Art, Design and Media

Overview

Students of the Art, Design and Media's doctoral programme at Nanyang Technological University are expected and encouraged to develop innovative ways of thinking, and to experiment and create in a range of media. This programme also acts as an incubator for the development and realization of original artistic and professional productions, including design, interactive media, film, animation and new art forms. 

Opportunities

Through exploration of new ideas, creative practices and theories, the expectation is that students will transform the field. A collaboration of internationally recognized faculty members, visiting artists and scholars, offers a unique educational environment that is world-renowned. Creative and production cooperation between faculty and students is encouraged and the development of worldwide co-production opportunities is fostered. The Ph.D. programme in Art, Design and Media is MOE-subsidised and is available on full-time and part-time basis. 

ADM Research Areas

Digital Humanities and Art 

• This area explores the meanings of artwork and practice in the era of digital technologies and emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), digital streaming, wearable technologies, interactive/participatory interface, and data science.

• We interrogate the cultural politics of identity and representation on design art, film, television, photographic art, social media, packaging art, fashion, animation, and any forms of presentational art. This cluster focuses on locating the question of power in the contexts of race, class, and gender. 

• The Culture and Heritage cluster examines key issues and art practices in exploring the meaning and the role of cultural heritage in contemporary society, especially in Singapore. 

Art and Public Space

• Where and when is art? Through interdisciplinary theories and critical lenses, we examine the meaning of art in public space with various research questions on participation, democracy, ritual practices, religion, and digital technology in historical and cultural contexts

• While situating our scholarly inquiries in a Southeast Asian regional context, we explore the socio-cultural implications of various art forms including photographic art, media art, cinematic art, design art, interactive and participatory art, VR, data art, and many others.

• The production dimension of popular culture does research on production artists, production studios, production conventions, production styles, production conditions, production aesthetics, audience in the production process, art critics, art journalists, government agencies in art, etc. 

• The Art in Motion cluster examines the theoretical and practical aspects of art in motion that becomes central in digital arts including film, character animation, real-time 3D storytelling, motion capture, motion graphics, stop motion, experimental filmmaking, visualizing data, installation arts, VR film, fictional & non-fictional animation, and sound art. 

Sight and Sound 

• This cluster examines challenges and problems in applied aesthetics of visual image, sound image, cinematic expression, animation, design, interactive media, media interface, game, photography, and new media. It foregrounds the contextual power of aesthetic elements in narrative storytelling.​

• This area explores the contributions of design led research methods in the contextual setting of everyday life of humans in the era of interconnected world through digital technologies in the near future as well as speculative approaches to conceptualising visual communication, products and object, space and the third dimension and interaction between humans as well as the emerging artificial intelligence.