Joseph Spencer MA Contemporary Curating

Joseph Spencer

I am fascinated by the influence that holistic curation and manipulation of the senses can have on viewer experience. My research within the Masters programme focusses on sensory phenomena and inspects the meeting point between sensory stimulus in the world of contemporary art, architecture, musical performance and the everyday.

My practice and thinking as Curator, Musician and Designer sits at the intersection between traditionally separate creative fields. As such, I am often unable (and unwilling) to categorise my work within accepted medium-specific nomenclature. At the previous notable juncture in my Curatorial studies, in a pre-pandemic world, I proposed the development of an ‘Holistic Curatorial model’ as the intended culmination of my research and practice at the time: an on-site sensory research project for the Venice Biennale Fellowship; work on multi-media exhibitions in the team at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art; and practicing as a musician. Post-pandemic, the strengthening plenary character of my practice continues to reinforce the importance of an holistic and interdisciplinary approach to my production and practice; the end goal having now manifest itself as a tour proposal for my latest musical output, the album ‘Ways of Seeing’. Formed from a curated series of ‘inhabiting’ live performances across mixture of traditional and non-traditional sites, it is a curatorial espousal of the research I have conducted and employs an interdisciplinary model.

The masters programme has allowed me to investigate all of these themes fully with subsequent lasting influence on my practice, I would like to thank all involved.