Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for Dr Colette Olive

The Centre for Philosophy and Art are delighted to announce the award of a highly prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship to Centre member Colette Olive, whose project explores “Art in the Era of Fake News”

Dr Colette Olive - recipient of the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship

Art in the Era of Fake News investigates whether certain artworks can discharge a similar informational role to journalism amid major changes in how news is produced and consumed.

Many philosophers have expressed scepticism about art's reliability as a means of coming to know more about the world, arguing that art's relationship to truth is not integral to its value as art. Yet, contemporary artistic practice tells a different story. From Ai Weiwei and Forensic Architecture to Paolo Cirio, Banksy, and Kara Walker, many artists now gather evidence, present data, document events, and disseminate information. In some cases, their work resembles investigative journalism. At the same time, journalists have become increasingly constrained by commercial pressures, sensationalism, and collapsing public trust.

The decline of local and slow news media outlets paired with the rise of fake news and AI-generated content has changed our relationship with the news. Against this backdrop, it is important to understand whether art might make distinctly valuable and reliable contributions to our information ecosystem. The central aim is to reconceptualise art’s epistemic role by showing how certain artworks do not merely prompt reflection or conversation, but actively participate in the production, dissemination, and uptake of reliable information. In this way, such artworks may well discharge a similar role in enquiry to contemporary journalism.