Disclosing and Evaluating Artistic Research

Abstract

Purpose This study expands on the results of a stakeholder-driven research project on quality indicators and output assessment of art and design research in Flanders—the Northern, Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Herein, it emphasizes the value of arts & design output registration as a modality to articulate the disciplinary demarcations of art and design research. Design/methodology/approach The particularity of art and design research in Flanders is first analyzed and compared to international examples. Hereafter, the results of the stakeholder-driven project on the creation of indicators for arts & design research output assessment are discussed. Findings The findings accentuate the importance of allowing an assessment culture to emerge from practitioners themselves, instead of imposing ill-suited methods borrowed from established scientific evaluation models (Biggs & Karlsson, 2011)—notwithstanding the practical difficulties it generates. They point to the potential of stakeholder-driven approaches for artistic research, which benefits from constructing a shared metadiscourse among its practitioners regarding the continuities and discontinuities between “artistic” and “traditional” research, and the communal goals and values that guide its knowledge production (Biggs & Karlsson, 2011; Hellström, 2010; Ysebaert & Martens, 2018). Research limitation The central limitation of the study is that it focuses exclusively on the “Architecture & Design” panel of the project, and does not account for intra-disciplinary complexities in output assessment. Practical implications The goal of the research project is to create a robust assessment system for arts & design research in Flanders, which may later guide similar international projects. Originality/value This study is currently the only one to consider the productive potential of (collaborative) PRFSs for artistic research.

Gesture Sonification. An Interaction Design Approach to an Artistic Research Case

“…The definition of assessment procedures could be a further development and refinement of the methodological framework introduced in this paper. A recent interesting example of evaluation procedures in the context of AR was proposed in ARCAA (Actors, Roles, Contexts, Activities, and Artefacts) [51], based on thematic analysis borrowed from the qualitative research methodologies adopted in psychology, However, we should keep in mind what Vanlee and Ysebaert said about, "the importance of allowing an assessment culture to emerge from practitioners themselves, instead of imposing ill-suited methods borrowed from established scientific evaluation models" [52].…”

Discourses on artistic research in Flanders: non-scholarly perspectives on re-search in the arts

“…The potential of collecting and analysing larger bodies of data notwith-standing (e.g. Schwab, 2012;Vanlee & Ysebaert, 2019), sources demonstrate a preference for small-scale or theoretical approaches. By focusing on the 'Flemish public debate on artistic research', this paper is less concerned with Flemish artistic research proper -like practitioners or outcomes -and more with (public) claims about it.…”

“…Aside from practical implications -like a separate model for funding allocation -this embedded PhD programmes in Schools of Arts, distinguishing them from regular university colleges (see Vanlee & Ysebaert, 2019). Granting doctoral titles, however, remains a university monopoly, meaning that candidates have an internal artistic supervisor and an academic supervisor at the university their School of Arts is associated with (see Ysebaert & Martens, 2018).…”

“…Jewesbury, 2009;Sheikh, 2009;Mäkelä et al, 2011;Gielen, 2013) and calls for metareflection (e.g. Hellström, 2010;Biggs & Karlsson, 2011;Vanlee & Ysebaert, 2019). invite addressing processes that underlie and constitute artistic research.…”

Academic research evaluation in artistic disciplines: the case of Poland

“…In continental Europe, the integration of the arts into wider university systems was a result of national reforms and the widespread restructuring of higher education in the aftermath of the Bologna Process. In Sweden, Finland, Norway and Flanders, many art colleges became subject to university regulations and the harmonisation of higher education structures (Arlander 2013;Lundén and Sundén 2015;Vanlee and Ysebaert 2019).…”