Paola Cabal

This studio course focuses on themes, practices, contexts, and questions undertaken by contemporary artists and designers. Research Studio I is a course that asks students to begin to develop and connect their own work and ideas with a diverse range of artists, designers, and communities. This course engages with cultural institutions including: museums, galleries, libraries and archives as resources of critical engagement.

Students will undertake various types of research activities: a) collecting and classification, b) mapping and diagramming, c) systems of measurement, d) social interaction, e) information search systems, f) recording and representation, and g) drawing and other notational systems.


Assignments in this course are faculty directed, open-media, interdisciplinary and idea based. The projects are designed to help students recognize their work habits, biases, strengths, and weaknesses. Students will experience a wide range of research methods and making strategies. Critique as an evaluative process used in art and design schools, is a focus in this course. Various methods and models of critique are used in order to give students the tools to discuss their own work and the work of others.

What is ¿True¿ and how can we tell? Where is the line between uncanny and unreal? What does it mean when we can¿t distinguish fact from fiction? To the extent that our understanding of ¿authenticity¿ is built on previous, verified experiences, the Truth ¿adjacent¿ research studio explores known, well understood, everyday references to generate a sense of doubt and unease. We will read Sigmund Freud¿s original essay on the uncanny, and look at artists who leverage recognizable tropes to create unsettling experiences, such as Ron Mueck, Valerie Hegarty, and Robert Gober. We will also explore emerging discussions on AI, considering the implications of these new technologies for our evolving understanding of what truth is. Four studio projects will afford us the opportunity to explore well known, richly referential subjects: The ¿truth¿ of objects, the ¿truth¿ of spaces/sites, the ¿truth¿ of time and memory, and the ¿truth¿ of people.

This three-week multi-disciplined studio-based residency will be in the Burren College of Art on the west coast of Ireland. The Burren is a UNESCO World Heritage Ecological Site known for its unique and dramatic landscape. Students have 24/7 access to their on-campus studios. The landscape and local culture will be engaged through hill walking, visits to noted archaeological sites, ceili dancing, and an overnight trip to the Aran Island, the most westerly inhabited location in Europe.

This course investigates painting materials, application, color, form, and ideas through contemporary and traditional methodologies. Designed to accommodate many skill levels, students can explore various creative strategies through a skill-based curriculum as well as individual projects. This course serves as a requirement and preparation for topic-based Painting Studio Multi-Level B classes.

This three-week multi-disciplined studio-based residency will be in the Burren College of Art on the west coast of Ireland. The Burren is a UNESCO World Heritage Ecological Site known for its unique and dramatic landscape. Students have 24/7 access to their on-campus studios. The landscape and local culture will be engaged through hill walking, visits to noted archaeological sites, ceili dancing, and an overnight trip to the Aran Island, the most westerly inhabited location in Europe.

This course investigates painting materials, application, color, form, and ideas through contemporary and traditional methodologies. Designed to accommodate many skill levels, students can explore various creative strategies through a skill-based curriculum as well as individual projects. This course serves as a requirement and preparation for topic-based Painting Studio Multi-Level B classes. This course also fulfills the 3900 Professional Practice course requirement. http://www.saic.edu/academics/departments/academicspine/professionalpracticeexperience/