***FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS***
RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE CONFERENCE 2008
The fifth biennial international Research into Practice will be held
on 31 October 2008 at the Royal Society of Arts, London, and will
explore the problem of interpretation in research in the visual and
performing arts.
ABSTRACTS ARE INVITED ON THE CONFERENCE THEME.
It is characteristic of research outputs, reports and theses in
traditional disciplines that they are expressed in unambiguous
language. One reason for this is to establish the grounds and
argument from which the conclusions derive. Another reason is to be
quite clear and explicit about what is being claimed as original by
the author for the research. This characteristic has the effect of
reinforcing the dominant knowledge models such as "the scientific
method", "empirical methods", etc. However these models come from
disciplines whose aims and objectives may differ from those in the
arts and humanities. There has been much discussion about the
suitability of such models for the visual and performing arts, which
seem to rely on a more pluralistic approach to interpretation which
values the fact that different generations and different cultures
find their own value in the artefact.
Does this difference of explicitness between traditional disciplines
and the arts mean that their research outputs cannot be compared?
What is the status of the outcomes of research in the visual and
performing arts in terms of what is known or discovered? Is research
in these areas actually trying to achieve something quite different,
and if so what? Is the value of research something constructed by the
receiver, and if so what would that mean for knowledge-models in the
arts? Are its outcomes more contingent than those in other
disciplines because of this difference in the role of interpretation
by the reader/viewer? Does the scientific method really result in
unambiguous interpretation, or conversely is interpretation really so
subjective in the arts?
The conference will focus on the theory of interpretation in research
in traditional disciplines and on the emerging theory of
interpretation in research in the visual and performing arts.
Conference topics that might be considered include, but are not restricted to:
* are unambiguous research outputs in the arts possible or desirable?
* are the problems of interpretation in the arts different from
other disciplines?
* do the interpretational problems in arts stem from its media
or from its aims?
* can anything be learned from studies in interpretation in
other humanities subjects?
* in the historical past were issues of interpretation viewed differently?
* do the arts have special advantages that compensate for any
perceived disadvantages with respect to interpretation of outcomes?
* how does the author/reader problem affect research?
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE AT
http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/res2prac/confhome.html
Research into Practice is the leading forum for scholarship on
so-called practice-based research in the visual and performing arts,
hosted by the University of Hertfordshire, UK.
***Contact <[log in to unmask]>
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Dr Michael A R Biggs
Professor of Aesthetics and Associate Dean Research, University of
Hertfordshire, UK
Visiting Professor: Department of Theoretical and Applied Aesthetics,
University of Lund, Sweden
Faculty for the Creative and Cultural Industries
University of Hertfordshire
College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB
UK
T 00 44 (0)1707 285341
F 00 44 (0)1707 285350
E <[log in to unmask]>
W http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/tvad/biggs1.html
For information about University research in art and design visit
http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/
For information on the Research into Practice international conference visit
http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes1/research/res2prac/confhome.html
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