Journal for Artistic Research Issue 6 out now!
Journal for Artistic Research

Contributors:

Jan Schacher, Cathy van Eck, Trond Lossius, Kirsten Reese
sonozones-Abstract

Kaisu Koski
Anatomical Self-Portraits as Fieldwork: Observations, Improvisations, and Elicitations in the Medical School-Abstract

Paulo de Assis
Con Luigi Nono: Unfolding Waves-Abstract

Daphne Plessner
What is a University?-Abstract

Vappu Jalonen
Stained Black Mirror-Abstract

Editorial
The role of ‘process’ in artistic research is not necessarily clear. There is a general tendency to believe that a research process starts with a set of questions to which over time answers are given. Two fixtures, a beginning and an end, here bracket a process. Accepting this crude order for the moment, it seems that a publication in JAR must be associated with the later stages of this process – ideally perhaps a report on a research project’s findings. Thus, a journal article may be seen as a research project’s output that is tied to the results obtained in the final stages of a project.

Let us consider a thought experiment and assume for the moment that the point of output was moved forward towards the beginning of a research project. This move would decouple ‘output’ from ‘result’ presenting something provisional, perhaps, or a work-in-progress. With this thought experiment in mind, I would like to discuss two aspects in an attempt to suggest a different relationship to ‘process’. 

The first concerns the role of academic publications in institutional definitions of ‘project’, in which, after all, a ‘project’ promises a return on invested labour. One example may be a doctoral programme that accepts students on the basis of a project description that includes a timeline towards a final thesis. Another example may be a grant that is given to conduct a particular research project and to realise the deliverables to which a researcher has committed him- or herself. In this context, a journal publication has the function of creating evidence for the fact that the work has been carried out, which is a very different kind of evidence when compared to the evidence, for instance, of epistemic or artistic claims......Continue Reading

JAR introducing a high-quality journal in the field allows an ever-increasing number of artistic researchers to partake in what for the sciences and humanities are standard academic publication procedures. Given that artistic research has become a worldwide movement with many local activities, JAR can serve as a focal point, bringing together diverse voices, facilitating the discourse and thus improving the artistic research community.

In the context of JAR, artistic research is doubly defined: insofar as it is research, it enhances knowledge and understanding; because it is artistic, however, the mode of presentation is essential. This definition excludes works of art that share modes of presentation with artistic research, but do not enhance understanding. It also excludes research that is not dependant on an artistic mode of presentation. Thus, the development of epistemological as well as artistic criteria for the exposure of artistic research is a key ambition of the Journal; part of JAR's mission is to re-negotiate art's relationship to academia and the role and function of research in artistic practice. Furthermore, JAR embraces research practices across disciplines, thereby emphasising the transdisciplinary character of much artistic research.

Call for submissions: As interest in the Journal is growing, we have moved to three issues a year. JAR7 is currently in review and we are now seeking submissions for JAR8. The forthcoming deadlines for submissions are 15 October 2014 and 16 January 2015.

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