Propositions for Studio Inquiry - Alison Shields

This book examines an art studio as a way of thinking and learning through the lens of a cross-Canada journey into artists’ studios. Through examining studio visits and interviews with over 100 painters, and through the theoretical lens of new materialism, the studio is presented as a unique place of learning. In the first section, ‘Studio as Place,’ the journey into artists’ studios is discussed as a form of subjective mapping. A studio is a part of an active and interconnected ecosystem and through artmaking the studio has the capacity to transport us elsewhere. In the second section, ‘Studio as Process,’ studio practice is discussed as emergent, performative, generative and in an ongoing state of ‘not knowing.’ The third section, ‘Studio as Material Thinking’ examines studio practice as affective, material and messy. The final section ‘Studio as Dialogue with the World,’ examines studio processes as relational, imaginative and responsive to our ongoing experiences. To focus on possibilities and potentials rather than conclusions, and generativity rather than closure, the studio is presented through a series of propositions, drawn from ways the artists described their process. These propositions are speculative and highlight the endless possibilities and entanglements of making within the ever-changing ecology of the studio.