Arts-Based Research in Cultural Spaces

Abstract

This article looks at ways in which conceptual arts-based methods and research creation approaches are applicable to library and information studies. In particular, my research examines the work of racialized artists, away from the Eurocentric canon, and the ways that these works embody concepts that follow practices in the humanities and how these modes of working can apply to cultural studies. Some of the artistic practices that I explore include the conceptual works of artists such as Yoko Ono, On Kawara, Kara Walker, Brian Jungen, Ai Weiwei, and Felix Gonzales-Torres. I look at how research in their work parallels some of the materials, processes, and tools that cultural workers use, such as digitization, archives and databases, code, and the ways in which this information is organized or curated. Many of these artists also work in text-based ways and I also examine how that work is edited based on concepts of indexing and their use of classification methods.

The research looks at various dimensions of these artists’ personal histories, stories, and journeys and how they are filled with an emotionally raw temporal articulation of feelings and responses to the world. Some of these artists act as leaders to encourage participation in unfamiliar spaces and hostile environments, in which they are never the center of power but instead struggle against structures of power by operating on the fringes of the art world in order to build bridges with communities.

The arts are filled with activism and seek to disrupt, to confront, and to question on all levels the political motivations of systemic power structures and organizations, and to unify and organize around those hierarchies. This is done with the hopes of dismantling and building new structures and systems in creative ways. I look to public institutions and hope that in the future lateral and collaborative working relationships amongst cultural workers are encouraged so that the creation and gathering of knowledge and ideas in different areas plays to organizational and individual strengths. I ask those that are working in the field of Library and Information Studies to repudiate the status quo and instead find new methods for continuous improvements with creative tools and alternate thought processes. Artists are always learning and thinking about ways to use materials in new ways through research, by pushing the boundaries of what can be done both with our physical embodiments and also in how we conceptualize ideas with others in an ongoing dialogue. Through critical analysis, these artists demonstrate inspiration and leadership skills in unconventional and inclusive ways.

In order to gain more insight, I gather qualitative data from recent arts-based research articles and books and look at intersections with the work and techniques of the conceptual methodologies of artists outside the Eurocentric art canon. This article proposes to present and discuss findings with practical suggestions for using arts-based tools and techniques to challenge and disrupt current studies around cultural work. In this article, I will discuss artworks from each artist’s oeuvre and also the most important tenets of their work that I think can be applied to arts-based research and also to the more practical work of what can be done in cultural spaces now.

Pre-print first published online 07/09/2024