Zen and the art of peer and selfassessment in interdisciplinary, multimedia, site-specific arts practice: a transcultural approach

If one accepts the premise that intelligences are ‘distributed across minds, persons and the symbolic and physical environment’ (Pea, 1993), what significance does this have for assessing an arts practice that exists in an intangible realm between disciplines, between minds, and between relations of human beings to environments? How do tutors and students assess interdisciplinarity? How do they assess interactive artwork where the artwork is transmorphing through active co-participation of the spectator. The article reflects on these questions, drawing on pedagogic experiences with undergraduate students undertaking a course in interdisciplinary, multimedia and site-specific arts practice. The creation of the course and its methodology of teaching have also endeavoured to address cultural plurality not only in terms of recognition of the demographic make-up of a student body but also in terms of methodology and ethos. The article discusses the significance of this approach.