Dr Martyn Hudson

Assistant Professor

School: Design Arts and Creative Industries

I joined Northumbria in September 2017. I have taught or researched at Kingston, Surrey, Roehampton, Buckinghamshire, Teesside, Durham and Newcastle. My PHD was under the supervision of Professors Kevin Stenson, Max Travers and Paul Watt. For some years I combined academic with community practice and specifically around arts, youth and heritage work for refugee community and arts organisations.

My research spans three areas. Firstly in co-produced research with cultural organisations including galleries, event spaces and curators. This work has included the Hatton Gallery and the Merz Barn Wall, MIMA, TESTT Space, NewBridge, Allenheads Contemporary Arts and many others.

Secondly, in an expansive theoretical and historical practice resting upon critical theory which takes in the aesthetics of the Frankfurt School to the landscapes of northern England. I am specifically informed by the notion of imagined and imaginary landscapes and what this might mean for political and historical practice. The concept of autonomy in art and politics is central to understanding the kinds of speculative and alternative futures humans are attempting to build. I also have a critical interest in visual and music/sound studies.

Thirdly in the art and philosophy of Greek antiquity and specifically its sculptural mythology. Much of my practice rests upon an understanding of autonomy and aesthetics largely rooted in readings of Marx, Weil, Adorno, Arendt, Heidegger, and perhaps most importantly, Cornelius Castoriadis.

I am the editor of the Routledge book series 'Visual Modernities' and am the author of 10 academic monographs. My most recent book for Routledge came out in 2023 - 'Social Ghosts and the Dead of World History: Ghost Theory'.

I worked closely with the artist and writer Dr Emily Hesse as co-performer and co-thinker on many projects and specifically the 'Ghost Sonata' project. I am the organiser of 'Chaos Club' at Northumbria and have been awarded a Distinguished Teaching Fellowship in 2024 for developing the 'Building Better Planets' project. I am part of the AnMor editorial group examining imagined landscapes, was the co-producer of the ERiS (Experimental Research in Spaces) seminar series at Baltic 39 and am an active participant in the Visual and Material Cultures and BxNU research groups. My research informs my role as Lead for the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries Management. I am a Senior Fellow of the HEA. I am the Chair of Amberside Trust.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Visualising Capital, Hudson, M. 30 Mar 2025, Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Visual Culture, London, Bloomsbury
Deep Time Bodies, Pavey, L., Black, B., Bostock, C., Burford, J., Gower, J., Kennedy, B., Orban, A., Palmer, A., Stevens, P., Thompson, N., Wilson, C., Hudson, M., Humphrey, S., Foster, N., Eriksson, E. 25 Jan 2024
Theories of Visuality and Representation in (past and future) World-Making, Hudson, M. 30 Oct 2024, Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Visual Culture, London, Bloomsbury
The Xeno-Monde: Worlds of Strangers, Hudson, M. 11 Sep 2024
Sensorial Modernities, Hudson, M., Phillips, A., Lynn, A., Docx, E. 2023
Social Ghosts and the Dead of World History: Ghost Theory, Hudson, M. 7 Apr 2023
Kissing the Bees - Exhibition text for Witches' Institution, Emily Hesse, Andrea Phillips, Hudson, M. 26 May 2022
On Burning Mirrors, Hudson, M. 30 Jan 2022
‘The half I keep’: John Berger’s Booker Prize speech fifty years later, Hudson, M. 1 Oct 2022, In: Race and Class
A Ghost Manifesto, Hudson, M. 30 Apr 2021

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Runs Like a Rumor and a Legend: John Berger's Miners 30 years On 2019

PGR Supervision

Fiona Crouch The value of enchantment: exploring the themes of identity and connection at Snowshill Manor and Garden through the sensoriality of neurodiversity Start Date: 01/10/2021 End Date: 07/08/2025
Helen Shaddock Start Date: 01/10/2025 End Date: 01/10/2025
Emma- Louise Edmondson Start Date: 01/10/2025 End Date: 17/10/2025
Christopher Bogle Adverse Camber: The development of an ADHD informed research practice using a phenomenology of the road. Start Date: 10/05/2023
Emma- Louise Edmondson Start Date: 01/10/2025
Eleanor Docx Can Enlightenment Principles Improve Arts Council England Strategy for National Portfolio Orchestras? Start Date: 01/10/2020 End Date: 08/07/2025
Angela List-Evans WHEN MINERS MADE FURNITURE - BOOSBECK INDUSTRIES FURNITURE 1933-1937: A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SCHEME FOR THE UNEMPLOYED IRONSTONE MINERS OF EAST CLEVELAND DURING THE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION OF THE INTERWAR YEARS. Start Date: 01/10/2024
Christopher Bogle Adverse Camber: The development of an ADHD informed research practice using a phenomenology of the road. Start Date: 10/05/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025
Richard Denny Revisiting a Vanishing land Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 11/10/2025
Angela List-Evans WHEN MINERS MADE FURNITURE - BOOSBECK INDUSTRIES FURNITURE 1933-1937: A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SCHEME FOR THE UNEMPLOYED IRONSTONE MINERS OF EAST CLEVELAND DURING THE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION OF THE INTERWAR YEARS. Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025