About...

Undertow
Research Group

'Moving below the surface current and in a different direction, the subterranean emotion is held carefully under the surface, as the understated surface half reveals and half-conceals the turmoil beneath (1)'

When prevailing discourses tip towards hyperbole, generalisations or simplification, there is a need to swim against the current, to carve out a space that allows for ambiguity, correspondence and a quieter voice. In the employment of few words, a scale of action or use of minimal materials, understatement can be both a way of confronting moments of crisis, or of evading them.

This research group's remit is open, as is the shape it takes. This has been proposed by RCA alumni and is rooted in the sensibilities of material and material understanding.

-a series of interconnected activities throughout the year to explore ideas
-output documented leading to possible publication/ exhibition
-develop a support network for feedback/ encouragement 

(1) O’Neil, Michael and Callaghan, Madeleine (editors), ‘Situated Sequences and Marginal Voices’ ,p.232, in Twentieth Century British and Irish Poetry:Hardy to Mahon, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford 2011