What is Artist Research?

What is Artist Research?

The word 'research' is bandied about in course documents and is prevalent when artists speak but what does that really mean? Do all artists think about research in the same terms?

This lecture and subsequent discussion will be a chance to think radically about what 'artist research' really is without getting bogged down in examples that might not be relevant to you. 

Learning to make art is like learning to swim or drive. You have to do it 'in practice' and not 'in theory'. You have to do stuff to learn, but increasingly artists are encouraged to have a 'research-based' or 'research-led' practice. What might that mean and how is that different from just making work? 

While the idea research can seem remote from or at odds from making it, too, is a way of finding out about the world.

You should leave the session with a clearer understanding of what research is and what it's…