The Special Issue of Phenomenology & Practice, Vol. 17 No. 1 (2022) on 'Practices of Phenomenological and Artistic Research', (eds.) Alex Arteaga, Emma Cocker, Juha Himanka, Erika Goble, is now published online here.
This Special Issue explores existing and possible connections between two different sets of practices: phenomenological research practice and artistic research practice. On the one hand, both sets of practices share a basic aspect: they approach their object of research as phenomena, that is, through their phenomenal presences. On the other hand, these sets of practice are configured by different forms of action developed in different media —among many others, written or oral language, drawing, video, photography, sound or body movement.
How do the commonalities between practices of artistic and phenomenological research manifest? How can phenomenological research be accomplished in artistic media and by artistic means? How can artistic research extend the scope of phenomenology as a field of research practices? In turn, how can phenomenology contribute to further develop artistic research practices?
The focus of this Special Issue goes beyond traditional views of the relationships between art and phenomenology by considering both as fields of research, or more specifically, as ways of researching through phenomena. For the purposes of this Special Issue, art was not approached as an object of research for phenomenologists and phenomenology was not treated as a theoretical reference for artists producing art works. Accordingly, we neither focused on inquiry into practices of artistic production based in or inspired by phenomenology nor on phenomenological theories of art. Instead, we focused on research practices developed through the influence, combination, and even hybridization of phenomenological and artistic approaches in order to advance the methodological development of both fields.
This Special Issue is understood as a continuation of the work initiated by Through Phenomena Themselves, one of the research cells within the Research Pavilion #3, a catalyst of emerging cooperations in the field of artistic research hosted by the University of the Arts Helsinki in the framework of the Venice Biennale, 2019 (www.researchpavilion.fi).
Including contributions from Alex Arteaga, Michael Biggs, Emma Cocker, Michael Croft, Maria Gil Ulldemolins and Kris Pint, Katja Hock, Esa Kirkkopelto, Rebecca Lloyd, Edvin Østergaard, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and Stefan Östersjö.