MA in art and politics:

MA in art and politics: art that changes the world

Want to use your art to shake things up? Theo Price found a master's in art and politics combined the two things he valued most

Natasha Slee

It was by typing his interests into Google that Theo Price discovered the masters degree he would go on to study: art and politics.

Art and politics might not seem an obvious combination, but when you think about it, contemporary art often does have a political message, says Price who completed the course studying part time at Goldsmiths, University of London

"Art gives you a freedom to explore politics in a way that everyday politics doesn't always allow. Art provides a different perspective."

Price studied a BA in fine art at Sheffield Hallam University, where his interest was sparked by an "art activist" who lectured at his university.

Price says: "That was a big influence on me and inspired me to do a lot of performance and political work."

If you think political art is serious and humourless, think again. "I was a clown for a while," says Price, when talking about what he did for the 10 years between his BA and MA.

"We set up the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army: activist clowns. We would 'arrest' politicians at the G8. We toured Palestine, and Sri Lanka after the tsunami, calling for social and environmental justice. It was activism, but through a creative lens."

After a decade of campaigning, the MA presented an opportunity to reflect upon his ideas.

Price says: "I thought it was a good idea, to kick myself up the arse a bit. My projects up to that point had been one-dimensional.

"An MA like art and politics is 80% theoretical, so I knew I'd be thrown a lot of theory I hadn't had the confidence to read before. I wanted to challenge myself."

Price, who is dyslexic, found the required reading a challenge. "I did two hours reading a night," he says.

Receiving a distinction for every essay came as a happy surprise, and made him think again about his academic potential.

He says: "Suddenly you realise you have this theoretical weaponry to inform your work and your position in the world. It's addictive."

Of the 120 credits that make up the art and politics MA, 30 are for project work. Price says: "The tutors call it, 'putting your ideas into the world'. We were taking philosophy for a walk."

Price and four other students chose Millwall Football Club as their project site. After winning the trust of the club, they put on three events:

• A football match between Goldsmiths and Millwall's youth club opened the project, removing barriers between locals and Goldsmiths students.

• An extract from composer Jocelyn Pook's football opera Ingerland, was played during half time of a home game. Price says: "In the opera, there are Millwall chants, so when we played it, loads of fans started joining in. We felt like we'd had a mini-breakthrough."

• A Millwall supporter and former dockworker called Bernie gave a talk in Canary Wharf's HSBC tower, a former docklands site. "We were trying to bring these two worlds together. Bernie was so much more interesting than the bankers."

Price now runs Cobra: A Critical Response, a project that comments on the top-level Cobra meetings called by the government when crises erupt at home and abroad.

Price has drawn artists together to produce work in the aftermath of Algeria's hostage situation in January, the murder of Lee Rigby in May, and the shopping centre massacre in Kenya in September. The project responds to the crisis itself, but also questions whether Cobra meetings are a political tool.

"The last three times Cobra has convened have been because of terrorism. Considering the many other emergencies happening in the world, it's interesting."

Price is a fan of part-time study. He says: "The MA is very intense, and part-time study allowed me to form my perspectives gradually."

He was inspired by theorists more than artists. "How can I reinterpret that theory, how can I use that in the world? That's the game," he says. "Art has got to have an element of intrigue, or cheekiness. Something to capture people's imagination. And then it takes off."

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/nov/27/postgraduate-art-and-politics