In most cases, artistic research still has to navigate a tension between epistemic and artistic demands. Occupying a middle ground is often not satisfactory leading to questions regarding the quality of artistic research outputs either in terms of science or art. Rather than accepting the existing frameworks, my work in the context of the Journal for Artistic Research (JAR) has focussed on the possibility that each articulation of research in the arts could propose its own frameworks thus challenging, in specific articulations of research, conventions of both knowledge and art. My talk will explain how this position can link developments in historical epistemology as well as contemporary art leading to a different assessment of the labour of artistic research.

Between Research and Artistic Creation: Epistemologies, Models, Practices

The idea that there is no hermetic barrier between artistic creation, scientific research and technical development is nowadays accepted. Artistic research or "research-creation" programs have been established for several decades now in various artistic, academic and technological institutions. However, it is often difficult to reconcile different epistemic, aesthetic and institutional standards, depending on each context, trajectories and standpoints. In the face of criticism that these initiatives are doomed to produce insipid art or bad science, what principles, approaches and models would help structure this family of projects and provide the operational epistemology it needs? What lessons can we draw from the experiences, positive and negative, gathered in the field?