Artistic Research:  Edge of the edge of the wedge

The epistemological commitment of a researcher in the humanities is two fold: first to ‘flesh out’  a particular system of knowledge (or a web of knowledge systems), and second,  to reflect on the ramifications of power brought into play by the knowledge system (and the research). The commitment of one engaged in Artistic Research is therefore to theorize and negotiate the deployments of power –one’s own and that of others’ in artistic practice and writing.

This presentation will begin with the premise that artistic research, as a speculative pursuit and presentation of power-knowledge, consciously or not, vies for hegemony in the field of public discourse and maintains an anxious and often conflicted relationship to institutions, to the administrative state, and to other competing interest-groups in the public sphere.

I will present a decidedly Darwinian view of Artistic Research, in which it is considered as both a reflexive inquisition into knowledge-power, and a means by which artists tactically take power by actively positioning  themselves in the midst of prevailing social and political discourses. Such centripetal positioning brings with it certain challenges and responsibilities, as artists may become defacto representatives of our respective states, or of other civil society agencies and groups. The paper will consider the tensions that arise between the ‘voice of the artist’, the ‘voice of the researcher’ and the contestation for voice and agency in the social sphere.

I will flesh out these issues using some foundational and recent projects from my own artistic and theoretical production.

As a performance artist, critic and historian practicing for the past twenty years in the Asiapacific region (Singapore, Australia, Malaysia) Europe and the United States, my performances and writings have focused on the discourses of power-knowledge, and the performance of individuals and institutions, especially governments and educational institutions.

Ray Langenbach, Joint Adjunct Professor
Kuvataideakatemia, Helsinki , Theatre Academy Helsinki and Sunway University College, Kuala Lumpur

Ray Langenbach’s (raylangenbach@mac.com). ) performs, exhibits and publishes in the United States, Europe and the Asia Pacific. He writes on Southeast Asian performance, propaganda & visual culture and has co-convened conferences and performance festivals in Asia and Europe. Langenbach holds Professorships at the Finnish Academy of Fine Art,  the Finnish Theatre Academy, and the Department of Performance and Media, Sunway University, Malaysia.

Picture, right: Langenbach Autologous Vampire, 2000 Dresden.  Photo by Gott, Station Flexible X