ResearchWorks: The story of a ‘pracademic’

In this talk, Sophie Hope delves into her experience as a 'pracademic' by showcasing extracted images and sounds from her collaborative work. This is an alternative biography of a ‘pracademic’ that pieces together seemingly disparate practices to help her understand why she has ended up as an arts practitioner in academia. By zooming into some of the details of the work, she hopes to shed light on some of the broader questions and uncertainties circling practice-as-research.

From audio snippets of a dinner party discussing art and politics in 1984 to images of an architectural endoscopy performance, she unravels the complexities of her practice. Other glimpses include screenshots from masked interviewees talking about their failed art projects, installation shots of conversing office plants, and diagrams created in response to collective timelines.

Using these material traces, Sophie spins a story about her enquiries into histories of art and/as social change; issues with the commissioning of socially engaged art; physical and emotional experiences of work and the language-use and conflicting perspectives in collaborative projects. What do these snippets of practice-as-research tell us about epistemology, theoretical frameworks, methodology, method, analysis and research findings? And how can any of this help us make sense of the role practice plays in academic’s life?

Speaker

Sophie Hope is a practice-based researcher. Her work is often developed with others through the format of devised workshops exploring subjects such as art and politics, physical and emotional experiences of work, different perspectives on socially engaged art and the ethics of employability in the creative industries. Current collaborations include: Manual Labours with Jenny Richards, Meanwhile in an Abandoned Warehouse with Owen Kelly, 1984 Dinners and Cards on the Table She is currently a Trustee on the Board of Take a Part. Together with Henry Mulhall, Sophie recently produced an evaluation report for BE PART, a network of arts organisations across Europe exploring the politics and practices of participation. Until Summer 2023 she was a senior lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, where for 13 years she taught on the MA Arts Policy and Management and developed Corkscrew, a forum for practice-based researchers. She is currently Lecturer in Socially Engaged Practice at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks is a programme of events centred around the School’s research activity, bringing together staff, students and guests of international standing. We run regular events throughout the term intended to share the innovative research findings of the School and its guests with students, staff and the public.