Mary-Lou Barratt

Whilst studying, she encountered writings by figures such as Arne Naees, Thomas Berry, Allan Kaprow, Mary-Jane Jacobs and Joseph Beuys. These set her on a path she could not have envisioned at the outset, but that she has continued to navigate ever since; moving away from the traditional framework of artistic practice towards a post-autonomous approach based on participatory activity, informed throughout by a concern with interrelationships and response-ability.

A fundamental aspect of this developing practice was exploring the possibility of making things happen rather than making things. As an undergraduate, she tested this approach to art making through collaborations with wide ranging partners in diverse contexts, such as tour boats, hospitals and disregarded public spaces. This activity extended from the local environment, the Kent coast, to London and Norwich, Singapore and South Korea. This exciting, and at times perilous, journey of undergraduate discovery concluded, but she needed to develop her understanding of the theoretical dimensions of such practice further.

Joining an MA programme in 2000 gave her an opportunity to focus on theoretical research. Her final thesis constructed a model of the key features of ‘socially immersed' art and aligned these with Habermasian theories of communicative action. Through this she developed a multifaceted practice involving research, teaching and ‘making things happen', which she has continued to pursue.

She is currently working on her PhD Research Project (AHRC funded), supervised by Shelley Sacks, 2004 - 2010

With the intention of introducing a new interpretive framework to this complex and dynamic area of art practice, and with support from Oxford Brookes' Arts and Humanities Department, the SSRU and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, She is currently addressing the underlying questions through a Doctoral research project provisionally titled Does Contemporary Social Process Art Work? Three Case Studies.

In brief, this research project focuses on three consistent features of social process art, which appear to be intrinsic aspects of any rigorous debate regarding this practice's transformative capacity: their recourse to multiple evaluative strategies, their utopianism and their centralisation of participatory practices.

In short, do the strategies of social process art work?

How can we develop these strategies in order to contribute to a sustainable future?

The doctoral research will conclude with a thesis, which will shed new light on current social process art practices and their transformative potential. Both outcomes, the thesis and the database, will make a valuable contribution to practical and academic activity in this expanding field, and will be of interest to various communities, including funding bodies, artists, activists, students and others concerned with current manifestations of social process art and their future evolution.

October 2007