Reflections on Practice

BACKGROUND: 'Writing & Concepts' is a research project by Jan van Schaik which premises the role of writing in the development of works by artists and writers. It took the form of public lectures by esteemed practitioners from 2016 to 2018. Speakers include practitioners for whom the written form was their primary professional output and practitioners whose work manifested as exhibitions or events or creative works within the domain of art, architecture and design. In 2018, the first volume of a hard copy publication expressing ideas and concepts revealed through the lectures was published by Art + Australia. Van Schaik contributed an essay entitled 'Reflections on Practice.' CONTRIBUTION: In his reflective essay, van Schaik discusses writing as both a process and an outcome from the perspective of an architectural practitioner. It shares the critical notion that writing is a tool of reflection and inquiry, opening up the complex relationship between the process of writing and the development of social, political and philosophical questions within contemporary cultural practice. The article also contextualises the project with its 3 distinct parts: the lectures, web archive (repository of recorded lectures), and book publication. This work not only highlights new perspectives of writing within contemporary art practices but also extends van Schaik's practice that challenges traditional approaches to writing within architecture, and positions writing as a design practice in its own right. SIGNIFICANCE: Art + Australia is a publishing and research body at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. The article was published alongside contributions from Maura Edmond, Nikos Papastergiadis and Callum Morton among many others. The book is a vital addition to Art + Australia Publishing's Documents Series which engages with watershed moments in Australian art and writing through the collation of archival material, artworks, creative writing and essays.