Future Reflections : A Conference on Reflection in Research

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Cost: Free - everyone welcome

Future Reflections is a three-part project that includes an exhibition, a publication and a two-day conference focusing on the interplay between research and reflection at different stages in the art-making process.

The exhibition will present artworks discarded by UAL students. Failed experiments, no-longer useful studies, projects too difficult to store, etc. will be collected in the Triangle Gallery and reconfigured into new forms over the course of the conference. At the end of Future Reflections, these temporary works will be crushed in the waste compacter in acknowledgment of the many forms of recycling involved in making and thinking about art.

In contrast to the notions of “re” characterizing the exhibition (reconfiguring, reconsidering, recycling, reflecting), the publication explores notions of “pre” by bringing together proposals by Chelsea students for artworks that have yet to be made. These proposals will present feasible and/or fantastical art and design projects that grapple with the themes of research and reflection.

What is the relationship between practice and research and/or is there a distinction between these two activities? What role does the institution of the art school play in shaping research processes? In what ways can practice and theory be reflective and to what ends? The aim of this conference is to explore these and other related questions in relation to the work of individual practitioners. Tutors, research fellows, and students associated with Chelsea will present on their research over the course of the three-day event.

The first-year Chelsea MPhil/PhD students organising Future Reflections see this project as a unique opportunity to open out the College's rich research culture. Students from undergraduate through postgraduate programs across UAL and indeed, London are invited to attend the conference and exhibition.