Objectives and competences

The master's degree in Production and Artistic Research offers students an opportunity to critically re-explore languages, media and disciplines in relation to artistic practice and research in such a way that they engage conceptually with the media they use and in the regeneration of lines of art discourse, in both personal and collaborative projects.

Faced with the continual transformation of artistic practices, we offer a master's degree program that emphasises critical thinking about art practices themselves and strengthens multidisciplinary, intermedia and media work in every area of artistic production in expansion today (two-dimensional, spatial, networked, audiovisual, and multimedia), exploring their social and conceptual contexts.

The program aims to provide participants with the intellectual tools and technological skills they will need to position themselves at the forefront of the creative sector in the production and post-production of intermedia or media art and to prepare them for research in the arts and based on artistic principles.

The content of this master's degree, which covers production and research in contemporary intermedia art and media arts, is unique among university master's degree syllabuses across Catalonia.

Basic information

TypeMaster's degree
Faculty or schoolFaculty of Fine Arts
Branch of knowledge
  • History of art and artistic expression, and fine arts
Mode of delivery
  • Face-to-face
Credits90
Number of places available35
Length of course2 academic years
Language(s) of instructionCatalan - Spanish - English
Approximate price per credit27.67 euros per credit (82 euros for students who are not EU nationals and do not currently reside in Spain). Fees for the academic year 2023-2024
CoordinationRAMON PARRAMON ARIMANY
E-mailmaster.prodartbox@ub.edu
Course detailsIndicators
Open pre-enrolmentNo
Open enrolmentNo
Lead to doctoral studiesYes
Admission for applicants not holding a degree qualificationNo
Bridging coursesNo
Specializations
  • Art and Image Technology
  • Art and Intermedia Contexts

Objectives and competences

Objectives

The master's degree Production & Artistic Research aims to educate artistic producers in the most advanced creative fields and to provide participants with the resources they will need to conduct research based on artistic production.
The program offers participants the chance to critically re-explore languages, media and disciplines from the perspective of artistic practice and research, allowing them to reflect on conceptual considerations regarding the materials and media to be used and to take a role in regenerating lines of discourse related to art.

The goal of the program is to prepare graduates to join the workforce in a broad, multi-faceted and ever-changing market, providing them with the skills to respond to the reality of the contemporary artistic world through the development of products of creative excellence that are highly valued and easily assimilated in cultural, artistic and commercial contexts.

The program gives participants the capacity to develop innovative artistic processes, leading to the emergence of competitive products and research linked to new ways of thinking.

One of the strengths of this program is that it prepares participants to establish an intellectual discourse and to undertake advanced, continually evolving research tied to forms of artistic production.

Competences

Upon completion of the master's degree, students will have acquired the following specific competences, applicable to production and/or research in intermedia and media arts:

  • Understanding of the methodologies required in the development of an artistic and research project.

  • Ability to apply the most suitable concepts and definitions for the specific artistic production being undertaken, participating in discourse open to debate, providing solid foundations for undertaking artistic practice.

  • Knowledge of the languages and disciplines of intermedia and media art, as the basis of a well-grounded intellectual position with regard to artistic projects and related research.

  • Ability to use appropriate and sufficient bibliographic materials in the preparation and implementation of an artistic project and in artistic research.

  • Ability to use manual and technological approaches in the implementation of an artistic project in intermedia and media arts.

  • Capacity to use the form and mode of artistic project production in professional contexts.

  • Ability to make the best possible use of resources for the presentation of an artistic project in specific contexts and spaces.

  • Ability to generate art projects with a specific research focus that open new perspectives.

  • Capacity to manage the interplay between concepts, techniques and technologies in artistic practice and production.

  • Capacity to present and organize art projects in exhibition spaces, public spaces and virtual environments.

  • Ability to establish relationships in a cultural context and to acquire mechanisms for generating one's own artistic or cultural production enterprise.

  • Capacity to take a critical view of artistic production, designed to facilitate the continuous reappraisal and renewal of ideas and convictions to reach well-founded conclusions relevant to the current cultural and social context.

Access and admission

Applicant profile and access requirements

Recommended applicant profile

This master's degree is aimed at graduates in Fine Arts and other graduates or diploma holders with studies related to artistic practices and their research and production.

This specific prior training also guarantees that the guidelines set by the Royal Decree establishing the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education, MECES (RD1027 / 2011) can be fulfilled. These guidelines define master's degrees as those aimed at 'the acquisition by the student of an advanced training, specialized or multidisciplinary, oriented to academic or professional specialization, or to the initiation in research work.'

Access requirements and conditions

General requirements
In accordance with Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, students wishing to be admitted to a university master's degree must hold one of the following qualifications:

  • Official Spanish university degree.

  • A degree issued by a higher education institution within the European Higher Education Area framework that authorizes the holder to access university master's degree courses in the country of issue.

  • A qualification issued by an institution outside the framework of the European Higher Education Area. In this case, applicants must request homologation of the degree to its equivalent official Spanish university qualification or obtain express approval from the University of Barcelona, which will conduct a study of equivalence to ensure that the degree is of a comparable level to an official Spanish university qualification and that it grants access to university master's degree study in the country of issue. Admission shall not, in any case, imply that prior qualifications have been recognized as equivalent to a Spanish master's degree and does not confer recognition for any purposes other than that of admission to the master's degree course.

Specific requirements
  • Llicenciatura degree/EHEA bachelor's degree in Fine Arts

  • Llicenciatura degree/EHEA bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Communication

  • Llicenciatura degree/EHEA bachelor's degree in Architecture

  • EHEA bachelor's degree in Design

  • EHEA bachelor's degree in Scenography

Pre-enrolment

Calendar

2 May - 30 November 2023.

Notes:

  • Pre-enrolment fee: A pre-enrolment fee of 30,21 euros is charged. Students who apply to more than one master's degree must pay the fee for each pre-enrolment request. Pre-enrolment requests cannot be processed until this fee has been paid.Fees will only be refunded if the master's degree in question is suspended.
  • Reserved places: A maximum of 5% of the new places of the master's degree are reserved for students who meet the general and specific access requirements and accredit the recognition of a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%.

Required documentation

Selection criteria

The Selection Committee is formed by the teaching staff members of the Master's Council. The Committee is responsible for selecting students, according to the following punctuation criteria and weighting:
  1. Portfolio in PDF format (must include images and text): 50%.
    This document should present artistic production with evidence of interesting discursive lines and their development.
    1. Selection of images of eight to ten works or artistic projects in different media or medial art, from the last three years.
    2. Text (approx. 2 pages). Defining lines of the work and contextualization of the piece in relation to the following aspects:
      • Ability to move art discourse forward.
      • Capacity for the treatment of artistic production.
      • Interest in conducting artistic research and production that leads to a doctoral thesis.
      • Motivation to follow advanced artistic training.
  2. Academic, artistic or professional curriculum: 30%.
  3. Knowledge of techniques and technologies: 10%.
  4. Language skills: 10%.
    1. Candidates without native knowledge of Spanish or Catalan must provide a certificate or proof of a minimum level B2 or equivalent in Spanish or Catalan (minimum level required for classes, which are taught in Spanish).
    2. English: minimum level B1 or equivalent.

Notification

The Selection Committee must resolve the applications within the deadline established in the pre-enrolment process. The pre-enrolment system establishes that, once the allocation of places is completed, the selected candidates receive the resolution by email. Candidates who do not agree with the resolution may file an appeal to the Master's Coordination Committee, which must review the application and issue a new resolution.

Enrolment

As a general rule, at the UB you will be required to enrol online. Remember that you can lose your place if you do not enrol on the day you have been assigned

Course curriculum

Subjects and course plans

Distribution of credits

Type ECTS
Compulsory 30
Optional 40
Compulsory placements 0
Compulsory final project 20
TOTAL 90

List of subjects

Subject Type Language Credits
Specialization: Art and Image Technology
Art and Image Technology. Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Art Projects and Curation Processes Optional 1st semester 5
Contemporary Representations of the Printed Image. Optional 1st semester 5
Emerging Media Optional 1st semester 5
Extensions of Sculptural Thought Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Final Project Compulsory 2nd semester 20
From the Artist's Book to the Digital Book. Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Image: Identity and Memory. Optional 1st semester 5
Means of Production: Means of Production: Placements and Para-Artistic Practices Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Other Imaginaries: Cross-Disciplinary Readings and Gender Politics. Optional 1st semester 5
Production and Dissemination Processes in Media Art Optional 1st semester 5
Research Methodologies I Optional 2nd semester 5
Research Methodologies II Optional 2nd semester 5
The Extension of Graphic Thought in Current Artistic Practices Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Transfer and Displacement in the Construction of Meaning Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Specialization: Art and Intermedia Contexts
Art and Image Technology. Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Circuits of Culture. Political and Aesthetic Aspects of Artistic Practice Optional 1st semester 5
Extensions of Sculptural Thought Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Final Project Compulsory 2nd semester 20
From the Artist's Book to the Digital Book. Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Institutional or Company Placement: Intermedia Optional 2nd semester 10
Investigations into Reality. Paradigms of the Mind. Optional 1st semester 7.5
Means of Production: Means of Production: Placements and Para-Artistic Practices Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Representation of Space and Time in Intermedia Arts Optional 1st semester 7.5
The Extension of Graphic Thought in Current Artistic Practices Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Transfer and Displacement in the Construction of Meaning Compulsory 2nd semester 5
Workshops: Film Registers and Experimentation: Expansion to Other Media Optional 1st semester 5
Workshops: Metanarratives, Critical Reports and Performativity Optional 1st semester 5

 Universitat de Barcelona Digital Repository:  final projects

Previous years

Placements

Placements in a company or another type of organization are an integral part of university studies, providing first-hand experience of working methodologies in students' chosen professional fields. They offer invaluable practical experience for the transition into work after graduation.



Placements are supervised by tutors and subject to assessment. They are therefore included in the academic record.  There is also an option to complete non-curricular placements of up to 500 hours, which can be extended to 900 hours. For both curricular and non-curricular placements, an educational cooperation agreement is signed between the UB and the company, institution or other organization at which the placement will be carried out.



Institutional information


Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

Graduates work in the following fields: conception and production of cultural and artistic activities; research projects; collaborative projects; sociocultural artivism; management of associations, groups and visual artists; independent art direction; curation; digital creation; use of technologies and independent art creation; design of digital projects; and production of videographic languages.

Access to the labour market

Data from the university system in Catalonia

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