part i

FoundaTions

in the preface we identified that research in the arts is principally an academic concern.
We had in mind our observation that the whole activity arises as a consequence of the
academicization of the arts. This could be viewed in a number of ways, for example as
a historical trend or an intellectual trend. Viewed historically, one can identify certain
key events including the incorporation of arts schools into universities at various
specific dates in national histories. as an intellectual trend, one can see the progressive
adoption – over decades and even centuries – of different fields of study by the academy,
and the transformation of the values and concerns of those fields into ones that have
an academic focus. What happens with either of these trends is that an activity that
has a particular manifestation in one realm – such as the realm of professional arts
practice – is transformed so that it manifests itself in an academic way. in this sense,
academicization is not a passive process that simply adds to a community’s knowledge
about a particular activity, but instead, it is an active process that transforms the object
of study.
When one approaches the subject of research in the arts and seeks to inquire into
the foundations of this activity, one is already approaching it from an academic point
of view. an inquiry into the foundations of research does not have as its focus the
practical activities of artists or researchers, but rather it attempts to define the activity
according to essential criteria that determine whether the activity is research, and of
what kind. such definitions are usually based on either a comparative study – in which
criteria are identified in cognate fields and transferred to the one in question – or else
they proceed, as it were, from first principles. part i of this book presents elements of
both approaches.
apart from the historical genealogy of the subject, part i looks in detail at the
relationship between the existing field of professional arts practice and existing
conceptions of academic research, what is shared between these two areas and what
is particular and distinct to each. on the one hand, if one sees research in the arts as
a combination of art with research, then one needs to account for the amount that is
shared. is it the case that there is just a small portion that is common and represents
shared interests and concerns between professional arts practice and academic
research, or is there a very large commonality between the two? it may even be that
there is a complete convergence between arts practice and arts research if they are