Symposium: Third, fourth and fifth spaces: Curatorial practices in new public and social (digital) spaces.

November, 8-9, 2013, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich.

Michael Schwab and Florian Dombois discuss the Journal for Artistic Research (JAR) as one possible arena for artistic research. Focussing on the journal’s goal to expose practice as research, the speakers emphasize the journal as performative and transformative space between work, documentation and dissemination. Since the transparent communication of artistic research is not deemed possible, the mode in which art is published as research is seen to impact on and, thus, transform the research itself. As a consequence, artists and researchers need to take ownership not only of the content but also of the form of communication, which seems particularly difficult when material is moved into the online space of an academic journal.

What is JAR (to you)? What were the original ideas?

• http://www.jar-online.net
• Documentation and exposition
• Examples:
• Tero Nauha: Schizoanalysis as a Method in Artistic Research (JAR3)
• Brita Lemmens: The learning process in fado through artistic research (JAR2)
• Paul Landon: Mapping a modern diegesis: Terre des hommes and Robert Altman's Quintet (forthcoming; JAR4)
• Sunlay Almeida Rodriguez: Trans-Piano (RC)
  

What is the relationship between JAR and the RC? Why two projects?

• RC/JAR comparison
• Critique and Meeting

How does JAR tie into your practice as an artist?

• MS: Paris
• FD: Sonification research, platform since 2005: http://www.sonifyer.org

• FD: Luginsland (Sound and Score) (2012)
• FD: Surf'' (2013)
• FD: floriandombois.net (2013)
  

Why is peer-review important? How special is JAR's peer-review?

• JAR peer-review form

Why is JAR online?

• rich-media
• accessible (ties in with Open Access requirement in research)
• stable reference

What are we doing offline?

• Foundation and first General Assembly of JAR and SAR in Bern
  

• Mind the Gap!, Symposion 7 & 8 March 2013 at MUMUTH Graz
• Palaver, a concept by Florian Dombois & Eran Schaerf
  
• Loitering with Intent, SAR General Assembley, 7-9 March 2014 Stockholm

What's missing?

• growing the social space (independent research profiles)
• better interlink/reference work
• tie in offline projects (map/calendar of research events, displays and collections) 
• better negotiate the gap between academic and professional research and also between different fields of research
• address the problem of language use and the dominance of English
• and more...

Documentation

Audio of the presentation taped by Florian Dombois, photo of discussion panel taken by Martin Loetscher. From left to right: Caleb Waldorf, Virginie Bobin, Florian Dombois, Michael Schwab, Michael Birchall.