The Centre for Fine Art Research

Research Philosophy and Culture

The Centre for Fine Art Research (CFAR) is committed to making a significant contribution to national and international research communities. The Centre is engaged with art practice, curatorial strategies and critical, philosophical, historical and creative writing in relationship to contemporary theory, context and debate. In addressing the nexus of the artwork- the processes of making and exhibiting in relation to critical debate and philosophical writing- CFAR is concerned with the exploration of what it means to think of and to produce art as research. CFAR researchers endeavour to transform the subject area by opening up new lines of practical and theoretical enquiry and experimentation within recognised historical and cultural contexts and genres of art, developing new theoretical perspectives and embodied knowledge.

CFAR addresses two provinces: Fine Art specialist research developing the subject area and the cultural industries (including museums, galleries, arts councils, public art and regeneration projects, art publications and media), in which art is exhibited, disseminated and debated and through which art engages and transforms culture and society. These concerns create the dynamic that shapes Fine Art research at UCE and is exemplified by important projects, such as Aaron Williamson’s AHRC funded project, Art Becomes You, in which new and original research is being developed that informs not only specialists concerned with a critique and development of Avant-Garde practice but is also of interest to many research fields through an investigation of disability, identity and subjectivity.

Rationale

© Joshua JiangCFAR researchers are concerned with ‘art in the expanded field’, the term used in the 1970s to describe a paradigmatic shift, from specialised and defined discipline areas to the notion of fields of non-specific practices that renegotiated the established conventions of the avant-garde. The Centre’s orientation outlined above is best understood firstly as the common ground from which CFAR researchers are working and secondly as a concern with specific discourses that have emerged through the development of ‘art in the expanded field’: performance, process-based art and public or socially engaged art practice. In addition to this, CFAR is concerned with debates concerning aesthetics, gender, sexuality, social engagement and politics that emerged in relation to or contemporaneously with practices exploring ‘art in the expanded field’. CFAR is committed to the rigorous examination not only of the relevance and application of these discourses but also their potential contribution to contemporary aesthetics, culture, society and a contemporary context that is defined in part by globalisation and mass mediation.

The Centre’s generic concerns are given focus in specific research strands identified as vital for the future development of the subject area. The four Research Strands that provide the intellectual framework for all research activities within the Centre are: 1. Art in the Public Sphere, 2. Interpretation and Documentation, 3. Performance and Performativity and 4. Form and Meaning through Process.

© Aleksandra MirInitially this process involved the reflexive examination of individual research practices that then led to the identification of shared research concerns and their potential impact on the international field of contemporary art and society. Although the work of each individual researcher is defined in relationship to a specific strand this does not preclude that some researchers contribute to more than one strand. CFAR acknowledges the importance of the interrelationships between disciplines and the collaboration of individual researchers with researchers in other institutions and organisations, as providing the most generative force in terms of significant contributions to knowledge.

Strategy

The four research strands are explored through the practices of individual researchers that are facilitated and complimented by four, interrelating research components: 1. Research Platforms, 2. Major Research Projects, 3. Research Fellowships and 4. Higher Degree and Postgraduate Research Programmes.