MLitt Curatorial Practice School of Fine Art
Claire Atkin
Claire Atkin is a curator and researcher based in Glasgow, UK, originally from Birmingham, UK. Her current practice focuses on network theory, distributed authorship, and emerging technologies. She is interested in how curatorial work can respond to the complexities of the digital age, particularly in how engaging with digital systems can help create more adaptive and decentralised curatorial frameworks.
The Infernal Network
The Infernal Network is a project that explores the network as subject, methodology, and material. Rooted in network theory, emerging technologies, and sustainable curatorial models, this investigation explores how digital infrastructures can support distributed, collective, and process-based exhibition-making.
Spanning a ten-day build-up and culminating in a one-day physical exhibition, the project uses MIRO, a collaborative digital whiteboard typically associated with corporate workflows, as both a curatorial tool and exhibition space. Drawing on Craig Saper’s concept of the ‘intimate bureaucracy,’ the platform is repurposed to create a space for playful, participatory, and non-hierarchical cultural production.
During build-up, six artists contributed asynchronously to MIRO, responding to daily prompts inspired by Fluxus event scores. These open-ended instructions encouraged improvisation, responsiveness, and decentralised authorship. The artists’ contributions and interactions within this network determined the content of the physical exhibition, with all material displayed being generated within, or in response to, the digital space.
Featuring:
Charlotte Edgington
Choterina Freer
Lydia Harris
Madeleine Kaye
Izzy Laishley
Agnes Little
Iris May
Curated by Claire Atkin
Project Links
Connections
Claire Atkin and The Network, Connections (2025). Video Duration 02:31 This video documents a journey through The Infernal Network. Moving between works and tracing the links between them, it offers an alternative way to experience the network without direct navigation.
Node. 7
Charlotte Edgington, Node 7 (2025). Video Duration 08:41 Node. 7 was developed in response to conversations with the curator, research into infrastructural networks, and the evolving activity in The Infernal Network. The work reflects on how infrastructural systems shape our culture and considers how meaning emerges within the layered connections between people, technology, and information.
Fluid Spaces: Art, Access, and Autonomy
Fluid Spaces: Art, Access, and Autonomy explored themes of accessibility and engagement through the lens of Waffle Burger’s evocative work. Through her art, Waffle Burger navigated liminal spaces, the in-between zones that blurred the line between the familiar and the surreal. Her paintings prompted viewers to pause, reflect, and inhabit moments of quiet dissonance, offering a sanctuary from the overstimulation of modern life. Fluid Spaces built on Burger’s contemplative tone to spark dialogue about accessibility. The exhibition comprised three distinct spaces, each highlighting different approaches to presenting artwork. It transitioned from a traditional gallery display to a contemporary, accessibility-enhanced section featuring standard accessibility adjustments, and finally evolved into a participatory installation where visitors contributed to reimagining art environments. In the final space, audiences were invited to help shape a collective vision for the future of inclusive art spaces that embraced diverse perspectives. The feedback received was compiled into a research resource.
Co-curated by Claire Atkin, Kelsey Cronin, Yuezhang Gu, Leo Hajducki, and Xuefan Liu.
Interview ‘In the Studio with Waffle Burger’, Filmed and edited by Leo Hajducki.
To follow Waffle’s process and stay updated with their craft, follow her on Instagram @waffle_burger
