The Three Configurations of Studio-Art PhDs

Artistic Research: Defining the Field

“…47 Elkins situates the conundrum in the question of disciplinarity: discussions of an artwork will draw from various disciplinary domains, but are ultimately enjoined to further the artwork in its singularity, rather than to be judged according to a complete disciplinary frame of knowledge, as in art history for example. 48 These comments echo the concerns raised in the College Art Association debates of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Kenneth Hudson's scepticism that art can even be taught in a university in the first place, seeing only mediocrity emerging from the academic credentialing of artists. 49 This position is underpinned by a conception of knowledge that is analytically propositional, being produced by a consciously reflective mind and conveyed to a clearly defined disciplinary community through publication.…”

Book review: Artistic Research in the Future Academy

“…It is only halfway through his book that Butt attempts to define the field of artistic research. Ironically, most of what Butt discusses here appears to support the ‘sceptical’ position that he emphatically rejects, namely that ‘art is art and research is research, and neither domain benefits from their confusion’ (p. 80), as voiced, for instance, by Elkins et al (2009). A conundrum for the artistic PhD, Butt points out, is the role of language, one of the main bones of contention being the minimum number of words that constitute the mandatory verbal reflection on the artistic work.…”

From global policy to tertiary pedagogy: Transformational thresholds for creative arts degrees

“…This change to the PhD statute required extensive negotiation across the University of Auckland and within the nationwide Committee on University Academic Programmes, as the University of Auckland was the first university in Aotearoa New Zealand to formally introduce creative practice components into a PhD statute. These committee-based negotiations required substantial representations of new ideas to committee members: the provision of current literature on PhDs with creative practice (Elkins, 2009; Nelson, 2006), and data identifying similar regulatory shifts at benchmark institutions around the world.…”