Shapes of Knowledge

Publication details

Softcover, 26 x 19 cm, 600 grams, 304 pages, 152 image plates, ISBN: 978-0-9876371-2-3

Author and/or Editor name/s

Editors: Hannah Mathews and Shelley McSpedden

Author and/or Editor bio/s

Hannah Mathews is Senior Curator at Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. With a particular interest in contemporary art and performance, she has worked prolifically as an independent curator and held roles at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) and the Biennale of Sydney, among others.

Shelley McSpedden is a curator, writer and arts researcher. She is Senior Curator at Shepparton Art Museum, having worked in curatorial roles at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) and NETS Victoria previously.

Year of publication

2019

Publisher

Co-published by Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, and Perimeter Editions, Melbourne

Abstract

Knowledge subjectivises us – it makes us who and what we are. It informs our evolving sense of self and our place in the world. One of the most powerful things about art is the multiplicity of knowledge to which it can lead us. Shapes of Knowledge is an exhibition catalogue and anthology that broaches notions of research, teaching and the laboratory in relation to art practice, referencing contemporary art’s ‘educational turn’ as a point of departure. Produced to accompany a major exhibition at Monash University Museum of Art – the most extensive survey of its kind in Australia – it profiles eight important socio-pedagogic, knowledge-making art projects from Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa, alongside newly commissioned and historical texts that contextualise the field.

Edited by Hannah Mathews and Shelley McSpedden, Shapes of Knowledge begins with writer Wes Hill’s comprehensive exploration of the contemporary terrain of socio-pedagogic art, continues with an extensive and richly illustrated ‘Projects’ section that profiles the pedagogical practices of significant Australian and international artists and collaborations, and closes with a broad-ranging ‘Readings’ section featuring key texts from Australian writers and thinkers such as Estelle Barrett, Danny Butt, Ross Gibson, Aileen Moreton-Robinson and Margo Neale. With an additional, four-page ‘Further Readings’ list, Shapes of Knowledge provides a timely and uniquely Australian perspective on the discourses of socially engaged art, alternative education, institutional education, artistic research and knowledge production. Its design, contributed by Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen, references the educational aesthetic of the slideshow.