Advanced Critical Issues Seminar 2 introduces a rigorous theoretical framework for thinking and writing about contemporary sculpture practice. Each seminar develops from a specific theme drawing on research from Grad Critical Issues 1, current debates in the field and contemporary events. Past seminars include: Artificial Natures, Precarious Relations, Frankenstein and Crime, Vanishing Points, as examples. Trespassing across sculpture, performance, cinema, fiction, feminist, queer, race and political theory and back again, we will address writings by Walter Benjamin, Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Maggie Nelson, Claudia Rankine, Jacques Rancire (as examples) in conversation with contemporary artists writings and projects to cultivate a conceptual grammar to extend to our studio practice. Approaching issues in contemporary sculpture through these discursive perspectives generates new strategies simultaneously material, conceptual, and critical.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

What theories and methods concerning political, historical, and artistic languages do artists rely on to inform their practices? How are you and members of your cohorts approaching aesthetic form in your own practice? What is the language being used in and around the work you are creating? How can we as a community create space to refine these messages within our work? What role does the method of critique play in this collective investigation? 

Graduate Sculpture Critique is a discussion-based, collaborative critique seminar that makes space for multiple voices and ways of being in community; foregrounding and supporting the burgeoning artistic practices represented in the grad cohorts. This course centers community building, supplemental reading, group and peer-to-peer critique, and other dialectical methods that foster an intellectual and artistic intimacy among cohort mates. Here we build a foundation that supports risk-taking, question-asking, and the reimagining of predetermined boundaries. Students are asked with great intention to expand the discussion around intersectionality, interstitially, and interdisciplinarity and how the space between things comes to bear on the method of critique.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Graduate Sculpture Critique II/IV builds upon topics discussed in the previous semesters during graduate critique I/III. It continues its form as a discussion-based, collaborative critique seminar that makes space for multiple voices and ways of being in community; foregrounding and supporting the burgeoning artistic practices represented in and across the grad cohorts. This course builds upon the intellectual and artistic intimacy among cohort mates and between cohorts established in the first semester of each year. The risk-taking, question-asking, and reimagining of predetermined boundaries in the second semesters yields new critique and research methodologies that in the case of first year grads supports the lead up to their summer studio intensive or residencies. In the case of second year grads, this semester of intensive critiques supports their capstone thesis presentation and the group critiques and final thesis committee meetings that characterize the end of their work at RISD. As a practice in need of continual commitment, students are asked with great intention to continue to expand the discussion around intersectionality, interstitially, and interdisciplinarity and how the space between things comes to bear on the method of critique.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

What theories and methods concerning political, historical, and artistic languages do artists rely on to inform their practices? How are you and members of your cohorts approaching aesthetic form in your own practice? What is the language being used in and around the work you are creating? How can we as a community create space to refine these messages within our work? What role does the method of critique play in this collective investigation? 

Graduate Sculpture Critique is a discussion-based, collaborative critique seminar that makes space for multiple voices and ways of being in community; foregrounding and supporting the burgeoning artistic practices represented in the grad cohorts. This course centers community building, supplemental reading, group and peer-to-peer critique, and other dialectical methods that foster an intellectual and artistic intimacy among cohort mates. Here we build a foundation that supports risk-taking, question-asking, and the reimagining of predetermined boundaries. Students are asked with great intention to expand the discussion around intersectionality, interstitially, and interdisciplinarity and how the space between things comes to bear on the method of critique.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Graduate Sculpture Critique II/IV builds upon topics discussed in the previous semesters during graduate critique I/III. It continues its form as a discussion-based, collaborative critique seminar that makes space for multiple voices and ways of being in community; foregrounding and supporting the burgeoning artistic practices represented in and across the grad cohorts. This course builds upon the intellectual and artistic intimacy among cohort mates and between cohorts established in the first semester of each year. The risk-taking, question-asking, and reimagining of predetermined boundaries in the second semesters yields new critique and research methodologies that in the case of first year grads supports the lead up to their summer studio intensive or residencies. In the case of second year grads, this semester of intensive critiques supports their capstone thesis presentation and the group critiques and final thesis committee meetings that characterize the end of their work at RISD. As a practice in need of continual commitment, students are asked with great intention to continue to expand the discussion around intersectionality, interstitially, and interdisciplinarity and how the space between things comes to bear on the method of critique.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Metal Fabrication studio is a course designed to develop students’ competencies working in steel as a primary material. In this course we will explore the properties of metal both formally and conceptually as a material rooted in culture. Together we will push and expand our understanding of metal as a material for sculpture by cutting, bending, warping, welding, and altering it. We will discuss, experiment and challenge the notion of metal as traditional industrial workhorse, or as coveted art object and embrace or reject these ideas as we create within the medium.

Eligibility: All graduate students. Seniors may request department permission to register via the Request Course Section Prerequisite Override task.

Elective

Building upon the independent work accomplished in Junior studio, students are expected to generate self directed work supported by in-process critiques, formal critiques, and individual meetings. Faculty and peer feedback will help students clarify their objectives, fine tune their technical abilities, and develop a strong working practice. Students are expected to hone their creative problem-solving skills and engage in a high level of dialog and work. Throughout the fall, students will practice integrating their source research into their studio practice. An increased and rigorous integration of contemporary art, critical theory, and criticism is expected. The visiting artist lecture series is a vital component of this course.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Building upon the independent work accomplished in Junior studio, students are expected to generate self directed work supported by in-process critiques, formal critiques, and individual meetings. Faculty and peer feedback will help students clarify their objectives, fine tune their technical abilities, and develop a strong working practice. Students are expected to hone their creative problem-solving skills and engage in a high level of dialog and work. Throughout the fall, students will practice integrating their source research into their studio practice. An increased and rigorous integration of contemporary art, critical theory, and criticism is expected. The visiting artist lecture series is a vital component of this course.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Students in the MFA program pursue individual work under advisement of resident faculty, visiting artists and critics. This tutorial experience has been organized to nurture student work toward a set of goals and outcomes through routine conversations with faculty and their cohort. The priority is to assist students with recognizing new objectives in their practice.  Faculty work with students to develop new or hone existing skills to set priorities and meet  goals and deadlines. At the MFA level students will experience a deeper sense of individualized mentorship.  While advising students on the material aspects of their work, faculty will simultaneously  guide students toward new conceptual, theoretical and or philosophical frameworks for their work. 

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

The Fall semester of Junior year represents a crucial pathway out of the sophomore experience and into independent, self-directed work in sculpture. Junior Sculpture Studio, together with Research Studio, is designed to support student’s individual interests and incorporate the multifaceted and highly personalized condition of artistic research with studio methodologies. The semester will consist of two major critique sessions, alongside various demos, assignments, artist talks, and work sessions that direct students’ conversation and growth within the studio. The work sessions will consist of artistic pursuits specific to individual practices, formal small and larger group critiques, and 1 on 1 and small group studio visits with faculty, teaching assistants and peers. The sculpture department’s visiting artist lecture series is a vital component of this course and allows insight into the practices and work of professional artists. Additionally, a curated selection of material, and personally collected archives, digital and physical as well as various forms of media will prompt deeper investigations into artist practice throughout the semester, exploring the very nature of how to explore, research, and investigate the world around you.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

The Fall semester of Junior year represents a crucial pathway out of the sophomore experience and into independent, self-directed work in sculpture. Junior Sculpture Studio, together with Research Studio, is designed to support student’s individual interests and incorporate the multifaceted and highly personalized condition of artistic research with studio methodologies. The semester will consist of two major critique sessions, alongside various demos, assignments, artist talks, and work sessions that direct students’ conversation and growth within the studio. The work sessions will consist of artistic pursuits specific to individual practices, formal small and larger group critiques, and 1 on 1 and small group studio visits with faculty, teaching assistants and peers. The sculpture department’s visiting artist lecture series is a vital component of this course and allows insight into the practices and work of professional artists. Additionally, a curated selection of material, and personally collected archives, digital and physical as well as various forms of media will prompt deeper investigations into artist practice throughout the semester, exploring the very nature of how to explore, research, and investigate the world around you.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Students in the MFA program pursue individual work under advisement of resident faculty, visiting artists and critics. This tutorial experience has been organized to nurture student work toward a set of goals and outcomes through routine conversations with faculty and their cohort. The priority is to assist students with recognizing new objectives in their practice.  Faculty work with students to develop new or hone existing skills to set priorities and meet  goals and deadlines. At the MFA level students will experience a deeper sense of individualized mentorship.  While advising students on the material aspects of their work, faculty will simultaneously  guide students toward new conceptual, theoretical and or philosophical frameworks for their work.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Junior Sculpture Studio II is a laboratory situated where art-making and the physical world overlap, perform, critique, collapse, and deploy one another. During this course, you will intentionally push forward your development as an artist. You will utilize the skills and media that you learned in previous courses, while adding new skills and tools to your existing collection. As a result, your projects will demonstrate more conceptual heft. Together, we will support the continued growth of this formal, material, and conceptual capacity by addressing the challenges implicit in making ambitious projects. We take up this work in an effort to deepen our relationship to what informs who we are as artists and to figure out meaningful strategies for the development and maintenance of a sustainable studio and professional practice. This course is structured with the enactment of care in mind, so our studio practices and artist-selves can thrive.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Junior Sculpture Studio II is a laboratory situated where art-making and the physical world overlap, perform, critique, collapse, and deploy one another. During this course, you will intentionally push forward your development as an artist. You will utilize the skills and media that you learned in previous courses, while adding new skills and tools to your existing collection. As a result, your projects will demonstrate more conceptual heft. Together, we will support the continued growth of this formal, material, and conceptual capacity by addressing the challenges implicit in making ambitious projects. We take up this work in an effort to deepen our relationship to what informs who we are as artists and to figure out meaningful strategies for the development and maintenance of a sustainable studio and professional practice. This course is structured with the enactment of care in mind, so our studio practices and artist-selves can thrive.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Students in the MFA program pursue individual work under advisement of resident faculty, visiting artists and critics. This tutorial experience has been organized to nurture student work toward a set of goals and outcomes through routine conversations with faculty and their cohort. The priority is to assist students with recognizing new objectives in their practice.  Faculty work with students to develop new or hone existing skills to set priorities and meet  goals and deadlines. At the MFA level students will experience a deeper sense of individualized mentorship.  While advising students on the material aspects of their work, faculty will simultaneously  guide students toward new conceptual, theoretical and or philosophical frameworks for their work.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Sophomore Sculpture: Studio I is a rigorous introduction to the practices and techniques of contemporary sculpture, with a focus on metal, wood, and various assembly techniques. In this course, students will move through material and time-based modules in order to develop a basis for a multi-dimensional practice. Sophomore Studio I, is coordinated with Sculptural Practices and Seminar I: Methods, Materials, Makers. Sculptural Practices I provides an introduction to shop tooling and accompanying technical skills. Seminar I provides an introduction to the discourses, histories, and methods that compose the expansive and transdisciplinary field of sculpture and its relationship to contemporary art practices and discourses. 

In the field of Sculpture, ideas and materials are inextricably bound together. With that in mind, this course is the fulcrum where students make things happen in physical space while thinking through the ramifications of critical and conceptual space. These physical, material, critical, and conceptual explorations serve as a foundation for project prompts, individual research, discourse, and readings. Ultimately this course will lay the foundation for students to develop their own voice to contribute meaningfully to ongoing conversations in our field.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Sophomore Sculpture: Studio I is a rigorous introduction to the practices and techniques of contemporary sculpture, with a focus on metal, wood, and various assembly techniques. In this course, students will move through material and time-based modules in order to develop a basis for a multi-dimensional practice. Sophomore Studio I, is coordinated with Sculptural Practices and Seminar I: Methods, Materials, Makers. Sculptural Practices I provides an introduction to shop tooling and accompanying technical skills. Seminar I provides an introduction to the discourses, histories, and methods that compose the expansive and transdisciplinary field of sculpture and its relationship to contemporary art practices and discourses. 

In the field of Sculpture, ideas and materials are inextricably bound together. With that in mind, this course is the fulcrum where students make things happen in physical space while thinking through the ramifications of critical and conceptual space. These physical, material, critical, and conceptual explorations serve as a foundation for project prompts, individual research, discourse, and readings. Ultimately this course will lay the foundation for students to develop their own voice to contribute meaningfully to ongoing conversations in our field.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Building upon practices, techniques, and discourses covered in the first semester of the sculpture curriculum, Sophomore Sculpture Studio II will deepen existing fabrication skills while expanding knowledge into the realm of time-based and movement-based technologies and practices. This course encourages students to explore what matters to them and how to express those ideas while they experiment with hybrid and transdisciplinary working methodologies. 

As the semester progresses, assignments will guide students towards independent inquiries, focusing on both refining and expanding the context for their evolving artistic exploration. Readings, discussions, artist lectures, and research will elicit connections between ideas, narratives, histories, and personal work. Emphasis will be placed on material competency in plaster and casting, digital fabrication, and performance, providing a foundation for further research-based exploration. This will be augmented by Sculpture electives where students self-select into the areas they determine are most relevant to their artistic practices. 

This course is an opportunity to ask meaningful questions about the world—without always needing definitive answers. Throughout, students will be encouraged to take risks, make connections, and actively shape their educational path and burgeoning artistic practices with a focus on developing their individual voice.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Building upon practices, techniques, and discourses covered in the first semester of the sculpture curriculum, Sophomore Sculpture Studio II will deepen existing fabrication skills while expanding knowledge into the realm of time-based and movement-based technologies and practices. This course encourages students to explore what matters to them and how to express those ideas while they experiment with hybrid and transdisciplinary working methodologies. 

As the semester progresses, assignments will guide students towards independent inquiries, focusing on both refining and expanding the context for their evolving artistic exploration. Readings, discussions, artist lectures, and research will elicit connections between ideas, narratives, histories, and personal work. Emphasis will be placed on material competency in plaster and casting, digital fabrication, and performance, providing a foundation for further research-based exploration. This will be augmented by Sculpture electives where students self-select into the areas they determine are most relevant to their artistic practices. 

This course is an opportunity to ask meaningful questions about the world—without always needing definitive answers. Throughout, students will be encouraged to take risks, make connections, and actively shape their educational path and burgeoning artistic practices with a focus on developing their individual voice.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

The final semester in the MFA Sculpture Program is structured around the development of a written thesis and culminating in a body of work, components of which may be exhibited as part of the school-wide MFA Thesis Exhibition. This work is nurtured by tutorial studio visits with faculty, visiting artists, and thesis committee members during the run of the semester.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture