[-empyre-] empyre Digest, Vol 98, Issue 21

[Mike Leggett]

On 24/01/2013, at 12:00 PM, <empyre-request at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> wrote:

I'm not sure why Simon feels :

> These distinctions between practice-led-based are at best fuzzy. I'm not keen on using the terms exclusively. There are many ways of doing a PhD with creative practice as a key element and to try and distinguish between two models ignores the diverse approaches and methods that can be employed.

No it doesn't. The distinctions are necessary as a means of permitting access for others outside the discussion/project, whether artists, scientists, accountants or average tax-payers, thereby avoiding the mystification of this strand of research. From the discussion so far interdisciplinary practice/hybridity clearly is the common ground.  *Fuzzy* is the mystique that needs to be avoided in public discussion. As practitioners we know that fuzz exists in the *zone*, but this is not a part of the distinctions advanced: PBR and PLR help in this comprehension and ARE quite distinct approaches to research. 
Continuing:

> One of the advantages of creative practitioners doing PhDs is that they are not as methodologically constrained ….. The place to begin a PhD is at its end, understanding who will be reading it and why. The end of the PhD is at its beginning, being able to articulate that from the outset.
A very elegant aphorism which whilst a useful description of a tactical approach actually confines the research: the experiential artefact is part of the deliverables of practice- based research and usually answers the question *why* quite clearly.

Kirk and Cecile both ask about sources for clarifying this area. Simon hasn't mentioned I don't think the research he undertook a few years ago into the topic. Simon is there anything available?
Candy and Edmonds as noted earlier, instigators of Creativity & Cognition Studios, is where I was based during my own PhD experience in Sydney. Several graduates from the Studio including myself contributed to a series of case studies to help ventilate this area of practice both as artists and researchers. The process of making the book I believe was also useful for Candy and Edmonds to crystallise their thoughts and observations of many years about research of this kind and its ramifications. Interdisciplinary practice is embedded in the case studies, emerging from researchers with practice in, for example: professional classical musicianship, cinematography, artists film and video, curatorship, computer science, sound art, information systems design, architectural design, visual art, theatre design, software development, communication design, etc.
(Interacting - Art, Research and the Creative Practitioner (2011) Libris)

Fraternally

Michael Leggett PhD, MFA
Senior Honorary Fellow
School of Creative Arts
University of Wollongong
NSW Australia

+61 (0)434996211

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