Practice Related Research
Meet David de la Haye, field recordist, bassist and sonic explorer, and learn more about his creative arts practice and research
Meet Irene Brown, who is currently researching the way that art can instil wonder in the viewer and usually uses research methods that use historical and theoretical materials, alongside practical making
Practice related research refers to an umbrella of approaches typically employed within the arts which utilise creative methods such as performance, film, painting, sculpture, photography and sound to generate new knowledge and creative outputs. Practice related research “is a conceptual framework that allows a researcher to incorporate their artistic practice, creative methods and artistic output into the research design and as a part of the research output” (PRAG-UK, 2021). Research which adopts these approaches allow the researcher to incorporate their artistic practice, rigorous reflective practice, creative methods and creative output or dissemination into the research design. Pertinently, practice related research legitimises the knowledge and learning that can emerge from artistic practice and the tools associated with the discipline.
There are two types of practice related research which draw from similar philosophies: practice-based and practice-led. Conceptually, practice-led research interrogates the nature of artistic practice and leads to new knowledge around that practice, the output of which may or may not include the creative artefact. Practice-based research produces new knowledge through practice and the resulting outcomes and creative artefacts (PRAG-UK, 2021). There is a clear distinction between artistic practice and creative practice whereby they are underpinned by different historical traditions and ideological discourses. Art historian Claire Bishop (2012:16) outlines the difference succinctly in her book.
Methods associated with practice related research include content analysis, ethnographic research, focus groups, survey research, case studies, to name but a few.
Current examples of research projects within the Institute of Creative Arts Practice include Michael Mulvihill’s project ‘Using creative practice to turn ballistic missile early warning inside out’ and ‘Cetacean Conservation: An Oceanic Sound Model’ led by David De La Haye.
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References
Bishop, C. (2012) Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. London, UK: Verso.
PRAG-UK, (2021). METHODOLOGY, PRAG-UK, (accessed 8 January 2021), <https://prag-uk.org/glossary-of-terms/methodology/#:~:text=If%20the%20research%20leads%20primarily,the%20outcomes%20of%20that%20practice.>
