Practice-based research in the area of the arts,a new movement in methodology of research

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 handicrafts department, Faculty of art, Alzahra University, Tehran

2 faculty member / Art University of Isfahan

3 Ceramic Department, Faculty of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Science & Technology of Tehran.

Abstract

In formal research in Art and Design, one of the most urgent debates has been about methodology. How can we carry out rigorous and respectable inquiry using methodologies and methods appropriate to practice – research without using merely theoretical, laboratorial and scientific methods. It was clear, and still is, that there are no simple answers! The most fruitful way to identify appropriate methodologies has been through an analysis of completed researches, and through evaluations of research in progress. The growth of completed research degrees in arts past two decades by using practice-based methods in many universities in other countries is a sign of the inadequacy of the methods that penetrate by irrespectively the nature of the arts. Because of the diversity and innovation in this field of research, is expected to be various maps depending on the nature of each project so this article presents a selective review of recent PhDs that identify and analyze the methodological innovation that is occurring in the field of arts, in order to give a general map. Practice-based Research is an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new knowledge partly by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. In a practice-based research, claims of originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative outcomes in the form of designs, music, digital media, performances and exhibitions, etc. Four characteristics were found in practice-based art PhD methodology: innovations in the format and structure of the thesis, a pick-and-mix approach to research design, situating practice in the inquiry, and the validation of visual analysis. Research through practice refers to research where art or design practice is the vehicle of the research, and a means to communicate the result. And finally, research for the purpose of practice aims to communicate the research embodied in a piece of design. Artists and designers have taken an active role in contextualizing and interpreting the creative process in practice, as well as the products of this process, by looking at the process itself and the works produced through it. From this new point of view, the knowledge and the skills of a practicing artist or designer form a central part of the research process, and this has produced a new way of doing research. In this new type of research project, part of the research is carried out as art or design practice. The central methodological question of this emerging field of research is: how can art or design practice interact
with research in such a manner that they will together produce new knowledge, create a new point of view or form new, creative ways of doing research? In this article, the making and the products of making are seen as an essential part of research: they can be conceived both as answers to particular research questions and as artistic or designing argumentation. As an object made by an artist–researcher, the artefact can also be seen as a method for collecting and preserving information and understanding.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Fine Arts: Visual Arts
Volume 22, Issue 3
September 2017
Pages 17-28

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