Last update: 11/03/04 03:46:26 -0500

Proposal for MALS – Art and Mind [The Place of the Artist and Art in Consciousness Studies]

Proposal for the MVA – Art-e-facts of Emergence [internet component] Possibly as part of the MALS through study abroad at Australian National University, University of Melbourne or Monash University, if not studio work at FIU.

Requirements for the MALS

Research Resource Areas   List of possible courses

Description of the MVA

**ANU Description

The Master of Visual Arts is a Coursework degree requiring a student to complete a one-year project, the topic and methodology of which is approved by the School's admissions panel. The program is conducted as a single supervised Studio Practice course to provide for advanced study in the practice of art in a specific discipline offered by the School's Workshop and Studio structure.

Program Structure: Students must have satisfactorily completed one course totalling 48 units subject to a mid program review.  The specific structure of a candidate's program of study is as approved by the Prescribed Authority on the recommendation of the admissions panel.

Queensland College of Art MAVA

This program provides a tight, flexible program which supports a significant proportion of independent project work. The Master of Arts in Visual Arts program consists of coursework activities which include individually-designed projects. A feature of the program is the opportunity for students to include a substantial body of practical work, produced within their particular discipline, with relevance to their own interests. The courses offered give students the opportunity to participate in the continuing contemporary debate regarding research issues central to art practice, as well as refining the skills necessary for the production of the studio projects.
 

Studio Research in Art and Mind

Proposal and CV for Fulbright Application – expand/reword process for Uni Application

My proposed study plan involves a Master of Visual Art (MVA) program at an Australian University as an integral part of a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) at Florida International University (FIU).  The MALS at FIU is an interdisciplinary program with a concentration in Art and Mind.  The MVA is a one year program in studio practice offered at several Australian Universities.  I am currently working with the Washington, DC Office of IDP Education Australia (IDP) on completing applications to the Universities in Australia that offer the MVA program.  IDP is an independent not for profit organization that represents 38 of the 39 Australian Universities and assists international students with enrolment in Australian Institutions.  I have reviewed my applications with her and we should be able to complete the application process quickly and successfully.  I hope to enroll for Semester One, February 2006 because it will coincide with the beginning of the Master’s Thesis for the MALS.  Being able to have a year of concentrated and supervised studio practice is paramount to completing a cohesive thesis on the relationship between Art and Consciousness. 

My undergraduate thesis exhibition, A Phenomenological Approach, was also a year long project.  The branch of Philosophy called Phenomenology has as its subject the development of human consciousness or self-awareness without making ontological claims or claims of being.  An Australian MVA program would be an opportunity to produce a substantial body of practical work that I can correlate with the theoretical portion of the MALS program in continued directed study using the Phenomenological Method.  Australia has been a country that has drawn my interest for quite a while.  I began my education in a system based on the United Kingdom model and would like to reenter that kind of educational system to see what effect, if any, it will have on my methods and effectiveness.   Because of the topic of research itself – Art and Mind, specifically emergent consciousness – it is increasingly desirable that I would possibly have first hand exposure to Aboriginal Art.  For example paintings by the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, a well known Aboriginal artist, though visually similar to modern painting are based on the culture and rituals of the Aborigines, specifically the concept of “The Dreaming”.  Aboriginal rock carvings and paintings date back at least 30,000 years, as such Aborigines arguably have the longest continuous cultural history in the world.  This type of exposure would be essential resource material for studio practice focused on the relationship between art and emergent or developing consciousness.

During my time working toward my undergraduate thesis, I made significant progress toward an understanding of my creative process.  I believe the progress that I made in getting to the essence of abstract concepts through creating art enables a more efficient communication of those concepts while allowing me to shed personal bias and societal conditioning.  The person who views my artwork is able to approach these concepts from the reference point of their own experience - translating from a visceral response to intellectual understanding. This, in effect, is a mirroring of my experience during the creative process.  As with the undergraduate thesis, I will be doing coursework beforehand to inform the studio work.  Elements of the following proposed approach to the MVA Program may change subtly as the theoretical basis is built by coursework for the MALS.

In dealing with emergent consciousness and relating it to art I found an analogue in the concept of the development of a “visual vocabulary”.  It is important to address the issue in a way that would be most relevant to studio research and practically applicable to issues unique to traveling to another country.  It was necessary to find an expression that while within my capabilities would also be challenging.  In this way, I would truly be developing a new vocabulary while still approaching the creation of visual art at an accomplished level.  The method of expression chosen for this project will draw upon the now dormant resource of over 15 years of dance experience to develop a personal movement vocabulary that I will attempt to translate visually.  In addition, during the year before beginning concentrated studio work, I have enlisted the consulting assistance of my sister, Charmille Walters, who as a professional choreographer and performing artist has extensive knowledge in movement and kinesiology.  Also, quite simply, she has the same background as I do and a deeper understanding of my ideas and methods than would anyone else. 

I will record my movement on “canvases” which will be a return to painting.  A repetition or series of movements will not only be chosen for placement on my body type but also for the visual effect that they achieve.  In short, I will be attempting to choreograph my paintings.  I remain committed to the visual medium so, unlike most dance with the display of a final product in a completed and polished production, this choreography will be recorded through the developing series of “paintings”.  The movement component of the work is not intended to lend a performance aspect, but will infuse to a greater extent the expression of the creative process’ phenomenology with a layer already present in the physicality of my previous human body scaled metal and fiberglass sculptures.  It is for this reason that I am applying for the Fulbright Program under the category of Sculpture.  The final display of the work is intended be as an installation – of the different “paintings” in an environment built upon them and their development as opposed to a more common gallery or museum display.  The installations will be grounded in sculptural theory including the concepts of the use of space, the investigation of environment and placing objects into a significant relationship with each other.  In the best of outcomes, in a way similar to my previous work, this will contribute to the artwork in a way that can be absorbed by the art viewer – enabling them establish the meaning of the artwork by actively participating in a phenomenological way.   

I fully expect that the immersion in another culture will have great effect on me as an artist and as a person.  It is hoped that the experience will allow for a renewed basis to continued creativity, infuse theoretical work with a sound practical foundation and add additional layers to my artistic expression.  In addition to sharing what I will learn from study in Australia through exhibitions and lectures, it is also my hope to teach – at the university level or creative/gifted students.  I believe the experience will heighten the ability to connect with students whose visual vocabulary is in the beginning phases of development.  As mentioned in the Curriculum Vitae included with this application, my work is “fueled by my continued effort to accept, understand and overcome the common problems of children (and adults) of essentially "outsider" intellect – learning and communication”.  The direction of my visual art/philosophy study leads to an increased understanding, at a very personal level, the special needs of those that think, learn and communicate “differently”.  Ultimately, the experience of completing an MVA program in Australia will be the foundation for a sound approach to the teaching of visual art based on a personally informed understanding of the relationship between art and mind; and by extension learning.   

Curriculum vitae

Born March 3rd, 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica; My involvement in the arts began when at four I started dance classes at the Jamaica School of Dance. I danced with Windward Road Primary for Independence Celebrations in the National Stadium and competed in national competitions. At 11, I achieved the highest national score on the Common Entrance Examination. For this I received the JAG Smith Government Scholarship towards secondary education at The Queen's College. After my first year, due to political unrest, I was moved permanently to the United States. I attended Hallandale High School, while taking classes and performing with Broward Ballet Academy and Candy Milford. In 1984 I graduated with honors and received a full scholarship to the University of Miami for tertiary study toward a degree in Biochemistry. Unfortunately, my father drowned a few days before my birthday in 1986. This brought on an extended "depression" and I left the University to begin working full time.  During this period, I wrote poetry and painted.

My paintings have been sold both nationally and internationally. My sculpture has earned many awards, including a visual art scholarship from Dade Community Foundation in 2001. Also in 2001, my poem "Death of Science/Love Lost" was published in the anthology, Reflections of Innocence. I speak of my early academic accomplishments because they are important to the thrust of my art and philosophy. Although the untimely death of my father is a large cause of the gap in the education of someone who is by nature an academic, I had already begun to lose interest during high school in the United States. My work in the visual arts and philosophy are fueled by my continued effort to accept, understand and overcome common problems of children (and adults) of essentially "outsider" intellect – learning and communication. After many false starts, I finally returned to the University setting full time in 1999 for a major in Philosophy with a concentration in Art and Mind while continuing in my business career. I soon realized that I was actively learning for the first time in over twenty years; all within the creative process. I hope to continue study of the creative process and its relationship to learning and communication through the application of concepts developed in the studio practice of art.

In art, I find the freedom to learn and to communicate my thoughts. Within the creative process it is easier, though not always possible, to ignore set standards. It is a process that allows the participant to move at snail's pace or lightning speed since, in effect, they create their own learning environment. In this free process I believe I will gain understanding and clarity that the current standards in education seem to hamper.  This year, I became a member of Mensa.  I work toward being able to contribute to general scholarship in a way that helps to reduce the number of creative and/or gifted individuals that may suffer the equivalent of a twenty year gap in their intellectual development.  

Description of the PhD

**ANU Description

(studio practice and dissertation mode of study)

PhD degrees normally extend over a period of not less than two years and not more than four years full-time. They are generally undertaken by a program of full-time research with a supervisory panel of at least three people, one or more of whom must be a member of the University's academic staff. Supervision arrangements for PhD candidates are negotiated on an individual basis and must be approved, in conjunction with a suitable study program, by the Prescribed Authority (Director/Dean). Part-time candidature may be approved in some circumstances.

Full-time PhD students are required to spend a minimum of 18 months at the University, whilst part-time students are required to spend a minimum of 24 months in attendance. There is a reduced attendance provision by individual application for a minimum total period equivalent to six months full-time at the University, including at least four weeks in each year of enrolment, or such longer period as is required by the chair of the supervisory panel or the Prescribed Authority.

Details about prospective research supervisors across the University may be accessed through the Graduate School and Graduate Program websites, which include information on staff research fields. For the degree of PhD, candidates are required to submit a thesis of not more than 100,000 words. The thesis must make a substantial contribution to learning and demonstrate a capacity to relate the research done by the candidate to the broader framework of the discipline or disciplines within which it falls, at the standard internationally recognised for the degree in the relevant discipline or disciplines. In some programs, PhD candidates may be required to complete coursework as well as the thesis.

Monash External PhD

Enables students to complete extensive, independent research under the supervision of an expert academic and is considered a valuable contribution to the current body of knowledge.

Students can apply to take the PhD as an external candidate. Students do not need to attend a Monash campus, but will receive supervision and instruction via email, video conferencing and other means. External PhD candidates must be in residence at a Monash campus for a total of 15 days per year.