Beyond Validity Claiming the Legacy of the Artist-Researcher (original) (raw)

Towards an Ethical-Political Role of Artistic Research

1] Can the subaltern speak? In 1988, the Indian philosopher Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak asked this question in an homonymic essay in which she investigated the relations between Western poststructuralist criticisms on the metaphysical subject and the representation of non-Western people (Spivak 2008, 109-130). According to Spivak one of the occurring problems was that contemporary Western intellectuals tried to speak on behalf of the suppressed, thereby, unwittingly and imperceptibly, reinscribing, co-opting, and rehearsing neo-colonial imperatives of political domination, economic exploitation, and cultural erasure.

The unavoidable openness of artistic research

2010

This contribution investigates the possibilities of communicating artistic research without minimizing the multi-interpretability of the artwork and without having to adopt a philosophical vision-to be applied to the art and the research-as a starting point. The archival model, the rhizome model, and the contingency model are highlighted as viable possibilities. The models and the search for these models are applied to the music and other artistic domains. Keywords. Artistic research, artistic research versus philosophy, openness in the communication of research results. Resumen. Esta contribución investiga las posibilidades de informar sobre la investigación artística sin minimizar la multi-interpretabilidad de la obra y sin tener que adoptar una visión filosófica-que se aplicará al arte y a la investigación-como punto de partida. El modelo de archivo, el modelo de rizoma, y el modelo de contingencia se destacan como las posibilidades viables. Los modelos y la búsqueda de estos modelos se aplican a la música y otros campos artísticos. Palabras clave. La investigación artística, la investigación artística frente a la filosofía, la apertura en la comunicación de resultados de la investigación. _______________________________________________________

The Problem of Artistic Research

Sisyphus — Journal of Education, 2015

Although almost every debate about artistic research highlights its novelty in references to «uncertainty», »indefinability», and to its lack of identity whilst «bound to a tradition external to itself», this novelty has lasted for a few decades already. Many of the problems raised today are to be found back when research and art education began to relate within the academic context in the 1980s. So where is the speculative discussion on its uncertainty taking artistic research to? Is a solution intended to be found? Is there a problem to be solved? Through ‘productivitism’ this text argues that the aprioristic idea that artistic research is problematic has been securing its state of pendency and increasing its fragility. The final part of the article suggests a creative potential and a challenging dimension in the process of institutionalization, and ends by pointing out possible topics of work for a shared agenda with contemporary art.

Defining Artistic Research: Mapping Recent Contributions in the Discourse

2018

The term ‘artistic research’ is generally referred to as research in the arts, or ‘art as research’. More distinctively, it is also described as ‘research in and through art’ (Wesseling 2016, 8), distinguished from other types of research in the arts and brings to mind the popular yet seldom consistently discussed categorical distinctions from Christopher Frayling (1993). With increasing discussions to identify, describe, and legitimise artistic research against the largely scientific traditions of ‘research’, there has since been a growing amount of literature on the subject. Despite this accessibility of literature on artistic research—many written in English and published in easily available or open access journals—they often remain as efforts isolated from each other. I highlight this as an opportunity for mapping key ideas and developments of artistic research within recent discourse. This essay attempts a brief yet condensed discussion on artistic research using six recent key texts on artistic research. Chronologically, they are single books from authors Graeme Sullivan (2005), James Elkin (2009), Henk Borgdorff (2012), Mika Hannula et al. (2014), Janneke Wesseling (2016), and Danny Butt (2017).

Artistic Research: Practice and Research redefining each other

Research Methodologies talks series, Art Creativity Education and Culture Mphil Course, 2015

This session will focus on the recent contemporary art context characterised by a strong theorisation of practice defining a research practice of its own. The session will look at existing models of artistic (academic and independent) research, while introducing the dimension of participation in research and its impact. Within this paradigm we shall also consider: the ontology of the produced and/or embedded knowledge on the one hand, and the role of the artist as interface in society (and education) on the other.

Artistic Research: Context, Perspectives & A Definition

2017

Excerpt of the introduction: In the first part, I will dissect the term research, dipping into the everlasting dispute about art versus science, coming back to the initial term of artistic research and giving ideas of what it is and what it can contribute to scientific research. In the last part I will focus on the education reformation, elaborating detected challenges and chances it might bring. As literature, the essay draws – amongst others – from the book Artistic research published by philosopher, editor and curator Annette W. Balkema and philosopher, editor, curator and Professor for Artistic Research at the MaHKU, Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design Henk Slager, who is also leading the publication of the Journal of Artistic Research (JAR). It is a collection of essays and discussions from a two-day symposium on artistic research. Other sources are websites of art academies involved in the development of artistic research, different speeches on the topic and the Belgian philosopher, writer and critic Dieter Lesage’s text Who’s Afraid of Artistic Research? On measuring artistic research output (2009). As the evolution of artistic research is still ongoing, I found it important to include a variety of different opinions, in order to detect common tendencies.

Claiming the Legacy of the Artist-Researcher

2013

Gothenburg and Pitea. Related qualitative research disciplines with a focus on practice have existed for much longer, primarily in the social sciences, but to some extent also in medicine. In the present paper, we suggest that the development of artistic research is at a point where it is no longer productive to discuss it as a field in development in which methods and formats are in a constant flux, but where we need instead to discuss a set of defining frames and methods for researchers to use or depart from. This is not to say that a single method should (or could) be used for all artistic research but rather to state that there is a great need to establish workable methods that can serve as starting points for future development. Mika Hannula makes a similar diagnosis and argues that it is time for artistic research to adopt a bolder position in relation to the institutions: Since artistic research has been accepted and established as credible research within art education and a...

INTRODUCTION: Unruly: Artistic Research between Disciplines and Becoming

Periskop – Forum for kunsthistorisk debat, 2020

This special issue of Periskop arrives during a pandemic, as planetary cracks deepen and social injustices, structural and systemic discriminations (racism, sexism, trans-and homophobia, ableism, classism and so on), inequalities, climate disasters, displacements, and wars continue to unsettle our present. In times like these, this special issue asks: How can we reclaim artistic research? And how are artistic research practices engaging in the co-creation of other worlds in response to different forms of social crises and planetary destruction? We open this volume with a quote by bell hooks, from her essay "Theory as Liberatory Practice" (1994), because, similarly to how she came to theory out of an urgency to relieve pain, we are turning to artistic research as a site for creating other forms of knowledges and to carve out spaces for experiences that have previously been excluded in response to this immense destruction.

Artistic Research: Legitimacy, Dimensions, and Perspectives

2020

This academic article explores the multifaceted realm of Artistic Research (AR), delving into its legitimacy, dimensions, and evolving perspectives. Departing from conventional notions of empirical research, AR emerges as a distinctive paradigm, navigating the intricate terrain of artistic practice as a source of knowledge. In this discourse, the enigmatic nature of "artistic research" unfolds, with a spotlight on its cognitive processes, framed within the paradoxical domain of verbal discourse and logos. Renowned philosopher Dieter Mersch's insights further illuminate AR as research intrinsic to the arts, distinct yet akin to traditional research and set apart from philosophy and science. The article elucidates how AR, as an academic-artistic approach, gains momentum within universities, coexisting alongside traditional doctoral studies, and underscores its global recognition. The Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research, a pivotal policy document, represents a groundbreaking international initiative to legitimize AR as a bona fide discipline, a development that sparks a spectrum of perspectives and critiques. Despite varied interpretations and contentious viewpoints, the Vienna Declaration signifies a global endeavor to address contemporary needs in higher arts education. Recognizing the disparities in cultural traditions and policies governing artistic pursuits and education, the Vienna Declaration seeks to establish a unified framework for the legitimization of AR activities. With its extensive support, AR is poised to assert its presence within academia and become an integral element in the higher education landscape in Europe. This article contributes to the academic discourse surrounding AR, shedding light on its evolving significance and potential impact on future educational paradigms.

Artistic Research: Quest for Method

Artistic research exploits new possibilities by deconstructing the traditional dualities of European thinking, like the duality between science and art, perception and thinking, subjectivity and objectivity, body and mind. It develops its potential in different overlaps, tensions and boundary fields across disciplines. Thanks to this it needs to reflect on specific methodology appropriate to this newly viewed plane of consistency. The article shows different approaches to the methodological question in artistic research.