MFA PROGRAM
INTRO
History Transart Institute was founded in 2004 by two artists. The MFA in New Media program was accredited by the Austrian Ministry of Education and Culture through Donau University Krems, Krems, Austria and the first summer residency was held in 2005 with an international body of 25 students and eight faculty. The current MFA Creative Practice program is validated through the School of Art and Media at the University of Plymouth in the UK.
Goals In this a-disciplinary program, students are free to pursue work in any art-related genre and to create their own course of study, working independently and with the support of faculty and self-chosen studio and research advisors. Short periods of intensive residency permit students to continue with their professional work and keep a balanced personal life while participating in the program.
Purpose The program is intended to lift the boundaries between applied and fine arts, traditional and new media, artists and scholars. The program aims to create a space for students of all disciplines to interact with a wide range of artists, scientists, theorists, media practitioners and visionaries. Students investigate their work independently and transdisciplinarily in both a cultural and studio context. Whatever genres students choose to work in, the program is designed to: enrich students’ praxis; foster change; facilitate a connection between group and personal work; provide the means for contextualizing work in the wider world; and develop interaction strategies with audiences.
Location Transart Institute is an international program. Summer residencies take place in cooperation with arts organizations in Europe. This summer residency location will be Tanzfabrik in Berlin. Winter residencies take place in New York at various arts initiatives and galleries. Transart Institute provides a range of accommodation listings and arranges a special group rate at a student hotel each summer as well as student travel and city guides. Most students prefer to stay together but students make their own arrangements for travel, accommodations and meals during the residencies so many options are available. Travel info can be found >> here.
Language The on-site part of the program takes place in English. Many languages are spoken but courses, critiques and lectures all take place in English. Students must have a very good command of spoken English. Student off-site semester work can take place in any language that the student and their advisors have in common. All administrative paper work (including student and faculty evaluations) must be in English. If English is not their first language, students may be required to provide a TOEFL with a score (iBT) of 52 or better.
Facilities, Equipment and Resources Studio and production spaces for workshops and a Macintosh computer station with scanner and printer fulfill the institute's summer residency needs. Online databases and library resources include: Art Full Text (Wilson), ART bibliographies Modern (CSA), JSTOR, Project Muse, Web of Science, Dawsonera, and Oxford Art Online.
Degree Requirements Completion of three residencies and the six modules that make up the first and second year studio plus research project along with a successful review of the final project presentation in the graduate show lead to the MFA award. A post graduate diploma (PGDip) can be awarded to students who complete 120 U.K. credits (60 ECTS). Please see “program structure and credits” below.
Achievement Each year, students create art projects (i.e. a film or video, an installation, a concert, a campaign, a performance, a website, a documented intervention, a book of photographs, etc.) and write a supporting research paper or creative response reflecting their research. Graduating students publicly exhibit or present documentation of their final art and research projects. Students gain the critical, technological, and aesthetic experiences essential to creating informed and vital, content-driven work. Graduates acquire the means necessary for independent thinking, innovative work, active dialogues, and agile resourcefulness, in order to create a meaningful and sustainable praxis.
Community Alumni continue to participate in residencies by giving and receiving critiques, exhibiting, as program advisors, and as members of the newly formed Transart International Exhibition Collective.
SEMESTERS OFF SITE
Independent Study Students work intensively in the summer and winter residencies on-site with faculty, artists, curators, media practitioners, writers and theorists. Between residencies, students work one-on-one off-site with research advisors by correspondence and self-chosen studio advisors in an exchange which includes a minimum of two intensive critique meetings or studio visits each semester.
Study Plan Students prepare individual art and research project plans with the input from faculty in individual planning sessions throughout the residency as their ideas develop, submitting a two semester project plan for approval at the end of the residency. Students have the opportunity to make adjustments to their plans up to the mid-term to accommodate change and growth.
Guidance Committee Students call group meetings at the beginning of each semester with their advisors to discuss the student's projects, ensuring a vital and informed connection between the research and studio components of the work. Additional meetings can be called throughout the semester by student or advisor as needed.
Critique Groups Alumni-lead student critique groups formed at the summer residency continue through the semesters either in person or through virtual channels. In addition to the four individual critique sessions with their advisors, students receive two critiques with alumni in their student critique groups.
RESIDENCIES ON SITE
Summer Residencies The three summer residencies are both milestones and resources, taking place at the beginning middle and end of the two year program. Each residency begins with closure to the previous year’s studies through intensive critiques, exhibitions, presentation and performances. With new students, work done prior to commencing the program is presented, examined and discussed. Residencies open with the graduate exhibition, performances and a public vernissage. Weeks one and three consist of studio workshops, week two focuses on cultural studies seminars, Fridays center on student presentations. In addition, guest lectures, artist and curator talks and critiques as well as individual meetings with faculty take place each week in order for students to plan, inform and finalize the coming year’s project plans. This summer's schedule can be found in the calendar.
Winter Residencies Four day residencies take place at the end of the fall semester. The focus is on presentations, critiques, feedback and the sharing of resources mid-way through studio and research projects. Students have the opportunity to exhibit work in conjunction with their presentations in order to explore exhibition and documentation possibilities in anticipation of the summer thesis exhibition. Guest artist talks, screenings and practical topical workshops (i.e. the art of the artist talk, professional development, teaching application, funding and grant writing, and technical studio courses) complete the residency. This winter's schedule can be found in the calendar.
Presentations Students participate in project presentations and critiques with residency faculty and alumni. Students present in three thirty minute formats: in the plenum with faculty, in a group of six students which continues throughout the semesters, and two individual sessions with faculty thus getting the benefits of many different perspectives on their work. Issues of delivery, content, aesthetics, technique, audience, media, genre, gender, culture and process are discussed, resources are shared and students learn to present their work progressively in two, five, ten and then fifteen minute presentations to audiences of varied size and purpose.
Seminar Students partake in one elected cultural studies seminar per residency. Seminars which are the cultural studies equivalent of the workshops help students put their work in context and find ways to inform their art projects through research while also getting practice articulating new ideas, exploring new ways of thinking and making connections through discussions and critiques. Seminars are chosen from current cultural topics viewed through the lens of media studies, literature, sociology, philosophy and art history.
Workshops Students participate in two elected studio workshops per residency. Workshops are not intended to further technical virtuosity but to enhance creativity by exposing students to new approaches to working in various genres. It is recommended that students work with what they are technically familiar with for these sessions. Students should bring their own tools, whatever they like to work with i.e. cameras, powerbooks, sketch pads. Scanners, video projectors and printers will be available.
Exhibition Students experiment with exhibition and performance possibilities at the winter residencies in preparation for the summer Transartfest. As appropriate to the nature of the thesis project, students have the option to exhibit, perform or document their projects with shared spaces for digital presentations, reading and listening.
MFA PROGRAM STRUCTURE AND CREDITS
Year 1
Summer Residency + Semester 1
MCP 501 Independent Study Project 30 CR = Studio project semester 1
Start: summer residency 1
Input: project planning, two workshops, two advisor meetings, one guidance committee meeting
Assessment: after presentation at winter residency
MCP 503 Independent Research Project 30 CR = Research project semester 1
Start: summer residency 1
Input: seminar, research planning, two faculty advisor meetings, one guidance committee meeting
Assessment: after presentation at winter residency
Winter Residency + Semester 2
MCP 502 Independent Study Project 30 CR = Studio project semester 2
Start: winter residency 1
Input: group critique, two advisor meetings, one guidance committee meeting
Assessment: after presentation at summer residency 2
MCP 504 Independent Research Project 30 CR = Research project semester 2
Start: winter residency 1
Input: group critique, two advisor meetings, one guidance committee meeting
Assessment: after presentation at summer residency 2
(PGDip awarded if not continuing on to MFA)
Year 2
Summer Residency + Semesters 3+4 (Thesis Year)
MCP 505 Independent MFA Project 60 CR = Studio project semesters 3+4
Start: summer residency 2
Input: project planning, two workshops, four advisor meetings, two guidance committee meeting
Assessments: intermediary at winter residency, final after presentation at summer residency 3
Summer Residency + Semesters 3+4 (Thesis Year)
MCP 506 Independent MFA Research 60 CR = Research project semesters 3+4
Start: summer residency 2
Input: seminar, research planning, four faculty advisor meetings, two guidance committee meeting
Assessments: intermediary at winter residency, final after presentation at summer residency 3
