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Fall 2020

This issue contains an extensive dossier on research methods in the arts and was produced with the cooperation of guest editor Falk Hübner. Opening up a space for discussion is the driving force behind this dossier. Artist-researchers face the future with inventiveness, individuality, brainpower, dedication and, where necessary, with rebellious vigour.

Carolina Bonfim, Panneau IV, 2017, c-print, wood, methacrylate, 171 x 98x 5 cm, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo.
Photo: Enrique Touriño

Research methods in the arts Editorial

I Had a Dream…

Marcel Cobussen

At present, artistic research can draw on many already existing research methods, methods tried and tested in the natural sciences, social sciences, or humanities. In and through art, in and through artistic research, in and through artistic explorations and experimentations, however, these methods can also be rethought, rethought as a form of cultural cannibalism or antropofagia.

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Research methods in the arts

Pathways to a fertile valley. On methods and methodologies in artistic research

Falk Hübner, Joost Vanmaele

The past decades have seen a strong growth in research into the arts at both art colleges and universities, and the idea of artistic practice as research practice (‘all art is research’) has …

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Research methods in the arts

The constellation of things and practices. Pluralistic paths in artistic research methodology

Adilia Yip

Artistic research methodology is pluralistic, variable and pliable. It is a constellation of research things and practices that contain numerous possibilities and solutions and it underpins a …

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Research methods in the arts

Video as stimulus. The possibilities of the Stimulated Recall Method in artistic research practice

Esther Schopman

Most performance artists are familiar with the process of registering or documenting a performance. Probably less well-known is the use of video recordings to activate as many as possible of the …

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Research methods in the arts

Unpacking the self. Autobiography as a means to find hidden narratives

Manju Sharma

In this essay, visual artist and writer Manju Sharma reflects on the use of autobiography as a methodology for storytelling in the visual arts. She focuses on the methods that she uses to explore the …

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Research methods in the arts

Teamwork in songwriting. Co-creation as a method for multilingual songwriting

Ronja Maltzahn

In this article, songwriter Ronja Maltzahn focuses on examples and experiences of co-creation as a method for multilingual songwriting and musical translation. She distinguishes between a …

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Research methods in the arts

Five reflections. On writing, archival research and associative preoccupations

Hannah Van Hove

In five reflections, Hannah Van Hove relies on her writing and research experience to explore what it means when the research process draws attention to the ‘I’ that usually is ostensibly suppressed …

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Research methods in the arts

Are there things only artists can do? Archiving through a treadmill

Carolina Bonfim

This article seeks to share the methods and strategies of the practice-based research project Ninety movements on TECHNOGYM G6508D. The research dissects the act of running in all its dimensions by …

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Research methods in the arts

Customizing a methodological approach. Researching Giacinto Scelsi’s performance practice through animated scores

Marco Fusi

This article presents the initial definition and subsequent adaptation of the research methodology adopted in Marco Fusi’s investigation of the creative process of the Italian composer and poet …

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Research methods in the arts

Cannibalistic commotion. An unsavoury recipe for artistic approaches and messing around

Joeri Verbesselt

In this contribution, Joeri Verbesselt experiments with the trope of the cannibal to reflect on the position of the artist in today’s (popular) culture. He takes his ingredients from the western …

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Research methods in the arts

Presentation as method. Towards an integrated approach to disseminating artistic research

Mariske Broeckmeyer

The artistic researcher, just like his or her more traditional academic scientific colleagues, is often supposed to clarify his or her methodology. Both a linguistic and an artistic flexibility are …

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Research methods in the arts

The exhibition and the exhibitor. Reflections on Poetas Sin Alfabeto

Jan Vromman

Two artists setting up an exhibition, with the presumption that they are not working alongside each other but serving the same story. That was the simple design of Poetas Sin Alfabeto. Documentary …

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Research methods in the arts Review

Artistic research. ‘Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t’

Vincent Meelberg

Artistic research, being a relatively young academic discipline, is sometimes characterized as being ‘methodless’. Artistic research has no method, some maintain, and instead proceeds from an …

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Research methods in the arts Review

Beyond representation. Searching for new forms of knowledge

Zeynep Kubat

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Research methods in the arts Review

Arts-based research is not artistic research. More than wordplay

Klaas Tindemans

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Research methods in the arts Review

Artistic research … Where to start? – Why not with a handbook?

Falk Hübner

As the various contributions to this thematic issue on methods undoubtedly show, it is safe to say that both the discipline of research in and through the arts, as well as the discourse on methods …

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