What if? – learning to harness potential through embracing uncertainty

This paper will reflect upon how I drew upon the methods I used during my PhD, in Fine Art, to create a philosophy based on the not yet known, embedding a systematic ‘foundational’ structure that underpins the Arts Foundation Year at the University of Lincoln, how these methods provide students with the confidence and ‘know how’ that they can use throughout their careers, and how these methods enable students to ‘trust’ in the process and develop their own voices and practices as they progress. Establishing the Studio as a Zone of Practice - using artistic research methods to get the students to focus on process and practice and support the transition from ‘thinking something into being’ into ‘letting the work lead the way’, speculating on what if or what could it be; training students ‘to be curious, ask the right questions, and seek answers across disciplines’ so that ‘every moment of change becomes a new moment of opportunity for them’ (Muratovski 2022:15).