Dr Marsha Bradfield

Biography

My creative practice research explores the broad subject of interdependence. I’m interested in how context, ethics, politics, and technology shape cultural production. Through conversation, translation, and hybrid processes—across labour and leisure, human and artificial intelligence—culture is continually created, negotiated, and re-made, including its intangible heritage.

I often collaborate, with each project asking a question that I want to answer for myself through expanded practice. This finds form as dialogic art, intercultural practices and other expressions of critical cultural production.

I have extensive experience with realising ambitious projects, including Incidental Futures (touring project in the UK), Producing Future Homes and Communities (Tate Modern) and #TransActing: A Market of Values (Chelsea College of Arts).

My international track record spans exhibitions, residencies and other cultural production at Tate Modern (London), V&A (London), 16 Beaver (New York), India Art Fair (Delhi), Wyspa (Gdansk), Berlin Biennial 7 (Berlin), Centre A (Vancouver), ICA (London), The Knot (Berlin), Labor (Budapest), Modern Art Oxford (Oxford), Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), Matadero (Madrid), the Serpentine (London) and steirischer herbst (Graz).

Since the pandemic, my practice has increasingly focused on incidentality. This is rooted in the figure of the incidental person, a term associated with the Artist Placement Group. Incidental people are incidental to the context in which they place themselves and their practice. Historically, these have been artists operating beyond the studio or even the field of socially-engaged practice in what I call 'extra-artistic contexts': industry, business, government, law, health care, etc. - any context where the practitioner is adjunct or adjacent in contrast to integral or required.

In 2006, I began co-convening Incidental Unit as the third iteration of the Artist Placement Group. This burgeoning network is reprising Barbara Steveni’s preoccupation with ‘the not knowing’ and John Latham’s use of the term ‘incidental’ to enrich debates around creative agency.

My work at UAL involves:
- Practice research and knowledge exchange
- Course leadership of MA Intercultural Practices at Central Saint Martins
- Teaching and research as Senior Lecturer on Fine Arts at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon
- REBEL (Recognising Experience-Based Education and Learning)
- PhD supervision, especially practice-based/led research. Look here for my areas of specialism.

When we appreciate that everything is connected, we can better understand complexity, recognise new conditions of possibility, and create multidimensional value.

I welcome interest from collaborators and prospective MA and PhD students who are grappling with issues aligned with my diverse lines of practice research in art, design, curating, performance and their education and organisation. Please email me at marsha.bradfield@arts.ac.uk