When is Art Research?
Friday, February 6, 2004
UC Berkeley

When the Arts Research Center was established at UC Berkeley in 2001, its stated goal was to "create a deeper appreciation within the academic community of art-making as a vital form of research that both interprets and re-imagines our world." This year's ARC conference advanced this mission by focusing on what research means to practicing artists. Some questions that were addressed included:

• What constitutes research for the artist and what typical roles does it play in the finished product?
• What is the focus of the participating artists' inquiries/experiments/explorations?
• To what degree do they see what they're doing as contributing to an inquiry that others are also pursuing? Is their work "in conversation" with the work of others?
• To what degree do they find the term research useful or accurate in describing what they do? What are the term's limitations as applied to artists' work?
• For artists who operate within research universities, how does this environment and its definitions or expectations of research effect or modify their creative practice? Are there other "environmental" factors (for instance, the pressures of fundraising) that influence the role of research in an artist's work?
• Are there certain artistic media, techniques, or forms that are easier or more difficult to conceive as research? What is it about certain activities that makes them amenable to being perceived in this way?

The conference consisted of a three panels, and a roundtable discussion with selected members of the ARC faculty. Panelists gave presentations, and at the end, offered informal comments and engaged in group conversation. Links below lead to corresponding materials available online.

The participants retain the copyright to the materials found on this site, which may not be reproduced without permission.

Welcome and Introductory Remarks: Charles Altieri, Director, Arts Research Center

Theater, Dance & Performance as Research
Peter Glazer (panel chair), Assistant Professor, Theater, Dance & Performance Studies, UC Berkeley
Ronnie Gilbert, folksinger-activist, playwright and actress
Joanna Haigood, Director, ZACCHO Dance Theatre
Laura Levin, PhD candidate in Theater, Dance & Performance Studies, UC Berkeley

Visual Arts as Research
Squeak Carnwath (panel chair), Professor in Residence, Art Practice, UC Berkeley
Greg Niemeyer, Assistant Professor, Art Practice/New Media, UC Berkeley
Anne Walsh, Assistant Professor, Art Practice, UC Berkeley
John Zurier, painter
Melissa Day, MFA candidate in Art Practice, UC Berkeley

Composition as Research
Cindy Cox (panel chair), Associate Professor, Music, UC Berkeley
Edmund Campion, Associate Professor, Music, and Composer-in-Residence, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, UC Berkeley
Wayne Peterson, Professor Emeritus, Music, San Francisco State University
Brian Kane, PhD candidate in Music (composition), UC Berkeley

Art as Research
Roundtable with Arts Research Center faculty
Shannon Jackson, Associate Professor, Theater, Dance & Performance Studies and Rhetoric, UC Berkeley
Whitney Davis, Chair and Professor, History of Art, UC Berkeley
David Wessel, Professor, Music, and Director, Center for New Music & Audio Technologies, UC Berkeley
Moderator: Charles Altieri