Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in the Visual Arts

"F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind and still retain the ability of function."

Substantially updated and revised, Art Practice as Research, Second Edition, presents a compelling theory that the creative and cultural inquiry undertaken by artists is a form of research. Sullivan argues that legitimate research goals can be achieved by choosing different methods than those offered by the social sciences. Artists emphasize the role of the imaginative intellect in creating, criticizing and constructing knowledge that not only is new but also has the capacity to transform human understanding.

New to This Edition

Two new chapters explore debates surrounding art practice as research and projects undertaken within the art world, community, and institutional settings.

New expanded sections make reference to the work of more than 50 artist-researchers from countries such as Australia, Azerbaijan, China, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Serbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Documentation of a series of approaches (for instructors and students), grounded in art-making traditions unique to visual arts research, is included.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said that the test of a 'first- rate intelligence' is 'the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind and still retain the ability to function.'"

The imaginative and intellectual work undertaken by artists is a form of research, argues Sullivan (art education, Columbia U.), but existing misconceptions about the intellectual status of learning in visual arts means that the scholarly, cultural, and social significance of art is grossly undervalued. To address the problem, he presents a theory of visual arts practice as research, offering a detailed analysis that explores the theoretical basis of artistic practice to position it within the discourse of research. These research practices do not adopt methods from the social sciences, he says, but subscribe to the view that similar research goals can be achieved by following different yet complementary paths that are just as rigorous and systematic. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Graeme Sullivan is an associate professor of Art Education, Department of Arts and Humanities, at Teachers College, Columbia University.  He earned both his Ph.D. and his M.A. in Art Education from Ohio State University.  Sullivan is a former senior lecturer in Art Education, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Australia.  Since the early 1990s his research has involved an ongoing investigation of critical-reflective thinking processes and research practices in visual arts.  In 1998, he produced a CD-ROM, Critical Influence, that documented the influences and contexts surrounding the art practice of two contemporary artists as they prepared for an exhibition.  He is the author of Seeing Australia: Views of Artists and Artwriters as well as numerous articles which focus on the visual research practices in art and education.  In 1990, he was awarded the Manual Barkan Memorial Award for his scholarly writing by the National Art Education Association (NAEA).  Sullivan is currently the Senior Editor for Studies in Art Education, the research journal of the NAEA.  He is listed in Who's Who in America (2004).