researCh training in the Creative arts and designa kind that i am sure many people working in arts education would recognize. seen
from this perspective the protection afforded by blurring or blocking out faces could be
seen as a ‘violation’ of the image, and riding roughshod over the authorship of those
participants who created them. of course there are many more instances where creative
arts practice can come into conflict with and challenge conventional approaches to
research ethics, for example the role of copying or sampling in the creation of art
works, or the public exhibition of works that upset or challenge the expectations of
the audience – there is a long pedigree of deliberately provocative acts by artists. The
validation of artistic experiments within the academy can be especially problematic
where questions of legality are involved, as was the case recently in sweden where a
student from Konstfack (university College of arts, Crafts and design, stockholm)
carried out a final project involving graffiti on metro train carriages (Chapter 23). To
what extent can or should these practices be sanctioned by the academy, and what
are the implications of so doing? By what criteria might these be deemed (or not)
ethical research practices? i do not think there are any simple solutions. There are
often multiple and complex considerations to be taken into account, but i do believe
the perspective of practice is important. if the creative arts and design are to be taken
seriously as research disciplines then these are questions that cannot be neglected.
and if researchers in the creative arts and design are not to be overrun by the ethical
positions worked out in other fields then we need practitioner- researchers who are able
to articulate ethical defences of practice- related research. naturally, one would expect
the research supervisor to advise the student on ethical issues, but in a context where
the field has yet to clearly articulate ethical codes that cover the range of creative arts
research practice this is only a partial answer.^17
interdisciplinarity and associated methodological questions, writing and documenting
research practice, and research ethics, all fall within the domain of doctoral research
education and training. They are, in my view, key areas where there is much still to
be thought through and delivered. There are others which i have not mentioned, for
example, knowledge transfer and exchange is an area where creative arts research with
its inherent closeness to practice has much to contribute.
in bringing this chapter to a conclusion, i hope to have offered a useful framework
for thinking about the research training that should be an integral part of any
doctoral programme in the creative arts and design. But it is not my intention to have
provided too complete a picture. There are areas where there is more to do, and new
developments to which creative arts and design researchers need to respond. in this
respect i hope my thoughts and reflections are some starting points for further debate.
Conclusioni want to end this chapter with a way- finding story. a few years ago i was fortunate
enough to find myself in india. as it happened, i had travelled there to participate in
a week-long event on doctoral education in design, but that is beside the point. on
the penultimate day of my trip, after the lectures and workshops had finished, my host
arranged for myself and another academic from stuttgart, to go to agra to see the Taj
mahal and the Red Fort. We were accompanied on the trip by a driver, who spoke
little english, and a guide, who was relatively fluent. The trip was fascinating for a