David Hulks and Alex Potts Modern Sculpture Reader Getty publishers (2007)
Alex Potts The Sculptural Imagination: Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist Yale University Press (2000)

December 2015:

Pangaea sculptors centre, London
Symposium: Life cycles, continuous

Life cycles, continuous considered the life cycle of both artwork and artist’s legacy with a particular focus on how it transforms, evolves and transitions across platforms, people, place and time. The invited speakers referenced specific projects and shared insights into their own experiences and approaches of working in this field.

Speakers:
Dr Jo Melvin – Reader in fine art archives and special collections at CCW Chelsea, Camberwell & Wimbledon graduate school
Jenny Dunseath – Artist & senior lecturer at Bath Spa University case study: Anthony Caro and his assistants
Anne Hardy – Artist represented by Maureen Paley
Link: http://www.pangaeasculptorscentre.com/lifecycle-continuous

March 2016:

Barford Sculptures Ltd Camden, London
Discussion group

Participants:
Co-ordinated and hosted by Olivia Bax for a meeting with Brendan Prendeville, Goldsmiths UAL with the Pool group: Jean-Philippe Dordolo, Neil Ayling, John Wallbank, Jenny Dunseath, Hywel Livingstone, Claire Baily, Charles Hewlings and Gina Medcalf, to discuss the group’s current work, catalogue text and exhibition planning.

March 2016 onwards:

Studio visits

Participants:
Guy Martin, Barford Sculptures ltd, Ian Dawson, John Wallbank and John Gibbons for New Art Centre Roche Court

Studio visits to artists in preparation for the New Art Centre exhibition.

Seminars, talks and events are on-going and are aimed at expanding themes and essential research questions in preparation for debate across disciplines.