ABSTRACT
As a creative practitioner, how do you judge whether what you have done is good? This question of judgement is central to the production of new knowledge through reflective practice. In this chapter, I develop the concept of appreciative system – an individual and collectively held lens that determines what is thinkable and doable – as integral to this process. Through the example of my own experience of supervising a curatorial research candidate, I argue that paying close attention to appreciative systems provides access to deep seams of knowledge in practice-based research degrees, and the means for researchers and supervisors to collaboratively articulate and consciously expand that knowledge. I describe how the concept of appreciative systems can help curators recognise, articulate and interrogate their own authorial agency as a crucial “through-line” that provides structure and coherence to doctoral projects.
