Short description:

Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in the Visual Arts presents a compelling argument that the creative and cultural inquiry undertaken by artists is a form of research. The text explores themes, practices, and contexts of artistic inquiry and positions them within the discourse of research. Author Graeme Sullivan argues that legitimate research goals can be achieved by choosing different methods than those offered by the social sciences. The common denominator in both approaches is the attention given to rigor and systematic inquiry. Artists emphasize the role of the imaginative intellect in creating, criticizing, and constructing knowledge that is not only new but also has the capacity to transform human understanding.

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Long description:

This book will publish in a new edition on December 1, 2009. We are no longer supplying instructors with complimentary review copies of this edition.

 * If you need an urgent desk copy of the existing edition for a class this semester, please call 1-800-818-7243 and we will be pleased to process your request.

"In this rich and layered reflection on visual arts practice as research, Graeme Sullivan launches a passionate and convincing case that rewrites the definitions of 'art' and 'research' as it unapologetically claims for the visual arts the respect and admiration of the academy."
?Jessica Hoffman Davis, Harvard University

Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in the Visual Arts presents a compelling argument that the creative and cultural inquiry undertaken by artists is a form of research. The text explores themes, practices, and contexts of artistic inquiry and positions them within the discourse of research. Author Graeme Sullivan argues that legitimate research goals can be achieved by choosing different methods than those offered by the social sciences. The common denominator in both approaches is the attention given to rigor and systematic inquiry. Artists emphasize the role of the imaginative intellect in creating, criticizing, and constructing knowledge that is not only new but also has the capacity to transform human understanding.

The book is divided into three content areas that provide a unique framework for carrying out inquiry in the visual arts:

• Contexts for Visual Arts Research is a historical review that positions the visual arts as a culturally grounded and institutionally bound area of artistic and educational inquiry
• Theorizing Visual Arts Practice presents the thesis that visual arts practice is a theoretically robust area of inquiry and a transformative approach to creating and critiquing knowledge
• Visual Arts Research Practices describes a range of strategies and approaches to planning and carrying out visual arts research

is a historical review that positions the visual arts as a culturally grounded and institutionally bound area of artistic and educational inquiry.

Art Practice as Research is perfectly suited as a text for courses in art education, the visual arts, as well as general research methods courses in education and the humanities. This will also be an invaluable reference for anyone with an interest in interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and the role of imaginative inquiry in human understanding.

A blog by Graeme Sullivan welcoming contributors interested in discussing ideas and sharing information about art as a form of research

Praise for this text:
"Sullivan challenges our assumptions about what constitutes research practices and in doing so presents a ground-breaking analysis for visual arts practice as research. This compelling image-text book opens the possibilities for the construction of new forms of knowledge in our increasingly visual world." ?Dipti Desai, New York University
 
"Sullivan provides a timely and excellent introduction to the emerging field of visual cognition and educational research." ?Pradeep A. Dhillon, University of Illinois 

"Art Practice as Research is long overdue. Graeme Sullivan eloquently crafts a methodology text and articulates for contemporary visual artist-researchers how arts practices are, in fact, rich forms of research inquiry." ?Rita L. Irwin, University of British Columbia, Canada

"Sullivan's text is an important addition to the literature associated with research, critical inquiry, and arts education. I wish that such a text would have been available at the time that I was working on my dissertation. I will recommend it to my graduate students and colleagues."  ?Doug Blandy, University of Oregon

"Art Practice moves through a description of accepted methods of research in the sciences.  A person interested in art research would be well-served by the foundation Sullivan provides."  ?COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS

?Sullivan challenges our assumptions about what constitutes research practices and in doing so presents a ground-breaking analysis for visual arts practice as research. This compelling image-text book opens the possibilities for the construction of new forms of knowledge in our increasingly visual world.?

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Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Reviewing Visual Arts Research - Graeme Sullivan
Changing Demands of Visual Arts Theory and Practice - Graeme Sullivan
Limitations of Current Visual Research Methodologies - Graeme Sullivan
Art Practice as Research - Graeme Sullivan
Strategies for Using Art Practice as Research - Graeme Sullivan
Part 1: Contexts for Visual Arts Research&&&x0D;
CONTEXTS FOR VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH&&&x0D;
PART ONE&&&x0D;
CONTEXTS FOR VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH&&&x0D;
PART ONE&&&x0D;
CONTEXTS FOR VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH&&&x0D;
PART ONE&&&x0D;
CONTEXTS FOR VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH&&&x0D;
Contexts For Visual Arts Research - Graeme Sullivan
1. Pigment to Pixel - Graeme Sullivan
The Enlightenment as a Research Project - Graeme Sullivan
Promise of Progress - Graeme Sullivan
Fractured Realities - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
2. Paradigms Lost - Graeme Sullivan
Method as Truth - Graeme Sullivan
Doubting Doctrines - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
Part 2: Theorizing Visual Arts Practice - Graeme Sullivan
3. Explanation, Understanding, and Beyond - Graeme Sullivan
Theorizing in Practice - Graeme Sullivan
Theorizing Visual Arts as Practice-Based Research - Graeme Sullivan
Theorizing Art Practice as Transformative Research - Graeme Sullivan
Visual Arts Research Practices - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
4. Visual Knowing - Graeme Sullivan
Visual Cognition - Graeme Sullivan
Thinking Practices in the Visual Arts - Graeme Sullivan
Visual Arts Knowing: A Framework - Graeme Sullivan
Visual Arts as Transcognitive Practice - Graeme Sullivan
A Case Study: Critical Influence - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
5. Artist as Theorist - Graeme Sullivan
Sites of Practice - Graeme Sullivan
Reemergence of the Artist-Theorist - Graeme Sullivan
Critical Perspectives and Practices - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
Part 3: Visual Arts Research Practices - Graeme Sullivan
6. Practice as Theory - Graeme Sullivan
A Framework for Visual Arts Research Projects - Graeme Sullivan
Visual Practice: Experiences - Graeme Sullivan
Empirical Inquiry: Exercises - Graeme Sullivan
Interpretive Discourse: Encounters - Graeme Sullivan
Critical Process: Enactments - Graeme Sullivan
Conclusion - Graeme Sullivan
Epilogue: Conclusions and Beginnings - Graeme Sullivan
Chipping Away - Graeme Sullivan
Uncertain Conclusions - Graeme Sullivan
References - Graeme Sullivan
Index
About the Author

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