SKEP MA Thesis: The Shape of Open

The MA thesis project proposed a space for Situated Knowledge and Embodied Practice (SKEP) in 2019. It was a workshop nurtured by the experiences of earlier pedagogical practice in gallery education in Colombia and the MA experience with the Co-laboratory platform. Assembling some exercises learned and others developed during several years, and references to relevant theory on the body, it proposed a journey: 10 full day sessions, held weekly, for a group gathered via an open call. Action research methods were applied to the pedagogical design, and the syllabus was structured around constructivist notions of knowledge production, and ethical questions around identity and collaboration.

Ten master students of varied disciplines in the school signed up. They engaged during the workshop with contemporary theory, cartographic methods, creative writing, sensorial exercises and bodily interaction. As assignments, they produced pedagogical experiments based on their personal interests and backgrounds. The MA thesis was written as an experimental writing document entitled The Shape of Open, a personal journal that shared the discoveries of the facilitation process. The thesis was awarded the ViCCA Commendation on Research of Outstanding Worth — CROW award in 2020.

Student feedback

“The way Maria was combining movement and somatic tasks with readings and short theoretical lectures was so smartly and gently crafted! I felt that every question we were asked to contemplate on, every small task that at the first glance could look arbitrary by the end of the session already felt nicely and logically incorporated in the broader topic of the class… and I never experienced before that bodily experience could really be an entry point to study theory. During the workshop I could really feel that it’s not only a framework, but that thinking beyond the individual was also tested in pair and group tasks through inter-personal encounters.” ---Anna Kozonina, MA student, Finland-Russia, 2022

“Maria approaches the idea of knowledge as a gift, a discovery process and food for thought. In other words, she invited me to be bodily, mindfully, and coherently conscious, both playful and articulate. It is all about the process of self-cultivating and also sharing these immaterial goods in groups. And these are all coming from complex research work on theory and an abundance of care and thoughtfulness. These experiences are one of the most valuable things I have received in MA ViCCA.” ---Fond Worapoj Inlao, MA student, Thailand, 2023