Method & Methodology lecture, Tuesday 19 Nov.
This lecture was one of the more interesting of the semester. It raised some questions about what’s behind my work, and why I’ve found it so difficult to focus my research. The concept of artistic research is still quite new to me, having only quite recently come from a mostly scientifically based background. The problem I’ve been struggling with; is problematizing the themes, concepts and ideas that are driving me.
As I’ve said in previous posts, my subject matter is mostly me and what’s going on inside, and this is a rather nebulous mass of psychological, philosophical and emotional impulses and responses. I’ve been worrying about distilling meaningful and manageable questions from this mass, and feeling as though I should have ‘significant questions’ as the basis of my artistic enquiry. However, I’m realizing I can’t tackle my subject matter very easily head-on with well formulated direct questions. A well formulated question sounds like a hypothesis, (to test), which implies having some sense of the line of enquiry. I prefer curiosity over enquiry; – one implies a sense of direction, the other an inclination towards serendipity.
So, my research is really two intertwined strands; – an introspective investigation of how to understand and articulate very deep seated and complicated psychological and emotional issues and concepts, and a strongly curious interest in and aesthetic appreciation of all sorts of ‘things’. Both these threads result in a combination of conceptual and philosophical creative ideas and a constant, (if irregular) stream of visionary experiences. So, although I try to be objective in my self analysis, everything about what I do is subjective and inherently full of biases. Indeed, it’s the examination of that subjectivity and those biases that is the point of the work.
The distinction between methodology and method seems only slight for me. However, I do feel that although the path ahead is not clear, my ‘way’ is a little more so. I just need to go with my instincts, follow what interests me at any given moment; collect and glean like a magpie; – assimilate, cogitate, ruminate, daydream; – make stuff. Then reflect on it all; – does what I’ve feel like an answer to an unformulated question? Oh look over there, some more shiny things…
I think that’s a Reflexive process, if not an Ology.