Practice-Based Research: Teaching Resource

Introduction

In the sciences, observation, experimentation, and exploration allow researchers to discover the new, in order to better understand the existing. For the humanities, experimentation has long been the remit of the creative practitioner, across various forms of media, text, art, and performance. When we as practitioners pursue our art as research, we not only offer insights into art and the practice of art as it occurs, but can throw new and unexpected light onto a range of topics as wide as human experience itself.

Practice-related research, or action research, is a tried and tested methodology in medicine, design, and engineering. While it has always been present to some extent in the arts and humanities, in recent years artistic practice has developed into a major focus of research activity, both as process and product, and several recent texts as well as discourse in various disciplines have made a strong case for its validity as a method of studying art and the practice of art. 

Art, literary, music, and film analysts examine, dissect, and even deconstruct the art that we create in order to seek the roots of culture and humanity, pulling the techniques and references and motivations apart to develop knowledge of how works of art relate to the culture and society in which they are produced, as well as to the development of particular art forms over time. Practice-related researchers push this examination into a more direct and intimate sphere, observing and analysing themselves as they engage in the act of creation, rather than relying solely on dissection of the art after the fact. And just as science has exposed and increased our wonder about our world, direct study of the self as an artist at work and the practice of art in cultural and social contexts can bring us closer to our selves and our communities.

This online text acts as a resource for students and researchers new to practice-based research in the arts. Throughout, there are helpful tips for directing and designing a practice-based research project, as well as examples and exercises. A video presentation is also used throughout to supplement and further expand the concepts. The full video is below.

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