10 Nov 2009

Call for Applications: Masters of Science in Visual Studies at MIT

The Program
The MIT Visual Arts Program—which will be renamed the 'Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT)' in Spring 2010—operates as a critical production- and education-based laboratory focusing on artistic research, advanced visual studies, and transdisciplinary collaboration within the context of MIT's technological community. The program explores the role of art, culture, and technology in society and considers artistic practice to be knowledge production. The emphasis is on how cultural and artistic practices critically engage science and technology and envision their transformation. The curriculum includes courses in the 'Production of Space,' 'Interrogative Design,' 'Networked Cultures,' and 'Contemporary Curatorial Practice,' among others. Collaborative and individual investigations include performance, sound and video, photography, experimental media addressing context and display, and the interplay of old and new genres that intersect with technology. The exchange and collaboration with ACT faculty and research fellows is essential to the program, and is supplemented by encounters with external reviewers and critics, conferences, workshops, screenings and field trips. The program hosts a weekly lecture series of artists, urbanists, and scholars from a broad range of disciplines from the campus, the region and from around the world. The series is part of the vibrant exchange of ideas that is a hallmark of the program and the campus.

VAP Faculty
Instructors are world-renowned with active, international careers and a strong interest in cross-disciplinary debate, research, and modes of production. Program Director and Associate Professor Ute Meta Bauer directed SITAC VI 2008 in Mexico City and was Artistic Director of the 3rd berlin biennial for contemporary art. Professor Krzysztof Wodiczko is the Director of The Interrogative Design Group at MIT and represented his native Poland at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and currently is exhibiting at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art. Professor Joan Jonas is a video and performance pioneer and recent recipient of the Guggenheim Lifetime Achievement Award for extraordinary contributions to contemporary art. Associate Professor Gediminas Urbonas, along with Nomeda Urbonas, was awarded Honorable Mention for the Lithuanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2007. Visiting Professor Antoni Muntadas was the recipient of the 2009 Velázquez Prize from the Spanish Culture Ministry. Lecturers Andrea Frank (Photography), Amber Frid-Jimenez (Participatory Media), Joe Gibbons (Video), Wendy Jacob (Autism Studio), and Oliver Lutz (Multi-Media) are prominent practitioners in their fields.

Apply
Artists and cultural producers with diverse backgrounds and experience interested in innovative transdisciplinary artistic practice and collaborative and individual research projects at the intersection of art, culture, and technology are encouraged to apply. Applications are accepted through the Admissions Office of the MIT Department of Architecture. The application deadline is December 15, 2009. Portfolios should be submitted on CD or DVD (consult website for details) and will be accepted until January 4, 2010.

Applicants are encouraged to seek additional resources and funding. See sap.mit.edu/about/diversity/ or contact Robbin Chapman, Manager of Diversity Recruitment, at rchapman@mit.edu.

For more information:
About the program
Planning your visit
About the VAP lecture series
Admission information
Application form