Tokyo University of the Arts

There Are Many Ways to Peel an Orange: Or, The Logic of And/Also

This talk introduces the work of Marsha Bradfield, a post-conceptual artist based in London, UK. Central to this discussion is a growing trend in critical contemporary art that is committed to the logic of and/also: it’s art and it’s something else. This is framed with the everyday practice of peeling an orange, and the various ways we can appreciate it, as orange inside and out. In addition to offering examples of artworks produced through her art practice, Marsha reflects on the relationship between art education and being an artist today to consider what critical contemporary art can do and be. Marsha Bradfield rides the hyphen as an archivist-artist-curator-educator-researcher-writer-and, and, and. . . . Her practice explores the subject of interdependence. Recent projects examine incidentality, authorship, value systems, organisational structures, experience-based learning and the economies/ecologies of collaborative cultural production. Whether a drawing, a publication or a startup, Marsha avoids a signature style, at least one easily identified by its formal qualities. Marsha has co-convened Incidental Unit (the third iteration of Artist Placement Group) since 2016 and worked in other constellations, including Critical Practice, Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre, Precarious Workers Brigade, RadBots, and REBEL (Recognising Experience-Based Education and Learning). Marsha is the course leader of MA Intercultural Practices (Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London). marshabradfield@artfieldprojects.com