An Observer’s Reflections: The Artist Considered as Expert

Abstract

This chapter offers a particular perspective on some of the rich set of results of the COSTART project residencies [1]. In the first section comments are made on certain important aspects of the process of collecting observational data and how some of the classical problems of observational studies were dealt with. This is followed by a short review of the nature of expertise, some observations on human knowledge, the uses of external representations of that knowledge, and how the research into those topics relates to the artists being studied. In the third section of the chapter an extensive set of quotations that were collected from digital artists during the residency periods is presented. These quotations will enable the interested reader to participate in the process of evaluating some of the observations and conclusions drawn in this chapter and in the book as a whole. Finally, some of the findings of the project relevant to digital artists considered as experts as summarized.