Artistic research, as institutional research, is a young research discipline in the European higher education and research landscape. In the field of art, however, explorative experimentation, as individual and collaborative research, has a long tradition.
The pragmatics of artistic research have much in common with the process and pursuit of scientific research. And even if artistic research may appear similar in many respects to research in the humanities and social sciences, especially its instruments, tactics and context differ from those of scientific research. Most of all, however, it is distinct from scientific research in that it generates “dense knowledge,” i.e. interlinks different forms of knowledge (competencies).
Knowledge, as practical or action-based knowledge, is inherent in artistic work. Making and knowing are one. Its specific forms of activity, along with its explorative experimentation with new skills of discernment within systems of action, perception, conception and assertion, make artistic work comparable to philosophical work. While much artistic research is closely related to practical life research, to exploring life and lifeworlds, it also involves working on a contemporary conception of art. Artistic researchers are primarily artists, and the material results of their research can be either works of art or art projects.
IFCAR has two research focuses: “Art and Forms of Knowledge” explores the specific forms of artistic knowledge in the context of today’s knowledge cultures. The focus “Art, Urbanity and the Public Sphere” (Contemporary Public Art) investigates the ways in which public concerns of today’s — chiefly urban — society can be reflected on and generated with the help of genuine artistic contributions. By interacting with current social factors, with various media and physical space, artistic practices befitting today’s diverse and culturally interconnected communities are developed. The negotiation of social issues, the use of communication techniques relevant to the lifeworld and the analysis of urban development processes from an artistic perspective form the basis for rendering visible, interpreting, intervening and participating in urban social development processes.