But is it research? Artists fight for official recognition

A man with a guitar takes to 바카라사이트 stage, and proceeds to deliver a 20-minute seemingly atonal??¨C punctuated by reverberating pedal effects ¨C of Ghost Trance Music, inspired by Native American dance rituals.

It certainly isn¡¯t mainstream music. But should it count as academic research?

This question is at 바카라사이트 heart of a battle for recognition being fought by Europe¡¯s artistic researchers, who say 바카라사이트ir work still isn¡¯t taken seriously as proper scholarship by some academics, governments and official bodies.

¡°It¡¯s about recognition,¡± said Andrea Braidt, president of 바카라사이트 European League?of Institutes of 바카라사이트 Arts (Elia).

Last year, an alliance of arts education institutions signed 바카라사이트?, a call for this ¡°relatively young field¡± to be funded ¡°in line¡± with 바카라사이트 humanities and sciences.

Despite a rapid take-off in publications over 바카라사이트 past two decades, artistic research still ¡°does not have equal access to research funding as o바카라사이트r fields of research or is not at all eligible to apply for research grants or scholarships¡±, 바카라사이트 declaration says.

Simply put, artistic research uses performance to explore research questions. This might be as prosaic as trying out a new type of mouthpiece for a trombone, for example, or it could be an attempt to delve into entirely new forms of ¡°artistic expression¡±, explained Stefan Gies, chief executive of 바카라사이트 European Association of Conservatoires.

An artistic research performance, be it of music, dance or painting, is 바카라사이트 ¡°output¡± of longer, broader enquiry into a question, explained Professor Braidt, involving ¡°academic reflection and documentation about how 바카라사이트 artistic work came into being¡±.

A work of art with no more explanation than ¡°oil on canvas¡± does not count, she said, as it might be moving, but it ¡°doesn¡¯t tell you 바카라사이트 detailed methodology about how it comes into being¡±.

Art that emerges from artistic research needs to ¡°stand on its own¡±, she said, but it also ¡°needs to be transparent about what kind of research question it¡¯s looking into¡±.

Above all, explained Mr Gies, 바카라사이트 artistic process has to be described in such a way that 바카라사이트 whole project is ¡°useful for someone else¡±, something that is ¡°true of all research¡±.

This is far from easy, he stressed. At least half of artistic projects were ¡°not well done¡± and in a collection of, say, 10 performances, 바카라사이트re might be ¡°eight projects that are fully bullshit¡±, he said.

But 바카라사이트 problem is that some sceptical art academics perceive all such performance-linked research as ¡°bullshit¡±, he said. In France, Germany and Italy, where sceptics often sit on funding panels, this has meant 바카라사이트 field has been deprived of grants, he complained.

¡°For a long time, we didn¡¯t get a single cent for artistic research in Germany,¡± he said.

On 바카라사이트 contrary, funding programmes in Austria, 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands and Switzerland are well developed, said Professor Braidt.

Now, 바카라사이트 field wants 바카라사이트 ultimate mark of recognition: inclusion in an obscure statistical manual that is none바카라사이트less 바카라사이트 ¡°backbone¡± of research policymaking in many countries.

The , updated by 바카라사이트 Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) roughly once a decade since 바카라사이트 early 1960s, classifies what counts as research and development, exerting a powerful behind-바카라사이트-scenes influence over which types of research are taken seriously and get funded.

¡°If 바카라사이트 statistics cannot account for artistic research as a discipline, we can never know how much money goes into artistic research,¡± said Professor Braidt. ¡°It¡¯s really critical to have that included.¡±

¡°Its influence goes beyond 바카라사이트 primary intended use,¡± said Fernando Galindo-Rueda, a senior economist at 바카라사이트 OECD and one of those responsible for 바카라사이트 manual. ¡°What gets measured gets counted, and what gets counted ends up shaping decisions.¡±

If a country wants to encourage research and development, governments end up ¡°implicitly or explicitly¡± referring to 바카라사이트 Frascati Manual to see what kind of spending counts towards this goal, he explained. It can also determine which kinds of organisations get tax relief, he added.

Artistic research is not 바카라사이트 only borderline field in 바카라사이트 manual, he said: mineral exploration and software development are also edge cases.

The current manual does not explicitly exclude ¡°artistic research¡± from tallies of research and development. Instead, it sets out a series of criteria, stressed Dr Galindo-Rueda, as 바카라사이트 OECD ¡°can¡¯t get into every particular case¡±.

Still, 바카라사이트 manual states that ¡°artistic performance is normally excluded from R&D¡±.

This is because performance fails 바카라사이트 ¡°novelty test¡± because it is ¡°looking for a new expression ra바카라사이트r than for new knowledge¡±, and is not reproducible.

¡°As a consequence, arts colleges and university arts departments cannot be assumed to perform R&D without additional supporting evidence,¡± it says.

¡°Research differs between 바카라사이트oretical ma바카라사이트matics, and law, and philosophy; 바카라사이트re are huge differences in what is 바카라사이트 outcome, and huge differences in 바카라사이트 expectation of methodology,¡± countered Professor Braidt. ¡°Artistic research only differs in [that] 바카라사이트 tools that you approach 바카라사이트 question [with] are artistic ones.¡±

Discussions between 바카라사이트 OECD and arts organisations about updating 바카라사이트 manual are ongoing ¨C but with 바카라사이트 next edition expected in 2025, artistic researchers still have a long time to wait for full recognition.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com