The Four Pillars of Research and the Arts

There are different names and definitions to research with the arts, whereas some relate to art as the means of investigation and others in which art is studied by other research means. This webinar inquires about the kind of knowledge art facilitates, the ethical value of artistic research and whether labeling the methods into pillars is in the service of research ontology. It presents four research methodologies that involve the arts: Performance as Research (PaR), Arts Informed Research (AIR), Art-based Research (ABR), and Artistic Research (AR) and concludes with an open discussion of presenters regarding the matter.

Patricia Leavy (2020) in her book Method Meets Art, compares the work of a qualitative researcher to that of an artist: "Both practices can be viewed as crafts" she says, for "they compose, orchestrate, and weave". The researcher, as the artist creates dynamically and holistically. They both involve description, reflection, problem solving, creatively and intuitively. The definitions of Arts-Based Research vary in literature. Some describe it as the vehicle through which the expressive qualities of an artistically crafted form can come to express meaning and significance (Barone and Eisner, 2008 in Cole & Knowles, 2008). Others, define it as the systematic use of the artistic process- the actual making of artistic expressions in all the different forms of the arts- as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people they involve in their studies (McNiff, 2013).

Artistic research assumes the arts can create and convey meaning that includes various ways of knowing such as kinesthetic, sensory, and imaginary. These methodologies are therefore advantageous in research projects that seek to deeply explore, describe, discover, through an evocative, aesthetic means.   

This global webinar is mainly concerned with the different names and definitions to research with art, whereas some relate to research 'in' art - being the modes of investigation and others that relate to research 'in relation to' the arts - in which art is studied by other research means. We will present four research methodologies that involve the arts: Performance as Research (PaR), Arts Informed Research (AIR), Art-based Research (ABR), and Artistic Research (AR).

Presenters will demonstrate the unique ways art was used in their research method:

1.    Refiloe Lepere > Performance as Research and the aesthetic of care

2.    Kath Grushka> Arts Informed Research of resilience with auto-immune patients

3.    Sudesh Mantillake>Artistic Research of postcolonial bodily archive

4.    Rumi Ito > Art-based Research of artistic expression and contemplative breathing

The webinar will conclude with an open discussion between the panel of presenters sharing their thoughts and ideas about the following questions:

·     What is your definition of your research method?

·     Are we doing a dis-service by labelling the methods into pillars?

·     What kind of knowledge do the arts allow for?

·     Is there an ethical value for artistic research? If so, what is it?