Public art as research in the open

In 1979, the Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar staged his first public intervention in the context of military dictatorship. His inquiry on states of happiness anticipated a working method that Jaar has been following since. In taking Studies on Happiness as an early example of social aesthetics, this article will show that the work itself is not only seen as the product of making (poïesis), but that the process itself is seen as the embodiment of knowledge, the dwelling and outcome of an intended action. However, this action is not simply an act in the everyday (praxis), but as an intended action it is intelligent in itself and calls for the practical wisdom of acting (phronesis). As soon as the project includes a relational process and forms of participation, both in nature of unforeseeable outcome, the aim is no longer the production of a (common) object; rather, it is the social relation itself, established through the aesthetic or “boundary” object that puts into action the relation as well as the reflection on the conditions of its becoming. We will assess how play and phronesis can mediate between research and art by creating a situational knowledge, that is both critique and contributory: a research in the open.

Māksliniecisko pētījumu pieejas attīstība jauno mediju mākslas izglītībā Liepājas Universitātē 2007.–2010. gadā

In 2007, first students started their studies at Liepāja University New Media Art bachelor level programme. It was the first programme in Latvia that was developed based on topical ideas about art as research and practice-based artistic research. This approach to art education can be described as strongly critical to neoliberalist treatment of art and, particularly in Europe, was also a part of reaction from the side of art educators and practitioners to changes started by the Bologna process in the field of higher (art) education. The approach was integrated purposefully into the philosophy of New Media Art studies and research at Liepāja University, first of all by establishing MPLab – a Laboratory of Art Research as a space for creative growth where every student has more freedom and independence but is required to be able to mobilise independently and think critically and creatively. In this article, the basic assumptions for programme development, main events, and results are presented and analysed, based on inner planning and implementation documents of the study process, as well as research papers discussing the basic assumptions of the philosophy of the study programme. In the centre of philosophy and content development of the bachelor and later master and doctoral level study programmes at Liepāja University was the idea of art as a research activity. It is connected to the recognition of the dimension of science in art, more concretely, that art does not need commentary to become “scientific”. Similar to the science where the goal and the product of the actions is the new, emerging knowledge, the art can also be oriented toward the development of knowledge, in the process of artistic creativity, through experimentation, observation, reflection, and abstraction that influence the following process of art-making. The inquiry and experiment, as well as collecting and presenting data about materials and environment the artist works with, is an essential part of the artistic activity, especially in contemporary art. Based on practice, an artist is driven to the questions and hypotheses that later can change the course and result of his/her artistic work. The art based in practice is also becoming more and more interested in life and involvement in social processes, practical issues, and the critical discourse of the art. An element of the philosophy of artistic research is also an orientation to change and active action. Artistic research tends to the new, but it is planned not only as a performative but also transformative action; therefore, it is important to think about social responsibility and social engagement in the context of artistic research. Activity, engagement, orientation towards the change, and thought-through practice-based training are the most important elements of contemporary art to encourage social and cultural sustainability development. That is why in the education of young artists, a special place should be reserved for understanding society, its risks, and the economic and political contexts in which the artist is working. However, the issue of sustainability has to be treated in connection to local communities. Socially responsible art – art as research – is possible only by studying and integrating into the artistic research process the human needs in the place where they emerge and in active dialogue with local communities. All these elements were integrated into the philosophy of the research and studies when the programmes of new media art were started at Liepāja University. The aim of the article is to discover what and how theoretical thinking on practice-based artistic research programmes in the space of higher education of art was implemented in practice, involved in the development of New Media Art programmes at Liepāja University in the period from 2007 to 2010. The methods used include document analysis and analysis of secondary literature; however, in general, a descriptive approach was used. Conclusions show that by purposeful integration of the topical and in-depth view on art education at university and new approaches to art in society invented in the active discussions within the network of international experts, it was possible to create a contemporary centre of critical creativity at Liepāja University able to engage into artistic research of reality and virtuality in the contemporary technologically saturated cultural environment.

Venture Capitalists’ Investment Criteria in Poland: Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Entrepreneurs, and Founding Teams

The aim of this article is to explore the decision-making policies by Polish Venture Capital (VC) firms, with special focus on the perception of entrepreneurs. This paper presents the results of a conjoint analysis and assessment of the importance of select characteristics among entrepreneurs and the qualities of a team of founders comprising managers of VC firms. The data were collected via face-to-face interviews with 26 Venture Capitalists. In the conjoint experiment, six attributes were presented, among which three represented characteristics of the entrepreneur (his/her passion and experience) and the management team (experience and completeness) alongside three characteristics of the opportunity (readiness of the product/service, growth rate of the market, and innovativeness of the whole project). VC managers ranked the importance of eight characteristics of the entrepreneurs related to their decisions and assessed the functional composition of the team of founders. The results of the experiment show that venture capitalists (VCs) most strongly appreciate the readiness of the product and entrepreneur’s passion. However, their preferences varied across the sample. The results of the ranking also show that the VC managers highly value the honesty of the entrepreneur. VCs typically prefer a team of founders, rather than a single-person project, preferably consisting of persons at least familiar with the technology and the market. This study contributes significantly to the state-of-the-art, as research on VC investment policy (investment criteria) is relatively rare in Central and Eastern Europe, where the VC industry is starting to flourish.

Using Art as Research in Learning and Teaching: Multidisciplinary Approaches Across the Arts, Ross W. Prior (ed.), Foreword by Shaun McNiff (2018)

Review of: Using Art as Research in Learning and Teaching: Multidisciplinary Approaches Across the Arts, Ross W. Prior (ed.), Foreword by Shaun McNiff (2018) Bristol: Intellect, 225 pp., ISBN 978-1-78320-892-0, p/bk, £25.00

DISSENTING BODY AND ITS CREATIVE RECONTEXTUALISATION IN LITHUANIAN VISUAL ARTS

The body is an important starting point concept throughout deconstruction, reconstruction and recontextualization of the body’s concept. This change of focus in research that stems from the results to the process of contextualization means that the researcher should engage with texts or images, as they are reflected in the process of cultural development and exchange, through which decontextualization is exhibited. This article deals with the concept of new materialism and endeavors to explain, how discourses come to matter. It examines the issue of how new materialism tackles visual art in innovative ways – through the intersections of artistic practice, art-as-research, and philosophical analysis. Such definitions as Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s “a bodily being”, Julia Kristeva’s “the abjection of the self”, Arjun Appadurai’s “the aesthetics of decontextualization” and “singularized object”, Igor Kopytoff’s “the cultural biography of things”, and Nicholas Thomas’ “entangled objects”, constitute the methodological frameworks of our research. We will analyze such approaches as Hans Belting’s concept of body as a “living medium”, Giorgio Agamben’s view on body as an object of commodification and Jacques Derrida’s “trust in painting”. An attempt to understand body reconceptualization and deconstruction through the categories of new materialism is the most important aim of this article. Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action (that implies a clear-cut subject-object distinction) is crucial to our research, which underlines that bodies have no inherent boundaries and properties and that the analyzed representations are “material-discursive phenomena”. The artworks under consideration will be confronted with a diagnosis that, according to Barad, all bodies come to matter thanks the intra-activity and its performativity. The case studies of Svajonė Stanikienė and Paulius Stanikas, Evaldas Jansas and Eglė Rakauskaitė works show how the image of the body is developed through the processes of their deconstruction and decontextualization.

Future experiments from the past: Third Cinema and artistic research from below

This article examines possible articulations of artistic praxis and research in relation to social conflict and political struggle. Taking some of the guiding principles of Third Cinema, which we will consider here both a film strategy and an epistemic project “from below”, our aim is to provide elements for discussion to the current debates on art-as-research. Third Cinema, despite its specificities and differences with current times, provided a dialectical and dialogistic approach to artwork, which was conceived as an open realm for criticism, discussion, and struggle, inscribed within a radical political agenda. This article aims at recovering the importance of this critical movement in the arts and uses it as a source of inspiration to propose a series of insights on artistic research, in relation to contemporary interests in collaborative, long-term projects and the third wave of institutional critique. We seek to challenge commonsensical notions around four fundamental axes—experimentation; temporality; public sphere; and institutionalism—by confronting dominant views on these topics through what could be called a Third Cinema politics of artistic research from below—namely, from the perspective of those who embrace research as an intrinsic part of the creative and emancipatory potential of the arts.

Taonsayontenhroseri:ye’ne: the power of art in Indigenous research with youth

Through artistic, spiritual, and ceremonial practices, and cultural bridging between Indigenous communities, our project sought to create a social environment that fostered an exchange of cultural traditions, created opportunities for internationalized decolonization, and fostered pride in Indigenous identities. This arts-based research project used and invoked symbols and images from Haudenosaunee culture, making them relevant to young people through graffiti art created by and for young Indigenous people. This article reflects on the ways in which our project relied on art to engage young people in research, but, perhaps more importantly, to communicate complex symbolism, cultural values, Indigenous solidarity, and community healing through artistic expression. Using art as research was an endeavor to aspire to Kayanere’kowa [the Great Law of Peace] by manifesting sken:nen [peace], ka’hsatstenshera [power], and ka’nikonhri:yo [the Good Mind].