I’m Matthew Plummer-Fernandez (PhD), I am the course leader for BA Fine Art: Computational Arts at Camberwell College of Arts. I am also an artist and you can check out my work on plummerfernandez.com
My research and practice often investigates communities of practice, usually based on a shared interest related to art, technology or activism. My approach to understanding these communities is through engagement as a participant-observer, collaborator, and through playful interventions that may challenge or exacerbate the norms and activities that communities are engaged in. This PGCert will allow me to engage in a more meaningful way with the community I now inevitably engage with the most – Fine Art academics. My academic background is in Design and Creative Computing so even after four years as a Course Leader in Fine Art, I still find myself informally studying the different pedagogies associated with the discipline I am tasked to teach. I have an interest in the history of how teaching Fine Art evolved in the twentieth century, pioneered by artist-educators such as John Baldessari. I also want to reflect on how pedagogy from Design and Creative Computing has informed and can further enhance my approach to teaching Fine Art. Finally, I would like to understand the root causes of homogeneity found across Fine Art courses.