Aslaug Nyrnes

Bergen University College

Artistic Research and Development
(Artistic R & D) and Rhetoric
– an outline

Words are important because they are not the most important
(Utaker 1992)

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The aim of the paper

Research – also in the arts – is usually described, explained, discussed and read through theory and vocabulary from a traditional theory of science. That means that the focus is on method and content. But often we are not satisfied with a terminology that does not capture what we experience to be the fascinating and even essential aspects of the arts. My aim here is to reflect upon the Artistic R & D – both research in, and research on − from a rhetorical point of view. I find a rhetoric perspective important for the arts since the arts have their own rhetoric, their own discussion of form: “Form is the foundation for everything that creates meaning” (Lilja 2004). The main focus will be on what I call “the topology of art-research”. My background for doing this is a doctoral thesis in rhetorical didactics (Nyrnes 2002), and a currant position as a research-leader of the project “Art-didactics” (NFR 2004-2007).