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Readings in Numanities pp 131–143Cite as

Artistic Research as a Quest of the New Knowledge. On Practice-Based Research in Acting

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Part of the book series: Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress ((NAHP,volume 3))

Abstract

The article reveals the specifics of artistic research and the controversies of its assessment. It shares the view that the goal of artistic research is to contribute both to the artistic universe and to the sphere of academia while using artistic production; however, it asks how it is possible, or if it is possible at all, to transmit new knowledge through the artwork. While discussing the premises for the rise of artistic research , the article introduces different concepts of knowledge , paying special attention to the notion of embodied knowledge. Further, the article proposes two approaches to artistic research —idealistic and pragmatic. Finally, it focuses on the topic of research in acting and discusses the relevant research outcome. In conclusion the article suggests that the most valuable thing about artistic research is consolidation of academic and artistic interests in order to produce innovative visions of future art.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See, for example, the works of Tim Ingold The Perception of Environment (2000) and Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description (2011) or studies of Mark Johnson The Body in the Mind : The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason (1987) and The Meaning of the Body : Aesthetics of Human Understanding (2007). The main premise for the perception-action approach is that evolution shaped humans’ perceptual processing primarily for action (not for reaction or information gathering).

  2. 2.

    We could find more philosophical, cultural and sociocultural premises explaining the rise of artistic research . The nomadic theory of Deleuze and Guattari, which includes the metaphors of rhizome and labyrinth, has apparently strongly influenced the above-mentioned conception. Nomadic theory rejected the attitude of classical Western metaphysics that emphasizes strictly organized structure of subsistence and on the causal determinism and binary thinking, and foregrounded the necessity of free creative and spontaneous thinking and the ability to change.

  3. 3.

    The viewpoint is determined to a large extent by the philosophical tradition. For example, phenomenology tends to equal experience and knowledge . As David George explains, “the term ‘experience ’ is crucial: for too long spectators have been equated with readers as decipherers of meaning. … The traditional task of ‘making sense’ is then replaced by unique experiences, which are both cognitive operations and forms of emotion. The word ‘experience ’ derives etymologically from the French ‘to put to the test’. Experience is an experiment” (George 1996: 23).

  4. 4.

    The dissemination of artistic research outcome is one of the most topical questions. The difficulties arise mainly because of specifics of knowledge generated by this kind of research: embodied forms of knowledge go beyond language. An international database of artistic research can be found on www.researchcatalogue.net; the project Research Video, which is currently developed at Zurich University of the Arts (www.zhdk.ch), can be mentioned as an attempt to find the relevant form for communication and publishing artistic research in the performing arts.

  5. 5.

    In general, this does not contradict Spatz’s view that every practice is structured by a certain technique, as knowing how to create favorable artistic conditions may be equated to a kind of technique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Ramunė Balevičiūtė

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  1. Ramunė Balevičiūtė
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Correspondence to Ramunė Balevičiūtė .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Oana Andreica

  2. International Semiotics Institute, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Alin Olteanu

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Balevičiūtė, R. (2018). Artistic Research as a Quest of the New Knowledge. On Practice-Based Research in Acting. In: Andreica, O., Olteanu, A. (eds) Readings in Numanities. Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66914-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66914-4_9

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