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Research Art is Everywhere. But Some Artists Do It Better Than Others.

By Kavior Moon

Kavior Moon

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How did this come to be? On the institutional front, art schools have been establishing programs and centers for “artistic research” and “research-creation,” particularly in Canada and across Europe, for more than 20 years. In 1997 the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki established an early notable doctoral program for artists; two decades later, PhD degrees in art are available in multiple countries. Globally renowned curators such as Catherine David, Okwui Enwezor, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and Ute Meta Bauer made their careers organizing large-scale international exhibitions often laden with research-based art and organized within a curatorial framework predicated on theory. Now, there are professional artists with research-based practices teaching their students various research methodologies and encouraging the production of yet more research-based works.

The current trend has an even longer historical trajectory when related to artists and their motivations. One might find traces in the work of Leonardo da Vinci or 17th-century naturalists such as Maria Sibylla Merian. Hito Steyerl, a contemporary research artist par excellence, describes the formal and semiotic investigations of Soviet avant-garde circles in the 1920s as formative for research art today. In her 2010 essay “Aesthetics of Resistance? Artistic Research as Discipline and Conflict,” Steyerl discusses authors, photographers, and self-proclaimed “factographers”—including Dziga Vertov, Sergei Tretyakov, Lyubov Popova, and Aleksandr Rodchenko—whose epistemological debates centered on terms such as “fact,” “reality,” and “objectivity.” From Constructivism, in which artists were redefined as designers, technicians, and engineers engaged in developing new approaches to constructing forms, emerged the program of Productivism and the associated method called “factography.”

Factographers aimed to chronicle and analyze modern life, particularly through texts, photography, and film. They did not claim to portray reality objectively and impartially (as opposed to conventional documentary makers) but rather to actively transform reality through ideological acts of signification, through new modes of production and collective reception. As Steyerl reminds us, “fact comes from [the Latin] facere , to make or to do.”

Another pivotal moment in the historical development of research-based art came with the conceptual turn in art in the 1960s and ’70s, particularly with the emergence of institutional critique. Moving away from formalist painting and sculpture, Conceptual artists contended that the idea or concept of an artwork (not its physical form) was the art. Texts, diagrams, photographs, and other forms of matter-of-fact documentation feature heavily in the works of Conceptual artists Joseph Kosuth, the Art & Language group, Mel Bochner, Hanne Darboven, and Christine Kozlov, among others. From this point of view, art can be seen as a transmission of “information,” the term curator Kynaston McShine used to title his landmark Conceptual art survey at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1970.

WITH ARTISTS INCLINED TOWARD INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE like Hans Haacke, one begins to see research not just informing the work of art but becoming an essential part of its content. A significant early example is Haacke’s Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, A Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971 (1971), which was made using extensive information that Haacke found in the New York County Clerk’s records. The work is simply a presentation of facts: it comprises 142 photographs of building facades and empty lots, maps of the Lower East Side and Harlem indicating each property’s location, and texts and charts detailing information about transfer of ownership, land value, and mortgage lenders.

With prolonged viewing, one notices that the many corporations that owned the properties were actually run by notorious landlord Harry J. Shapolsky and his relatives and associates, who bought, sold, and mortgaged the properties within their own real estate group. The shell corporations effectively obscured the properties’ ownership ties to the Shapolsky family as well as the tax advantages these inside deals conferred. One of the city’s biggest slumlords at the time, Shapolsky had previously been indicted for bribing building inspectors and convicted of rent-gouging.

For institutional critique artists, research became a key means to investigate and expose various social systems and the sociopolitical context of the art world. In doing so, the aim was to show how what we consider “art” is not timeless but in fact socially constructed, powerfully conditioned by the conventions and normalizing practices of art institutions. Haacke’s Shapolsky et al. was one of the reasons the artist’s major solo show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum that year was famously canceled after then director Thomas Messer accused Haacke of “muckraking,” calling his work “extra-artistic” and a potential “alien presence” within the museum.

Although Haacke clearly made visible the machinery behind one of the most lucrative real estate operations in New York, the more fundamental threat, art historian Rosalyn Deutsche has pointed out, was how his work would have framed a series of slum properties against the museum’s pristine space, revealing it as a highly controlled space of material privilege. Deutsche persuasively argues that Haacke’s work implicitly raises questions about how proprietorial interests shape not only urban space but cultural spaces as well—a line of inquiry that Haacke and other institutional critique artists would develop in subsequent research-based works.

THE LAST MOMENTOUS SHIFT in the 20th century occurred around the 1980s and ’90s, as more and more artists used research to inform their works reflecting feminism, postcolonialism, queerness, and other forms of identity politics. An early example is Mary Kelly’s Post-Partum Document (1973–79), a six-part series that juxtaposes documentation of the artist’s experience as a new parent and the development of her son during the first six years of his life with research on the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan. A feminist critique of Conceptual art as well as Lacanian psychoanalysis, Post-Partum Document presents the mother-child relationship as an intersubjective exchange of signs between mother and child.

During these decades, artists often used archival materials or the form of the archive in their works, making research-based art to recuperate overlooked histories and marginalized figures or groups. In her landmark Import/Export Funk Office (1992–93), Renée Green presented books, magazines, photographs, cassette tapes, videotaped interviews, and other source materials taken from both her library and that of German cultural critic Diedrich Diederichsen, creating an extensive audiovisual archive of international hip-hop and African diasporic culture in the United States and Germany. Hal Foster termed this tendency “an archival impulse,” looking at the works of Tacita Dean, Sam Durant, and Thomas Hirschhorn.

Another artistic approach entails questioning the authority and authenticity of archives by pointing out their inherent biases. Between 1989 and 2004, Walid Raad developed a collection of both found and fabricated materials—documents, notebooks, photographs, news clippings, interview transcripts, and videos—related to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–91). His archival displays, presented under the guise of an imaginary foundation named “The Atlas Group,” blend fact and fiction to deconstruct the truth claims of documentary media, and bespeak distrust of official narratives, while also exploring the links between history, memory, trauma, and fantasy.

ONE CAN SEE a variety of research-based approaches in the practices of numerous artists today, applied with varying degrees of success. Some critics have voiced skepticism of much research-based art currently in vogue. In a 2019 lecture at the Kunsthalle Wien, Claire Bishop decried many research-based artworks as “information overload” and mere “aggregation” without hierarchy or narrative in ways that are symptomatic of our “browsing” habits in the internet age.

While a number of artists have used research as a crucial component in large-scale works—Steyerl in her immersive installations, Hirschhorn in his sprawling “monuments” to various critical theorists—others favor a more understated mode: pared-back, subtle, and visually economical. These artists often start by researching objects, ideas, events, or sites, and pair their installations with detailed supplemental texts that make one reconsider the presented materials in light of what can’t immediately be seen, often intangible issues of historical context, social injustice, and the law.

Maria Eichhorn, a second-generation institutional critique artist, bridges that now-established approach with the practices of younger research-based artists. For the 1997 edition of Skulptur Projekte Münster, she used the production fee she received to purchase a plot of land near the center of the show’s host city. Declaring the vacant lot a public sculpture, she titled her project Acquisition of a plot, Tibusstraße, corner of Breul, communal district of Münster, plot 5, drawing attention to the site’s recent history: years prior, residents had mobilized to stop the building of luxury condominiums there, and formed a tenants association to protect the availability of affordable housing.

Eichhorn exhibited a copy of the plot’s purchase contract and deed in the Landesmuseum, alongside a booklet detailing her research into the origins of cities in Europe, the historical establishment of land registers and real property, and the problem of affordable housing in present-day Munster. Instead of installing a piece of decorative “plop art,” Eichhorn prompted visitors to reflect on the economic and social realities of everyday urban spaces and the conflict of public and private interests. At the end of the exhibition, the artist sold the plot back to the city and donated its resale value to the area’s tenants association.

More recently, Eichhorn has focused on goods unlawfully obtained by the German state. For her 2003 exhibition “Politics of Restitution” at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, she worked with historian Anja Heuss to research the provenance of 15 paintings in the Lenbachhaus’s art collection on permanent loan from the Federal Republic of Germany. After World War II and until 1962, the Allies sought to return art objects stolen by the Nazis; after that, the remaining 20,000 or so unclaimed items were declared state property. Heuss determined that 7 of the 15 paintings were likely stolen or forcibly taken from their Jewish owners. Eichhorn displayed these paintings so as to reveal the markings on the reverse that document how they changed hands over time. She also exhibited another painting in the Lenbachhaus’s collection that was formally restituted just a year earlier to the heirs of its original Jewish owner.

Chronicling how these paintings got to where they are begs a follow-up question: what other objects currently in public collections were wrongfully taken by the state? Eichhorn’s 2017 Documenta project built on her work at Lenbachhaus, but dealt more actively with restitution. In Kassel, she created a project called “The Rose Valland Institute,” to investigate the looting of all forms of Jewish-owned property, not just artworks, since 1933. Her multiroom installation centered around a towering shelf filled with books from the main public library in Berlin. A wall text claimed that the nearly 2,000 volumes on view were once owned by Jewish persons and unlawfully acquired by the municipal library in 1943. Eichhorn also displayed photos, auction records, inventory lists, and other documents related to the confiscation of Jewish-owned assets, artworks, books, and other material possessions, as well as a reference library of publications on these issues.

Viewers also learned from accompanying texts that the Rose Valland Institute is an actual functioning organization, based in the Neue Galerie in Kassel for the run of the exhibition (and now in Berlin), whose mission is to return the looted items to their rightful owners or their descendants. Eichhorn’s project provokes viewers to actively question how objects in the country’s public collections were acquired, and to make their own restitution claims or provide other pertinent information.

Like Eichhorn, Cameron Rowland displays found objects accompanied by detailed handouts that elucidate the dark histories the objects index. Rowland’s work often addresses racialized exploitation and its ongoing effects, such as a piece titled Assessment (2018) that comprises an 18th-century English grandfather clock once housed at a plantation in South Carolina, and three 19th-century receipts that show property taxes were collected on slaves, clocks, and livestock alike in slaveholding states.

At the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Rowland displayed Assessment alongside used everyday objects—leaf blowers, a hedge trimmer, a stroller, and bicycles—placed casually around the gallery. These items were purchased at police auctions of goods taken through civil asset forfeiture, a legal proceeding in which law enforcement can seize without warrant property believed to be connected to illegal activity. Originating in the English Navigation Act of 1660 to maintain England’s monopoly on trade with its colonies and West Africa, civil asset forfeiture has since thrived in the United States. Today, it is practiced by police departments as well as federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Astoundingly, Rowland notes in their text that in 2013, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under DHS, contributed $1 billion in seized property to the Treasury Forfeiture Fund.

Just as property taxes on slaves were used to fund state governments in the antebellum South, auction sales from civil asset forfeiture are used to fund the agencies that seize properties. Together, the objects in Rowland’s show link issues of property concerning enslaved and undocumented people to highlight the dispossession and profiteering that results when groups of people are denied the protections of citizenship.

Where Eichhorn has focused on restitution, Rowland spotlights reparations. For Disgorgement (2016), part of an exhibition at Artists Space in New York, Rowland established an entity called the Reparations Purpose Trust, evidenced by framed legal documents on view there. Through this trust, they purchased shares of the insurance company Aetna, Inc., which had once profited from issuing insurance policies on the lives of slaves to slaveowners. The trust is to hold these company shares until the US government passes a law to make financial reparations for slavery, at which point the trust will dissolve and give its shares to the federal agency responsible for making the payments.

Where Rowland has focused on reparations, Gala Porras-Kim proposes mediation as a form of redress. In her project “Precipitation for an Arid Landscape” (2022), first presented at Amant in Brooklyn, she displayed works centered on Maya objects collected by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. In several large drawings, collectively titled “Offerings for the Rain at the Peabody Museum,” she depicts objects found in the Chichén Itzá cenote, a sacred Maya sinkhole in Mexico. These objects were originally deposited as offerings to Chaac, the Maya god of rain, lightning, and thunder, but between 1904 and 1911, the American diplomat and archaeologist Edward H. Thompson dredged them up.

A circular enclosure in the center of the gallery displayed photographs, documents, letters, newspaper clippings, and other publications from the Peabody archives and elsewhere, enabling viewers to learn about the troubling circumstances that brought the objects into the museum. Thompson purchased property around the cenote in order to access it before smuggling the artifacts into the US; an 1897 Mexican law made exporting antiquities illegal.

In a framed letter to the Peabody Museum’s director, part of a work titled Mediating with the Rain (2021–), Porras-Kim points out that the desiccated condition of the Chaac objects is at odds with their intended wet state. The objects were meant to remain in the cenote, where they had been preserved in water. Exposure to air and the excessive dryness of the museum’s climate-controlled storage rooms have permanently changed their physical composition. Now, she notes, the objects are “just dust particles held together through conservation methods.” Porras-Kim suggests opening a dialogue on how the objects could at least regain what she calls their “dignitary interests” and thus be spiritually restituted in some form. One idea she has proposed is to designate the objects as owned by the rain and “on loan” to the museum.

In combining artistic research and institutional critique, artists like Porras-Kim and the others surveyed here are critically interrogating the institutions thought to be arbiters of authority. In other words, they are researching research to question the norms of knowledge production and to challenge the status quo. Rather than conducting investigations in order to present conclusive results, they unsettle and expand how we can see the world with all its inglorious pasts. 

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Research as art: revealing the creativity behind academic output

Associate Professor of Engineering, Swansea University

Disclosure statement

Richard Johnston receives funding from EPSRC and the Welsh European Funding Office.

Swansea University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Research is the lifeblood of modern universities, but there are very few ways for those behind the academic output to show the real creativity and emotion that underpins it. The story of the research is lost – the many failures that led to the results, the often tortuous process, or the ecstatic highs of successes and the serendipitous path that changes the researcher’s career all fall by the wayside.

Researchers are creative by nature – and at Swansea University we wanted to give them the opportunity to communicate their work in a different way, as art. Our annual Research as Art competition gives researchers a platform to explore their creativity and convey the emotion and humanity in their research.

The striking images entered into the competition are the hook to draw the audience in, but the text is the researcher’s opportunity to engage with people. The most compelling submissions aren’t just an image that was lying on a lab hard drive for years, or a beautiful false-coloured electron microscopy image by which colour is added to an image so that researchers can see the different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are the submissions that describe the years of failure in the laboratory, the inspiration, and the way researchers question themselves daily.

Below are just a selection of the images from this year’s winners, accompanied by their own words.

“Beauty in failure”, by Emmanuel Péan, PhD researcher, SPECIFIC

This photo, taken with an optical microscope, is the result of a perovskite [a type of mineral] sample that went wrong.

The resulting picture looks like meteors crashing onto a sun. Those “meteors” and their “tails” may have been formed by the presence of impurities on the sample. In contrast, the “sun” might have resulted from ethyl acetate not uniformly diffusing into the perovskite sublayer [the slice of mineral].

Scientific research is not always fruitful, however, it is when you make mistakes that you learn the most and have the most fun.

“Data saves lives: how do feelings become numbers?”, by Ann John, professor of medicine

I work with big data to explore children and young people’s mental health, analysing millions of anonymised routinely collected health records in a secure environment.

In a public lecture I was asked “how do feelings become numbers?”. So in collaboration with artist Karen Ingham we worked with young people to use new technology differently, and explore feelings more directly. We asked them to create a 3D immersive version of their state of mind using a virtual reality VIVE headset with a tilt brush. They could walk in, out and around these visual representations of feelings – a true mind-body approach.

“Hiding in plain sight”, by Simon Robinson, research officer, computer science

In nature, some animals can blend into their environments to avoid being eaten or to reduce their impact on the ecosystem around them.

Taking inspiration from these evolved systems, we investigate the notion of chameleon-like approaches for mobile interaction design. Our approach shows the value of the concept and motivates further research in materials and form factors that can provide more effective automatic plain-sight hiding.

“Banality from familiarity”, by Elizabeth Evans, PhD researcher, engineering

I wonder whether we researchers can become so close to our work that it becomes banal to us. Not boring or without merit, but something we have become so familiar with we forget that it’s original and unique work that no one else is doing.

Every day I analyse ancient volcanic ash using cutting edge x-ray microscopes, but it takes a third party to remind me how out of the ordinary such a career is.

“Iron on the dress: redressing the story of Amy Dillwyn”, by Kirsti Bohata, professor of English literature and creative writing

Amy Dillwyn was one of the first British female industrialists. She has been painted as a woman whose bright future was dashed by the death of her fiancé when she was just 18. In reality, she was already in love with the woman who would dominate her life and fiction for the next 30 years. Her radical novels – some of the earliest lesbian fiction in print –- bend gender and reject romantic endings.

“The iron on the dress” was created by sculptor Mandy Lane , who poured molten iron over a century-old wedding dress. One observer remarked of the image: “It is like a crime scene, and it is a crime, the crime is the fact that we need to retell the story of this clearly influential woman”.

This research, and the artwork, is about uncovering and correcting the historical and literary record.

“Mirror trees: programmable liquid metal spreading tree structures”, by Timothy Neate, research officer, future interaction technology lab

We aim to create future mobile user interfaces which are highly changeable in both their visual and tactile appearance.

Our image shows the spreading effects when a voltage is applied across EGaIn (an alloy of Gallium and Indium). Its surface tension is affected by the potential across the electrodes causing dramatic spreading effects. This means that the metal transitions from an almost perfect spheroid, to a great, flat, intricate branching tree structure. Modulating the voltage, then, can cause rapid oscillating effects to provide exciting visual and tactile feedback.

“Aberration”, by Alexandros Alampounti, PhD researcher, physics

In our lab, we are working with atoms cooled to a millionth above absolute zero. Atomic motion becomes so slow that you can interact with them with astonishing precision. To “talk” to the atoms we need some form of postman to deliver this information: we use an optical fiber -400 nanometres thick! We place the nanofiber close to the atoms and shine a laser through it.

Simply because the size of the fiber is smaller than the wavelength of light that passes through it, light “spills out” due to a quantum mechanical effect akin to quantum tunnelling. It is thanks to this “spillage” that light propagating through the fiber can interact with the atoms which are outside of it! In this image, you see this exact “spillage” from our optical nanofiber. The beautiful pattern arises from a slight misalignment of the camera lenses, known as spherical aberration.

“Bioblocks: building for nature”, by Ruth Callaway, SEACAMS research officer (industrial and business)

Over 200 children used cubes of clay to sculpt ecologically attractive habitats for coastal creatures. These bioblocks demonstrate that human-made structures can support marine life, while children and their families have gained a better understanding of the unique resilience of sea creatures.

It is hoped that the diverse and complex habitat will enable more species to use this new material as a living space: crevices and holes will provide shelter; variable textures and overhangs will allow animals and seaweed to cling to the material.

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The resources in the National Gallery of Art’s study rooms, image collections, library, and archives allow a community of researchers to study art in depth.

The National Gallery of Art is home to a community of scholars that includes the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts and members of the National Gallery’s curatorial, conservation, and education staffs. The National Gallery of Art Library and Archives offer exceptional resources for scholars and staff, as well as for visitors. The publishing arm of the National Gallery sees to a broad distribution of the community’s scholarship.

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts fosters the study of the history and meaning of art.

Visit the National Gallery of Art Library to find exceptional resources for researchers—from special exhibitions to collections of rare books, artists’ books, and art images. 

Research the history of the National Gallery of Art through archival photographs, documents, oral histories, and related materials.

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Discover National Gallery of Art publications: from beautiful exhibition and collection catalogs and in-depth research monographs, to online reference works and symposia, to children’s books and visitor guides.

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Join our community of scholars and researchers. Make an appointment to use the library, its image collections, and our other resources.

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Research a variety of art forms and genres in the nation’s collection with the latest peer-reviewed scholarship from international experts.

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Explore works of art from our permanent collection. Classify your search by artist, timespan, medium, and more.

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The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries collection contains a wide variety of resources that can be used to locate information on artists and their works. Our open shelf collection in the reading room contains reference sources, such as dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, and indexes. We have strong collections of artist files, auction catalogs, books, exhibition catalogs, journals, and newspapers in the library collection, and the Ryerson and Burnham Archives collections also contain papers for individual artists and arts organizations, as well as a collection of artists’ oral histories.

This research guide provides recommendations for research sources and strategies to locate information on both prominent and obscure artists and their works. Prior to beginning your research, we recommend that you compile as much information about the artist or artwork of interest to you as possible. Do you know the artist’s name, the artwork’s title, the approximate dates the artist worked or the piece was created, or the geographic area where the artist lived or the object was created? If you are working on an artwork in your collection, have you examined it to see whether it contains any signatures or marks, labels, or annotations (you may wish to remove the frame to fully examine the object)? Recording this information and bringing an outline of keywords or research objectives as well as clear, closeup images of any signatures or markings to the library with you will provide you with a strong starting point for your research.

Getting Started

The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries’ catalog will lead you to articles, artist files, books, and exhibition catalogues for an artist. For best results, use the Library Catalog search scope, and enter the artist’s name, last name, first name (example: Monet, Claude). The following resources will also be helpful in learning more about specific artists and their artworks.

Catalogues Raisonnés

Look for a piece in the most comprehensive catalogue of the artist’s known works. Please note these are not available for all artists. The International Foundation for Art Research maintains a free database of published and forthcoming catalogues raisonnés.

In the library catalog, search the Library Catalog scope for: [Artist’s name; Last Name, First Name] – Catalogues raisonnés (example: Hopper, Edward – Catalogues raisonnés).

Artist Files

The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries have over 35,000 artist files, which contain small exhibition catalogs, checklists, clippings, images, and fliers for artists, galleries, museums, and art schools. These are described in the catalog: the location and material type is Pamphlets. See also the New York Public Library’s artists file on microfiche (call number 1990 3).

Biographical Reference Resources

• Who’s Who in American Art This subscription resource is also available digitally in the reading room.
• Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975
• Dictionary of Artists (Bénézit) This subscription resource is also available digitally in the reading room.
• Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexikon This subscription resource is also available digitally in the reading room.
• Contemporary Artists

Ryerson Index

Look for articles on an artist, particularly if the artist was in the Chicago area and was active in the early to mid-20th century. This includes references to the Art Institute of Chicago Scrapbooks .

Full Title :   I ndex to Art Periodicals (1962)

Signature Directories

If you do not have the name of the work you are researching, but it has a signature, try resources such as these.

•      American Artists: Signatures & Monograms, 1800-1989
•      Marks & Monograms: The Decorative Arts, 1880-1960
•      The Visual Index of Artists’ Signatures & Monograms
•      Artists’ Monograms & Indiscernible Signatures: An International Directory, 1800-1991

Reproduction Indices

Track down works that reproduce a painting, such as World Painting Index or Art Reproductions .

Art Dictionaries

Art dictionaries are useful for biographies, introductions to periods of art, and the bibliographies that accompany entries; the Grove Dictionary of Art and Oxford Art Online (this subscription resource is available in the reading room) are good examples. Works such as the Dictionary of Art Terms can also be useful for definitions and explanations of terms and periods of art, as well as illustrations and diagrams for entries.

Articles on Art, Artists, and Related Topics

These subscription resources provide citations and some full-text articles on art, artists, and related topics. Unless otherwise noted, they are available onsite at the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago campus. Faculty, students, and staff at the Art Institute of Chicago and School of the Art Institute of Chicago can also access most of these resources from other locations with an ARTIC username and password via the Art, Architecture, and Design Resources Page .

Newspaper Databases

The Libraries subscribe to online regional and national newspaper databases, which can be used to locate biographical or exhibition information.

These resources are accessible in the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries via the Newspapers Resources Page .

Auction Databases

The Libraries subscribe to a number of auction databases, most of which cover auctions from the last 20 years. 

These resources are accessible in the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries via the Auction Resources Page.

Researching Artworks in a Museum Collection

Objects currently on display in the Art Institute galleries can usually be found in Collections Online . The record may include an image, information from the wall label, and occasionally an exhibition history and bibliography of titles that mention the artwork. CITI is the museum’s internal collection database, which includes information on all artworks in the Art Institute’s collection. If an item is not on display in the galleries, this may be the best starting point. Please ask at the reference desk for CITI access.

For objects that are on display in other museums and institutions, the subscription ARTstor database, available in the reading room, contains a growing survey of major works of art, as well as specialized image collections.

Search by museum collection, artist, or keyword. ARTstor is available from the Image Databases page .

Catalog of Museum or Department

Consult the catalogs of a museum’s collection or a museum department’s collection. For example: American Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago . You can find these by searching the library catalog for the museum and department name and the term catalogs (for example, Art Institute of Chicago. Department of Textiles — Catalogs).

Beyond the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries

Area Libraries

Check libraries and/or historical societies in the area that the artist was from or was most active for information including newspaper articles and pamphlet files. Try “Find a library near you,” available here: https://www.worldcat.org/libraries .

Chicago Artists’ Archive at Chicago Public Library

This archival collection is available at the Harold Washington Branch of Chicago Public Library (8th floor). Files may contain: resumes, newspaper articles, artists’ books, gallery flyers, videos, press clippings, letters, photographs, some original artwork, and CDs. To find out if a particular artist is included in the collection you can call (312) 747-4300 or consult the list available here: http://www.chipublib.org/fa-chicago-artists-archive/ .

Collections that Have Works by the Artist

Once you discover which museum collections hold pieces by an artist, check with these institutions for information. 

Union Catalogs

The Chicago Collections Consortium contains digitized items from the archives and special collections of various Chicago-area institutions, including scrapbooks, photographs, and other printed material for local art-related topics. Access the free online portal here: http://explore.chicagocollections.org .

WorldCat is a catalog of library catalogs worldwide that contains records for libraries’ holdings of books, journals, manuscript collections, newspapers, and digital and audiovisual resources. It is available thorough subscription in the reading room, or in a free version .

Archival Collections

Look for collections of an artist’s papers in library collections around the world search WorldCat or ArchiveGrid .

For American artists, try the Archives of American Art: http://www.aaa.si.edu/ .

Art Information on the Internet

Conduct broad searches for anything on an artist’s name. Using quotation marks around the artist’s name can help limit, as can adding keywords outside the quotation marks.

“Claude Monet”

“Claude Monet” watercolor

“Claude Monet” artist

Searching Google Images, Google Books, and Google Scholar can also be very useful.

The entries in this free online encyclopedia often include bibliographies, references, and links to related entries.

Biographical Information

Consult sites created by museums, libraries, archives, galleries, and others that provide information on artists.

Art in Context

Artcyclopedia

 For artists about whom little professional literature is available, try genealogical resources such as census documents, city directories, county histories, and local newspaper collections. Many of these resources are freely accessible online.

ChicagoAncestors

Chronicling America

FamilySearch

Internet Archive

  Image Searching

If you have a digital image of the item you are trying to identify, run it through a reverse image search to locate images of similar items on the Internet.

Google Images

Art-Related Services

Appraisal and Conservation

Staff at the Art Institute of Chicago cannot provide authentication or appraisal services, and our conservation staff are not able to accept inquiries on works of art in personal collections. You can locate advice on these topics in our research guide on Appraisal and Conservation Resources for Art .

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Art as Research: On the Art of Art Research

Jaime Cortez

This is part of the special section, Art as Research .

The research conducted by artists can and generally does differ from the research conducted in other fields like the natural sciences, social sciences, or even in the other branches of the humanities. Researchers in fields as varied as physics, journalism, anthropology, and oncology are trained to avoid personal, fanciful, subjective interpretations and responses to data. Those scholars who do not adequately remove or distance themselves from their work can be seen as politically motivated operatives, charlatans, or at the very least, lacking in intellectual rigor.

In contrast, deploying idiosyncratic interpretations and responses has been very much expected of artists, and for some, this is the essence of what an artist should do. In an interview conducted for this article, author Tisa Bryant said of artists and research, “Most academics are trying to prove or test a theory with their research. In contrast, artists may do research to discover, without a need to prove. This is not to say that academic research is without discovery, but it is a means to a different end.” The assumption that artists use research in idiosyncratic ways is so ingrained in the popular notion of what an artist is, that the trickster art duo Komar and Melamid built an entire body of work designed to upend the expectation of the artist as purveyor of his or her idiosyncratic perspective. They polled people in fifteen countries to determine what the most-wanted painting and least-wanted painting would look like. They asked about preferred colors, themes, and content. The resulting paintings, “America’s Most Wanted Painting,” “China’s Most Wanted Painting,” et cetera, are remarkably similar, with lots of blue skies, prominent bodies of water, and small humans in the foreground. Only details differentiate the most-wanted paintings of one country from that of another. “America’s Most Wanted Painting” features George Washington and deer standing before an expanse of blue water and blue skies. “Kenya’s Most Wanted Painting” has the requisite landscape of blue skies and waters, but in the foreground, along with a small cluster of Kenyan tribespeople, are Jesus Christ and a hippopotamus. By obeying the research-based opinions of the masses, painting the most popular content (landscapes, animals, admired people, lots of the color blue) in the most popular style (representational), they made a protracted visual joke based on the perverse idea that one can remove individual artistic expression from a work in order to create the “most wanted” art.

The research of artists can be stubbornly, promiscuously nonlinear in its approaches and results. “I was doing family genealogy research in Barbados,” says Tisa Bryant. “Years later, I have yet to use that genealogy research. The kinds of research that I ended up using were incidental things that I found. I found a ship’s log. The ship carried Portuguese people and slaves. It had these numbered columns, numbering the slaves, and everyone else had proper names. I’d never seen that before. I was stunned. All the Portuguese people were Jewish. And it was right around Passover. I got invited to a potluck Seder. There were a lot of people around me with breast cancer, or cancer scares, and all of these disparate things converged in one literary piece. My uncle had actually helped me get to Barbados to do this research. He expected a more straight-ahead narrative about our family. I gave him the chapbook I wrote based on my research and travel, he said ‘I don’t understand. What is this? I thought you were going to do something else.’ So did I. I talked to him and laid out that whole family narrative that he wanted, but what I really came up with was something artistic. I never realized while I was doing the research that it would come out this way.”

In a discussion on art and research, multimedia artist John Leaños further elaborated on the transformative power of artists who turn research and data into something else. “Artists are asking different questions than others,” he said. “We’re asking questions about what impact something has, but it’s different because we’re trying to figure out how to make an esthetic object or experience from what we’ve learned or are learning. This is what makes artists special. This transmutation of traditional research and knowledge — that is where the magic is. Artists can engage a problem and have a solution that is hard to grapple with, that is beautiful, that is completely unexpected.”

Artistic research may involve historical documents and statistics, but these factual data regularly become the basis for fictional conjecture and confabulation. In the late 1990s, Leaños was part of a collective of artists focusing on the impact of the digital revolution on communities of color. 1 “We were trying to figure this out issue as it was happening,” he recalled, “and we couldn’t find the answers from the digital theorists and activists of the day. We did our research, but our creative interpretation was required to fill the informational gap.”

Researching can be a deeply emotional and even spiritual experience for artists. In conducting research for a graphic novel about my father’s history of labor, I traveled to his boyhood city of Mexicali, Baja California. Mexicali is right on the US–Mexico border, joined at the fence to the city of Calexico, California. I checked into a motel just a quarter mile from the border crossing, with the idea of walking into Mexico through the pedestrian crossing. As soon as I left the air-conditioned confines of the Travelodge, I began to heat up. In just a few minutes, I was drenched with sweat. This is a desert climate, so being hot is to be expected. But the burden of the heat was shocking. I began walking down Avenida Cristóbal Colón and berated myself for not wearing my big straw hat. I knew my father had worked these scorching streets as a barefooted newsboy, but now I also understood in my body the way that extreme heat oppresses everyone and everything in the environment. I felt the heat through the thick soles of my sneakers, and as I imagined my father’s small, bare feet walking in the triple-digit heat, my heart cracked. Sweating, feeling my heartbreak, all of it was research.

I have been speaking of research as a process for informing artmaking, but I believe strongly that there is not always a division between research and artmaking. Sometimes an artist can research, and then make her or his art, and realize afterward that the artmaking is in itself research. My most recent suite of drawings are meticulously rendered images based on black-and-white photos of body tissues and organs taken with electron microscope cameras. I used a subtractive method of drawing, erasing from a field of charcoal to expose more or less of the paper beneath and create an image. It is a slow, laborious technique, and each drawing took fifteen to thirty hours to complete, depending on the complexity and size of the image. As I labored over each drawing, I engaged in a deep meditation on the very nature of photography, reproduction, and magnification. I was still researching at the drawing table. Even now, a year later, I am still mulling over the ways technology gives us prosthetic eyes to see in unprecedented ways. The drawings are done, but the research goes on.

I have been both a practicing artist and a grantmaker, and I understand how the fluid nonlinearity built into artists’ research can be difficult for grantmakers to get behind. This is especially true if grantmakers are tightly focused on art project work plans, calendars, and specific deliverables, with little accommodation made for the happy accidents and eccentric, looping detours artists often take in their process, the delayed effect of researching, and yes, the dead ends. But if grantmakers want to support artists comprehensively, they should stand ready to support the research phase(s) of artmaking, and they must make room for hearing the true, often fragmented story of the research process, the one that is often downplayed or absent in grantees’ final reports and evaluations.

• The late-1990s art collective “Los Cybrids” included John Leanos, Rene Garcia, and Praba Pilar.

Artistic Significance, Creativity, and Innovation Using Art as Research

• Living reference work entry
• First Online: 31 July 2019
• Cite this living reference work entry

• Ross W. Prior 3  

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Art as research ; Art-based research ; Artistic research ; Imagination ; Inventiveness ; Practice as research ; Practice-based research

Introduction to Art as Research

In recent decades there has been considerable interest in research rooted in practice, which has begun to establish a range of new research paradigms that move away from scientific ways of investigating to approaches more useful to the creative practitioner where objectification, statistical analysis, and control groups may be of less usefulness. Unlike science, detachment, objectivity, controlled experimentation, random trials, and rationality do not reach the heart of artistic inquiry. In artistic research there are particular art-based considerations, which means that science or social science is not the mode of inquiry.

Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably across disciplines and even within specific disciplines. The range of new possibilities is complex, and this complexity is...

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Dewey, J. ([1934] 2005). Art as experience. New York: Penguin.

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Eisner, E., & Barone, T. (2012). Arts based research . Los Angeles: Sage.

McNiff, S. (1998). Art-based research . London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

McNiff, S. (2009). Integrating the arts in therapy: history, theory, and practice, Springfield: Charles C Thomas.

McNiff, S. (Ed.). (2013). Art as research . Bristol: Intellect.

Prior, R. W. (Ed.). (2018). Using art as research in learning and teaching: Multidisciplinary approaches across the arts . Bristol: Intellect.

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Prior, R.W. (2019). Artistic Significance, Creativity, and Innovation Using Art as Research. In: Peters, M., Heraud, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_64-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_64-1

Received : 25 February 2019

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Published : 31 July 2019

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Society for Artistic Research

The 16th International Conference on Artistic Research is hosted by i2ADS , University of Porto. Organised in collaboration with the Society of Artistic Research (SAR), it is the largest conference on practice-based research through the arts. The SAR Conference brings together leading practitioners, scholars and policymakers to showcase exemplary artistic research projects while focusing on key issues through critical debate.

The past decade witnessed the appearance of new debating spaces within artistic research. At a time when art and culture, local and global policies and events are haunted by societal challenges as vast as they are unpredictable, what can artistic researchers offer in response to these concerns? How can artistic research resonate beyond its specific contexts and disciplinary borders?

Resonance is a prompt to address the transformative nature of artistic research as a connective element that evokes a response and qualifies our experiences as meaningful.

However, it can also be understood as a critical tool characterised by reciprocity and mutual transformation. Resonance is a response to personal and global challenges both poetically and through modes of political imagination and transformative meeting spaces.

Getting into resonance is to create a relation between artistic research and the world that requires questioning and answering, but also the ability to change and be changed.

Call for submissions to open from 16th of August 2024 !

The SAR Prize winner for 2023 has been announced!

The Executive Board of SAR is delighted to announce the winner of the Annual Prize for Excellent Research Catalogue Exposition 2023!

The full jury report can be read here .

SAR International Forum on Artistic Research 2024

15th International Conference on Artistic Research

SAR International Forum on Artistic Research will take place from April 10 th to 11 th 2024 , hosted by Fontys Academy of the Arts in Tilburg .

REGISTER NOW! Program may be found here .

Deadline: 27th of March 2024

This year the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) introduces a new biennial meeting format, that offers time and space for thought-provoking and stimulating dialogue between artistic researchers, artists, practitioners, as well as policy makers and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds.

The Forum 2024 co-developed by Fontys and SAR to be a new and innovative biennial format, that will alternate with the already established SAR conferences .

What Methods Do – International Symposium on Artistic Research Methods

What Methods Do – Exploring the Transformative Potential of Artistic Research

This international symposium on Artistic Research Methods will take place at the Textile Museum in Tilburg on April 9 th 13:00-19:00 .

Annual Prize for Best RC Exposition 2023 – Nomination Deadline 01.02.24

Annual Prize for Best RC Exposition 2023 – Nomination Deadline 01.02.24

The Executive Board of SAR announces the opportunity to nominate candidates for the Annual Prize for Excellent Research Catalogue Exposition 2023. The prize aims to foster and encourage innovative, experimental new formats of publication and, on the other hand, to give visibility to the qualities of artistic research artifacts. The Executive Board will appoint a jury to assess the submissions. The jury consists of one member of the SAR Executive Board, one representative from portal partners, and one former prize winner. Please note: Previous winners of the prize cannot submit for three full years after receiving their award.

Publication period of submission: Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023.

Deadline for submission: Jan 31, 2024.

Prize Award: € 500.

For submission info please read the official announcement.

SAR Prize (2022) : Winner Announced

The prize aims to foster and encourage innovative, experimental new formats of publication and to give visibility to the qualities of artistic research artefacts.

We received 14 very good and diverse applications from different disciplines. The evaluation was carried out by a jury composed of Paulo Luís Almeida, Jacek Smolicki and Blanka Chládková. The jury highly appreciates the quality and compactness of the exhibition by Andreas Berchtold titled “ In circles leading on “:

Honorable mentions go to: “ Spotting A Tree From A Pixel ” by Sheung Yiu and “ Fragments in Time ” by Tobias Leibetseder, Thomas Grill, Almut Schilling, Till Bovermann.

Read the full jury report here .

14th SAR Conference Trondheim: recordings available

Video recordings of the opening and the keynote speeches by Pier Luigi Sacco and Anjalika Sagar, as well as the program produced in the KIT video studio are available at the conference website .

SAR Prize (2021) Winner Announced!

The Executive Board of SAR is delighted to announce the winner of the Annual Prize for Excellent Research Catalogue Exposition 2021. “ Minuting. Rethinking the Ordinary Through the Ritual of Transversal Listening ” by Jacek Smolicki.

He is followed by Alexandra Crouwers with her exposition “ Plot, the Compositor, Mourning/Mistakes ” on the second place and Timo Menke with his exposition “ DARK MATTER(S) ” on the third place.

Read the complete report here .

SAR General Assembly Election Results:

We hereby announce the results of the SAR elections that took place during the SAR General assembly on 4th of July 2022 in Weimar:

Florian Schneider has been elected SAR president (for 2022-2026)

Geir Ström has been re-elected SAR First Vice President/Treasurer (for 2022-2024)

Both Blanka Chládková & Esa Kirkkopelto have been elected as SAR board member (for 2022-2026)

See “ Who we are ” for more information.

Call for Establishing SAR Special Interest Groups – SIGs

The Executive Board is delighted to renew its Call for Establishing SAR Special Interest Groups (SIGs). SIGs may be suggested, organised, and moderated by any SAR member (individual members, representatives of institutional members) with the aim of conducting a particular activity, theme or focus area under the umbrella of SAR and promoting the activity and its results within the SAR community. For more information on establishing a SIG see: SAR Special Interest Groups (SIGs) .

CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AND PEACE

SAR expresses its solidarity with artists and researchers who as a consequence of war now have to fear for their own lives, and of those of their families and friends. We want to express our compassion with all those innocent civilians who are suffering. We are horrified about the ruthlessness with which civilian targets are attacked in the Ukraine, and we appeal for an immediate end to aggression, bloodshed and destruction and a return to human values in sight of the global future of the planet.

Like our partner associations AEC and ELIA, we state that the artistic research community is a global community where peaceful collaborations between people of all backgrounds are a lived reality. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian students, academics, artists and researchers in art practices are at the same time working together peacefully all over Europe and the world. We stand by all these artists, as well as with Ukrainian people, in solidarity.  We likewise call on all SAR member institutions to support refugees from the war zone within their possibilities to be able to continue their art studies in a non-bureaucratic way. 

The future of life on the planet depends on the human ability for peaceful conflict resolution.

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Vienna declaration

SAR is proud to present the Vienna Declaration , a policy paper advocating for the full recognition of Artistic Research across Europe. More than one year ago, the main organisations and transnational networks dealing with Artistic Research at European level and beyond decided to join forces to increase the visibility and recognition of this strand of research. The Vienna Declaration , co-written by AEC , CILECT  / GEECT ,  Culture Action Europe ,  Cumulus ,  EAAE ,  ELIA ,  EPARM ,  EQ-Arts ,  MusiQuE and SAR, is the first outcome of this important collaboration. The initiative is open to the involvement of other international organisations proving legitimate interest.

The long term aims of this concerted action, and the formulation of documents such as the Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research and the Florence Principles on the Doctorate in the Arts , are to secure full recognition of artistic research both within international as well as national research directories and funding schemes.

SARA / Society for Artistic Research Announcement service

SAR enables individual and institutional members as well as non-members to distribute announcements of relevance to artistic research environments, such as symposia, conferences, exhibitions, performances, publications, study programmes, available positions etc. via a dedicated email list, reaching colleagues who have registered at the Research Catalogue (RC).

For more info or requesting an announcement, go to: sar-announcements.com

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How to Research an Artist or a Work of Art

Find articles, contemporary artists, gallery websites, keyword search tips.

• How to research a work of art

This guide walks you through the steps of researching an artist and of researching a work of art.

The following resources can provide lots of great biographical information on artists.  Check for bibliographies on articles.

In many databases you can narrow your search to certain "content types." Look for:

• Biographies
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• Periodicals

Off-campus access is limited to SIA faculty, students, and staff, unless otherwise noted. 

The more traditional resources in this guide may not cover contemporary artists. A few suggestions are listed below for locating information on contemporary artists. Cleveland Institute of Art's Contemporary Artist Index is a database that lists over 31,000 artists appearing in more than 1,800 exhibition catalogs and art publications.

Gallery websites will often contain some basic information on the artists they represent. A simple Google search may lead you to an artist's gallery.

If not, try searching for the artist in the  ArtNet Artists A-Z list .  Artist information will often include a link to a list of dealers representing the artist as in the example below from ArtNet for the artist Rashaad Newsome

One of the dealers listed is Marlborough Gallery. If you go to the Marlborough Gallery website, you will find a lot of biographical information provided on the artist's page. 

Selected examples of subject search terms to use in databases and library catalogs. Terms can all be modified by place names, e.g., Expatriate artists -- United States . You may also search by the name of an artist, either as an author or as subject. 

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Ellen Winner ’69, Ph.D. ’78, BI ’99 concentrated in English at Radcliffe, but she’d always planned to be an artist. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts after college to study painting but soon realized “it was not the life I wanted.” Instead, Winner turned her focus to psychology, earning her doctorate at Harvard.

A summer job listing at the University’s career office led her to the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero, where she interviewed with her future husband, Howard Gardner — currently the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and the senior director of the project — and took a two-year position researching the psychology of art. For her doctoral degree at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Winner studied developmental psychology. She is currently a senior research associate at Project Zero and a professor of psychology at Boston College, where she founded and directs the Arts and Mind Lab , which focuses on cognition in the arts in typical and gifted children as well as adults. Her latest book, “How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration,” is based on years of research at both Harvard and BC, and looks at art through psychological and philosophical lenses. The Gazette spoke with her recently about her findings.

Ellen Winner

GAZETTE:   Why do we need art?

WINNER:  It’s interesting to note that the arts have been with us since the earliest humans — long before the sciences — and no one has ever discovered a culture without one or more forms of art. Evolutionary psychologists have postulated various ways in which natural selection could explain why we have art. For example, fiction allows us to safely practice interpersonal relationships and those with strong interpersonal skills are more likely to mate and spread their genes. Sexual selection could also be at work: Artists might attract mates because artistic talent might signal high reproductive fitness. There is no way of testing such claims, though. My best guess is that art itself is not a direct product of natural selection, but is a byproduct of our bigger brains — which themselves evolved for survival reasons. Art is just something we cannot help but do. While we may not need art to survive, our lives would be entirely different without it. The arts are a way of making sense of and understanding ourselves and others, a form of meaning-making just as important as are the sciences.

GAZETTE:  In your book you suggest that people have stronger emotional reactions to music than to the visual arts. Why?

WINNER:   Of course, we do respond emotionally to both music and visual art, but people report stronger emotional responses to music. I have asked my students to look at a painting for one uninterrupted hour and write down everything they are seeing and thinking (inspired by Jennifer Roberts, art historian at Harvard, who asked her students to do this for three hours). The students wrote about all of the things they started to notice, but strikingly absent was any mention of emotions. They reported being mesmerized by the experience but no one talked about being close to tears, something people often report with music.

There seem to be several reasons for music eliciting stronger emotional reactions than the visual arts. The experience of music unrolls over time, and often quite a long time. A work of visual art can be perceived at a glance and people typically spend very little time with each work of art they encounter in a museum. We can turn away from a painting, but we can’t turn away from music, and so a painting doesn’t envelop us in the same way music does. In addition, music, but not visual art, makes us feel like moving, and moving to music intensifies the emotional reaction. One of the most powerful explanations for the emotional power of music has to do with the fact that the same properties that universally convey emotion in the voice (tempo, volume, regularity, etc.) also convey emotion in music. Thus, for example, a slow tempo in speech and music is typically perceived as sad, a loud and uneven tempo as agitated, etc. The visual arts do not have such a connection to emotion. Movies may be the most powerful art form in eliciting emotion since they unfold over time, tell a story, and of course include music.

GAZETTE: Can you talk more about your studies involving a person’s ability to distinguish between artwork by an abstract master and a painting done by a monkey with a paintbrush and palette?

WINNER:  We were interested in the often-heard claim about abstract art that, “My kid could have done that.” We wanted to find out whether people really cannot tell the difference between preschool art and the works of great abstract expressionists like Hans Hofmann or Willem de Kooning. We also threw animal art into the mix: Chimps and monkeys and elephants have been given paint brushes laden with paint, and they often make charming, childlike markings — with the experimenter taking the paper away when the experimenter deems it “finished.” My former doctoral student Angelina Hawley-Dolan created 30 pairs of paintings in which she matched works by abstract expressionists with works by children and animals — matched so that the members of each pair were superficially similar in color and composition and kinds of brush strokes. In a series of studies, we showed people these pairs and asked them to decide which work was better, which they liked more, and which was done by an artist rather than a child or animal. Sometimes we unpaired the works and asked people the same questions when they were presented one at a time.

“When you hear someone say, ‘My kid could have done that,’ you can say, ‘Not so!’”

We found in each study that people unschooled in abstract expressionism selected the artists’ works as better and more liked, identified them as by artists rather than animals and children, and did this at a rate significantly above chance. Even when we tried to trick people (mislabeling the child work as by an artist and the artist work as by a child or animal), people recognized the actual artist’s work as the better work of art, uninfluenced by the false label. In addition, working with a computer scientist, we showed that a deep learning algorithm was able to learn to differentiate works by artists versus by children and animals, and succeeded at the same rate of correctness as did humans. And so, when you hear someone say, “My kid could have done that,” you can say, “Not so!”

GAZETTE: What do you think was going on?

WINNER:  To get at this we asked another group of people to look at each of the 60 paintings, 30 by the preschoolers and animals and 30 by the great artists, one at a time and randomly ordered. We asked them to rate each work in terms of how intentional it looked, and how much visual structure they saw. The works by the artists were on average rated as more intentional and higher in visual structure. When we asked people why they thought the artists’ paintings were better works of art, they gave us mentalistic answers, saying things like, “It looks more planned” or, “It looks more thought-out.” So, it appears that we make a clear discrimination: We perceive artists’ abstract paintings as highly planned, and those by children and animals as unplanned and somewhat random. Tellingly, we found that some paintings by artists were incorrectly identified as by children or animals, and these turned out to be the ones that had been rated as low in intentionality and structure. Our conclusion is that people see more in abstract art than they think they see. They can see the mind behind the work.

GAZETTE: You mention that art that evokes negative emotions can also be positive thing. Can you explain?

More like this

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Songs in the key of humanity

WINNER:  We gravitate toward art that depicts tragic or horrifying events (think of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch or Lucian Freud, whose portraits are often distorted and somewhat grotesque); we flock to sad or suspenseful or horrifying movies or plays or novels; we listen to music that conveys grief. Given how we strive to avoid feelings of sorrow and terror and horror in our personal lives, this presents us with a paradox — one that interested philosophers such as Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and David Hume. This puzzle is resolved by studies showing that when we view something as art, any negative feelings about the content are matched by positive ones. For instance, one study demonstrated that presenting photographs of disgusting things like rotting food either as art photography or illustrations to teach people about hygiene led to different reactions: Those who viewed the images as art reported positive feelings along with the negative ones; those who viewed them as hygiene illustrations reported only negative feelings. Other studies have shown that people report being highly moved by art with negative content, and the experience of feeling moved combines negative affect with an equal level of positive affect. In short, we can allow ourselves to be moved by tragedy and horror in art because it is not about us; we have entered a fictional world of virtual reality. And the experience of being moved by such works is not only pleasurable, but can also be highly meaningful as we reflect on the nature of our feelings.

GAZETTE:  You also explore how theater can inspire empathy.

WINNER:   We often hear that the arts are good for our children because they make them more empathetic. But this is the kind of claim that ought to be closely examined. Is there truth to this claim, and if so does it apply to all the arts? My former doctoral student Thalia Goldstein, now an assistant professor at George Mason University, reasoned that it is in acting that empathy is most likely to be nurtured. She directed a longitudinal study of children and adolescents involved in acting classes over the course of a year, comparing them to students taking visual arts classes. At the end of the year, the acting students in both age groups had gained more than the visual arts students on a self-report empathy scale, and the adolescent acting students had also grown stronger in perspective-taking. These results have the plausible explanation that acting entails stepping into different characters’ shoes over and over, practicing seeing the world from another’s eyes.

There is still a lot we don’t know about the arts and empathy. Does reading fiction or watching a drama on stage have the same effect as enacting fictional characters? And if so, can any of these experiences change people’s behaviors (in the direction of greater compassion), or do they just change people’s ability to identify and mirror what others are feeling? The answer is not obvious. William James asked us to consider a person at the theater weeping over the fate of a fictional character onstage while unconcerned about her freezing coachman waiting outside in the snow. It is possible that when we expend our empathy on fictional characters, we feel we have paid our empathy dues. This fascinating problem cries out for further research, which I hope to be able to do.

GAZETTE: After all of your research, have you landed on any concise definition of what art is?

WINNER:  Since philosophers have been unable to agree on a definition of art that involves necessary and sufficient features, I certainly do not think that I will come up with one! Art will never be defined in a way that will distinguish all things we do and do not call art. Art is a mind-dependent concept: There is no litmus test to decide whether something is or is not art (as opposed to whether some liquid is or is not water). Our minds group together the things we call art despite the fact that no two instances of “art” need share any features. And artists are continually challenging our concept of what counts as art, making the concept impossible ever to close.

But philosophers such as Nelson Goodman, who was the founder of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education — a group that had a deep influence on my thinking — had something profound to say about this. Don’t ask, “What is art?”; rather, ask, “When is art?” Anything can be treated as art or not. And when we treat something as art, we attend to it in a special way — for example, noting its surface formal features and its nonliteral expressive features as part of the many meanings of the work. So maybe we can’t define art, but we can specify what it means to adopt an aesthetic attitude. And while elephants and chimps may make “art,” and while birds may make “music,” I am confident that humans are the only creatures who step back from something they are making to decide how it looks or sounds and how it should be altered — in short, to adopt that aesthetic attitude.

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What is artistic research?

Art offers a premise and an aim for research: a motive, a terrain, a context and a whole range of methods.

Published 10.3.2020 | Updated 30.11.2020

Art and research are basic concepts in our culture. They feed on one another and are intertwined in many ways.

Research that defines art as its object in one way or another is generally called art research. Art can, however, also offer a premise and an aim for research: a motive, a terrain, a context and a whole range of methods. This kind of research is often referred to as “artistic research”. It is not a counter concept of “scientific research”, but instead, its primary aim is to describe the framework of research in a way that does not simply reduce art to the subject matter of a study.

Artistic research is typically carried out by experts in various fields of art, i.e. artists – or artist-researchers, to be exact, because not all art is research. Artistic activities can be considered research only when they are done within a critical community.

Similar to a scientific community, an art community defines, shapes and renews the criteria for its own research frameworks and practices in interaction with the surrounding society. In this sense, artistic research is comparable to scientific research and constitutes its own form of research among various other forms.

We have endorsed The Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research .

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Home » Artistic Research – Methods, Types and Examples

Artistic Research – Methods, Types and Examples

Table of Contents

Artistic Research

Definition:

Artistic Research is a mode of inquiry that combines artistic practice and research methodologies to generate new insights and knowledge. It involves using artistic practice as a means of investigation and experimentation, while applying rigorous research methods to examine and reflect upon the process and outcomes of the artistic practice.

Types of Artistic Research

Types of Artistic Research are as follows:

Practice-based Research

This type of research involves the creation of new artistic works as part of the research process. The focus is on the exploration of artistic techniques, processes, and materials, and how they contribute to the creation of new knowledge.

Research-led practice

This type of research involves the use of academic research methods to inform and guide the creative process. The aim is to investigate and test new ideas and approaches to artistic practice.

Practice-led Research

This type of research involves using artistic practice as a means of exploring research questions. The aim is to develop new insights and understandings through the creative process.

Transdisciplinary Research

This type of research involves collaboration between artists and researchers from different disciplines. The aim is to combine knowledge and expertise from different fields to create new insights and perspectives.

Research Through Performance

This type of research involves the use of live performance as a means of investigating research questions. The aim is to explore the relationship between the performer and the audience, and how this relationship can be used to create new knowledge.

Participatory Research

This type of research involves collaboration with communities and stakeholders to explore research questions. The aim is to involve participants in the research process and to create new knowledge through shared experiences and perspectives.

Data Collection Methods

Artistic research data collection methods vary depending on the type of research being conducted and the artistic discipline being studied. Here are some common methods of data collection used in artistic research:

• Artistic production: One of the most common methods of data collection in artistic research is the creation of new artistic works. This involves using the artistic practice itself as a method of data collection. Artists may create new works of art, performances, or installations to explore research questions and generate data.
• Interviews : Artists may conduct interviews with other artists, scholars, or experts in their field to collect data. These interviews may be recorded and transcribed for further analysis.
• Surveys and questionnaires : Surveys and questionnaires can be used to collect data from a larger sample of people. These can be used to collect information about audience reactions to artistic works, or to collect demographic information about artists.
• Observation: Artists may also use observation as a method of data collection. This can involve observing the audience’s reactions to a performance or installation, or observing the process of artistic creation.
• Archival research : Artists may conduct archival research to collect data from historical sources. This can involve studying the work of other artists, analyzing historical documents or artifacts, or studying the history of a particular artistic practice or discipline.
• Experimental methods : In some cases, artists may use experimental methods to collect data. This can involve manipulating variables in an artistic work or performance to test hypotheses and generate data.

Data Analysis Methods

some common methods of data analysis used in artistic research:

• Interpretative analysis : This involves a close reading and interpretation of the artistic work, performance or installation in order to understand its meanings, themes, and symbolic content. This method of analysis is often used in qualitative research.
• Content analysis: This involves a systematic analysis of the content of artistic works or performances, with the aim of identifying patterns, themes, and trends in the data. This method of analysis is often used in quantitative research.
• Discourse analysis : This involves an analysis of the language and social contexts in which artistic works are created and received. It is often used to explore the power dynamics, social structures, and cultural norms that shape artistic practice.
• Visual analysis: This involves an analysis of the visual elements of artistic works, such as composition, color, and form, in order to understand their meanings and significance.
• Statistical analysis: This involves the use of statistical techniques to analyze quantitative data collected through surveys, questionnaires, or experimental methods. This can involve calculating correlations, regression analyses, or other statistical measures to identify patterns in the data.
• Comparative analysis: This involves comparing the data collected from different artistic works, performances or installations, or comparing the data collected from artistic research to data collected from other sources.

Artistic Research Methodology

Artistic research methodology refers to the approach or framework used to conduct artistic research. The methodology used in artistic research is often interdisciplinary and may include a combination of methods from the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Here are some common elements of artistic research methodology:

• Research question : Artistic research begins with a research question or problem to be explored. This question guides the research process and helps to focus the investigation.
• Contextualization: Artistic research often involves an examination of the social, historical, and cultural contexts in which the artistic work is produced and received. This contextualization helps to situate the work within a larger framework and to identify its significance.
• Reflexivity: Artistic research often involves a high degree of reflexivity, with the researcher reflecting on their own positionality and the ways in which their own biases and assumptions may impact the research process.
• Iterative process : Artistic research is often an iterative process, with the researcher revising and refining their research question and methods as they collect and analyze data.
• Creative practice: Artistic research often involves the use of creative practice as a means of generating data and exploring research questions. This can involve the creation of new works of art, performances, or installations.
• Collaboration: Artistic research often involves collaboration with other artists, scholars, or experts in the field. This collaboration can help to generate new insights and perspectives, and to bring diverse knowledge and expertise to the research process.

Examples of Artistic Research

There are numerous examples of artistic research across a variety of artistic disciplines. Here are a few examples:

• Music : A composer may conduct artistic research by exploring new musical forms and techniques, and testing them through the creation of new works of music. For example, composer Steve Reich conducted artistic research by studying traditional African drumming techniques and incorporating them into his minimalist compositions.
• Visual art: An artist may conduct artistic research by exploring the history and techniques of a particular medium, such as painting or sculpture, and using that knowledge to create new works of art. For example, painter Gerhard Richter conducted artistic research by exploring the history of photography and using photographic techniques to create his abstract paintings.
• Dance : A choreographer may conduct artistic research by exploring new movement styles and techniques, and testing them through the creation of new dance works. For example, choreographer William Forsythe conducted artistic research by studying the physics of movement and incorporating that knowledge into his choreography.
• Theater : A theater artist may conduct artistic research by exploring the history and techniques of a particular theatrical style, such as physical theater or experimental theater, and using that knowledge to create new works of theater. For example, director Anne Bogart conducted artistic research by studying the teachings of the philosopher Jacques Derrida and incorporating those ideas into her approach to theater.
• Film : A filmmaker may conduct artistic research by exploring the history and techniques of a particular genre or film style, and using that knowledge to create new works of film. For example, filmmaker Agnès Varda conducted artistic research by exploring the feminist movement and incorporating feminist ideas into her films.

When to use Artistic Research

some situations where artistic research may be useful:

• Developing new artistic works: Artistic research can be used to inform and inspire the development of new works of art, music, dance, theater, or film.
• Exploring new artistic techniques or approaches : Artistic research can be used to explore new techniques or approaches to artistic practice, and to test and refine these approaches through creative experimentation.
• Investigating the historical and cultural contexts of artistic practice: Artistic research can be used to investigate the social, cultural, and historical contexts of artistic practice, and to identify the ways in which these contexts shape and influence artistic works.
• Evaluating the impact and significance of artistic works : Artistic research can be used to evaluate the impact and significance of artistic works, and to identify the ways in which they contribute to broader cultural, social, and political issues.
• Advancing knowledge and understanding in artistic fields: Artistic research can be used to advance knowledge and understanding in artistic fields, and to generate new insights and perspectives on artistic practice.

Purpose of Artistic Research

The purpose of artistic research is to generate new knowledge and understanding through a rigorous and creative investigation of artistic practice. Artistic research aims to push the boundaries of artistic practice and to create new insights and perspectives on artistic works and processes.

Artistic research serves several purposes, including:

• Advancing knowledge and understanding in artistic fields: Artistic research can contribute to the development of new knowledge and understanding in artistic fields, and can help to advance the study of artistic practice.
• Creating new artistic works and forms: Artistic research can inspire the creation of new artistic works and forms, and can help artists to develop new techniques and approaches to their practice.
• Evaluating the impact and significance of artistic works: Artistic research can help to evaluate the impact and significance of artistic works, and to identify their contributions to broader cultural, social, and political issues.
• Enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration: Artistic research often involves interdisciplinary collaboration, and can help to foster new connections and collaborations between artists, scholars, and experts in diverse fields.
• Challenging assumptions and pushing boundaries: Artistic research can challenge assumptions and push the boundaries of artistic practice, and can help to create new possibilities for artistic expression and exploration.

Characteristics of Artistic Research

Some key characteristics that can be used to describe artistic research:

• Creative and interdisciplinary: Artistic research is creative and interdisciplinary, drawing on a wide range of artistic and scholarly disciplines to explore new ideas and approaches to artistic practice.
• Experimental and process-oriented : Artistic research is often experimental and process-oriented, involving creative experimentation and exploration of new techniques, forms, and ideas.
• Reflection and critical analysis : Artistic research involves reflection and critical analysis of artistic practice, with a focus on exploring the underlying processes, assumptions, and concepts that shape artistic works.
• Emphasis on practice-led inquiry : Artistic research is often practice-led, meaning that it involves a close integration of creative practice and research inquiry.
• Collaborative and participatory: Artistic research often involves collaboration and participation, with artists, scholars, and experts from diverse fields working together to explore new ideas and approaches to artistic practice.
• Contextual and socially engaged : Artistic research is contextual and socially engaged, exploring the ways in which artistic practice is shaped by broader social, cultural, and historical contexts, and engaging with issues of social and political relevance.

Advantages of Artistic Research

Artistic research offers several advantages, including:

• Innovation : Artistic research encourages creative experimentation and exploration of new techniques and approaches to artistic practice, leading to innovative and original works of art.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration: Artistic research often involves collaboration between artists, scholars, and experts from diverse fields, fostering interdisciplinary exchange and the development of new perspectives and ideas.
• Practice-led inquiry : Artistic research is often practice-led, meaning that it involves a close integration of creative practice and research inquiry, leading to a deeper understanding of the creative process and the ways in which it shapes artistic works.
• Critical reflection: Artistic research involves critical reflection on artistic practice, encouraging artists to question assumptions and challenge existing norms, leading to new insights and perspectives on artistic works.
• Engagement with broader issues : Artistic research is contextual and socially engaged, exploring the ways in which artistic practice is shaped by broader social, cultural, and historical contexts, and engaging with issues of social and political relevance.
• Contribution to knowledge : Artistic research contributes to the development of new knowledge and understanding in artistic fields, and can help to advance the study of artistic practice.

Limitations of Artistic Research

Artistic research also has some limitations, including:

• Subjectivity : Artistic research is subjective, meaning that it is based on the individual perspectives, experiences, and creative decisions of the artist, which can limit the generalizability and replicability of the research.
• Lack of formal methodology : Artistic research often lacks a formal methodology, making it difficult to compare or evaluate different research projects and limiting the reproducibility of results.
• Difficulty in measuring outcomes: Artistic research can be difficult to measure and evaluate, as the outcomes are often qualitative and subjective in nature, making it challenging to assess the impact or significance of the research.
• Limited funding: Artistic research may face challenges in securing funding, as it is still a relatively new and emerging field, and may not fit within traditional funding structures.
• Ethical considerations: Artistic research may raise ethical considerations related to issues such as representation, consent, and the use of human subjects, particularly when working with sensitive or controversial topics.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Doctoral students in Top 50 Research Images as Art / Art Images as Research

20 August 2024

Photos and paintings by three postgraduate students illustrate the beauty of images produced during academic research and how art can be a form of researching, in UCL’s annual cross-disciplinary competition.

These artworks featured in a shortlist of the top 50 images from its cross-disciplinary competition, out of 218 entries submitted this year.  

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“What counts as a document? Who decides? 

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Historical Affects: Data, Causation, and Mind 

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“These are painted replicas of Excel spreadsheets showing the incidence of deductive and inductive codes. The aim when producing these paintings was to play with the notion of spreadsheets being pleasing because of their uniformity and order and therefore implicitly important and revelatory of 'something' when it comes to research findings.” 

Convivial Hills of Amman 

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All images and text copyright their artist/author and may not be used for any purposes without the express permission of the original artist/author. All Rights Reserved, 2024.

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RIT's one-of-a-kind Color Science program launched Olivia Kuzio's journey to the Getty Conservation Institute, where she now applies high-tech tools to preserve priceless art.

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Gigacities collective critiques celebrity magazines.

Disguised as a celebrity magazine, Elon Magazine is a critical research-based art project exploring the media spectacle of Elon Musk and his companies. Austin- and Berlin-based GIGACITIES COLLECTIVE has designed the work in tradition of artist publications like File Magazine, Avalanche, ZG, Art-Rite, and The Fox, appropriating the form it seeks to critique  –guileless celebrations of the consumer self.

It draws inspiration from the likes of Adbusters, Mad Magazine, Guerilla Girls, Situationists International, and the Yes Men, exploring journalistic and design processes through critical investigation and vivid imagery. AI programs such as Midjourney have been utilized to generate ‘collaborative hallucinations’ manipulated further in Photoshop, while research is gathered from books, articles, interviews, and X (formerly Twitter). 

elon magazine is a critical research-based art project

The GIGACITIES COLLECTIVE began as a transnational collaborative project exploring the impact of Tesla’s Gigafactories in Austin, Berlin, and beyond. The team held a deep skepticism toward the promises for clean and green mobility that Musk was selling, leading them to explore the hype through a critical design intervention. With Elon Magazine, they uncover their implications beyond standalone industrial complexes, embedded in socio-capitalist and environmental networks spanning the globe.

‘With astonishing speed, omnivorous Elon has spread across the world like a force of nature, occupying public domains and news outlets at high speed. He has become the center of attraction for Silicon Valley, financiers and venture capitalists, rightwing politicians, tech bros, and suburban yuppies,’ notes the collective.

Working together as scholars, journalists, artists, and activists, the team has tackled the ‘Elonious Hype Machine’. ‘We hope [Elon Magazine] sheds new light on the most powerful CEO in the world today and the ideological infrastructures that sustain him,’ they say. A radical splinter group from the GIGACITIES COLLECTIVE felt that it was ripe to start undressing the figure’s influence with a hint of surrealism and satire.

an AI generated image alongside a photograph from the Boring Bodega

project info:

name:  Elon Magazine designer: GIGACITIES COLLECTIVE  

design team: Craig Campbell, Randy Lewis, Florian Grundmüller

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom

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Prize-winning art student turns sustainability into practice.

Study 27 Aug 2024

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A visual disability hasn’t stopped Snéhi Jarvis proving art can be for everyone.

Ms Jarvis recently completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with first class Honours, was added to the University’s Roll of Excellence and received the Sawtooth ARI Prize, an exhibition at the cutting-edge gallery.

All of this – at the age of 72 – despite once being told she would be blind by the age of 30.

Born prematurely and spending the first five months of her life in hospital, Ms Jarvis wasn’t expected to ever go home. As a child she lived with a number of complications and at 18 was diagnosed with the rare eye disease Posner-Schlossman Syndrome.

It’s a reality she’s had to adjust to her whole life, at one point in 2017-18 requiring four operations after an infection.

“I reacted to a replacement lens,” she says. “It resulted in the remaining vision in my left eye being grossly distorted, like looking at Munch’s The Scream , and I lost colour vision in my left eye.”

It was a difficult period and resulted in Ms Jarvis, a health practitioner for decades, having to give up her career.

It also coincided with her first experience of being an artist when she picked up an elective while studying double Bachelors of Dementia Care and Philosophy.

“I enrolled in this unit thinking I could teach a young autistic person to perform a composition he had written,” says Ms Jarvis, who is also a musician. “But on day one I found the unit was related to art.

“I was visually impaired and not in any way artistic, from a visual arts perspective, so I thought I would have to withdraw from the unit. However, Patrick Sutczak, the unit tutor, suggested I look at a few artists: Rothko, Kandinsky, Pollock. I did this which led me to flow painting which so engaged me that I got a high distinction by producing a series of flow artworks based on music.”

She was hooked and soon found herself enrolled in a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She wrote an Honours thesis on the work of art as a process rather than a finished product. After asking permission of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre to forage for local ochre, she formulated a practice that prioritised sustainability.

“I fixed on ochre, an iron oxide inorganic material used since time immemorial and by Australian First Nation artists, finding that ochre can be returned to the Earth as biological nutrients, thus reducing the environmental impact of my arts practice,” she says.

As well as ochre, Ms Jarvis also used local woods and other natural materials in her work.

“Not only were my artworks produced using materials that can become biological nutrients when no longer required and can be buried and returned to the earth from whence it came, the works did not cause environmental damage from materials whilst in the making,” she says.

Ms Jarvis’ exhibition Process//Repeat//Paint takes her practice a step further, stretching her finite store of ochre by creating watercolours, which can be seen on a ‘mind map’ wall at Sawtooth.

Through her raft of challenges and a geographical life journey from Yorkshire in the 1950s to Queensland and Tasmania, where the climate was better suited to her health, Ms Jarvis has some simple advice for those who’ve wondered if they could be an artist.

“Follow your dreams, believe in yourself and never give up,” she says. “I did just that at a time I found myself physically, emotionally, and psychologically challenged.

“My engagement with art has taken me down a truly adventurous rabbit hole.”

Snéhi Jarvis’ exhibition Process//Repeat//Paint can be seen at Sawtooth ARI in Launceston until 21 September 2024. If you’ve ever wondered whether you might become an artist, read about our courses in Fine Arts.

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The Scope of Our Research: Winners of the 2024 Envisioning Research Contest

From volcanic eruptions to microscopic polymers, the 2024 Envisioning Research contest captures the spectacular landscape of research being conducted at NC State.

The contest is a collaborative effort involving NC State’s Office of Research and Innovation, The Graduate School, the NC State University Libraries, the Office of Undergraduate Research, and University Communications and Marketing. The Envisioning Research contest was open to faculty, staff, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and undergraduates.

A complete list of winners, runners-up and honorable mentions is below. You can see high-res versions of each winning entry, as well as captions about each image, by clicking on the entry’s name. You can find a gallery of this year’s winners here . And beginning August 30, images from the Envisioning Research contest will be exhibited on the Art Wall in the Hunt Library on Centennial Campus.

Photography

First place, undergraduate students: Nicolás Galvez for “ Cockroach preparing to jump .”

Second place, undergraduate students: Emily Boldor for “ Seismic design structure .”

First place, graduate students and postdocs: Anukram Adhikary for “ Frontiers of feminine fortitude .”

Second place, graduate students and postdocs: Hector Fajardo for “ Sampling and mountain reflections .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Micki Recchuiti for “ Eruption in Iceland: new land by the hour .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Ana Sapp for “ Measuring a turtle .”

First place, faculty and staff: Erin McKenney for “ Undergraduate ecologists in the field .”

Second place, faculty and staff: Nasir Shalizi for “ Needle and cone collection from a witch’s broom 60′ above on a loblolly pine tree .”

First place, undergraduate students: Zachary Benfield for “ Mature Streblospio benedicti headgear .”

Second place, undergraduate students: Lia Hunt for “ Medusa mutation in M. guttatus seed pod .”

Honorable mention, undergraduate students: Christian Shaw for “ Takamatsuella circinata chasmothecium dyed with lactophenol blue and imaged using a compound light microscope .”

First place, graduate students and postdocs: Abhirup Basu for “ Corrosion’s supernova: unveiling destructive power in coatings .”

Second place, graduate students and postdocs: Victoria Himelstein for “ In my own world: dendrite nucleation visible on the outside of a Mo-Si-B powder particle .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Mohammad Javad Zarei for “ Achaemenid columns .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Akanksha Pragya for “ SEM image of stretchable foam containing thermoplastic microspheres embedded in electrically conductive polymer .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Sai Karthik Gade for “ Cross section of a Fraser fir needle showing an abundance of polyphenolic cells (blue) induced by phytohormone methyl jasmonate .”

First place, faculty and staff: Scott LaGreca for “ Erysiphe sp. nov. chasmothecium .”

Second place, faculty and staff: Nathan Asquith for “ Megasplosion .”

Graphics and Data Visualization

First place, graduate students and postdocs: Sergei Rigin for “ Molecular forest .”

Second place, graduate students and postdocs: Skylar Penney for “ Spline image of NC State’s campus .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Daoru Wang for “ Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Ariana Farquharson for “ Black churches as community anchors: Raleigh’s Black churches, 1830-present .”

First place, graduate students and postdocs: Sergei Rigin for “ Phase shift .”

Second place, graduate students and postdocs: Lily Kile for “ Cover crop incorporation for nitrogen management for sweet potatoes .”

Honorable mention, graduate students and postdocs: Nidhi Diwakar for “ Convective corona .”

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What makes a story successful? Researchers have figured out a way to predict it

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Narrative reversals, or changes in fortune that take characters from heights to depths and vice versa, are a good predictor for how successful a movie, TV show or book will be, Northeastern marketing researchers say.

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There are very few universal truths about humanity, but one thing is for certain: We love stories.

Whether it’s movies, TV shows, books, political campaigns or even advertisements, people are constantly being told or telling stories every day. Entire industries are built around storytelling and understanding which stories connect with people the most.

It’s why a group of researchers at Northeastern University have tried to crack the code and answer one question: What makes a story successful?

“If you watch ‘Mad Men,’ you see it’s more of an art form, having an inspiration of how to tell a beautiful story and everything falls in place and it just magically works,” says Yakov Bart , a professor of marketing at Northeastern. “But lately a lot of people have been thinking maybe it’s not just art –– maybe there’s some science to this as well.”

By applying advanced quantitative analysis and statistical techniques to tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, books and even fundraising pitches, the researchers found one core element of storytelling that helped predict a story’s success with audiences: narrative reversals. 

Most people are familiar with what a narrative reversal is, even if they don’t know it by name. Something is going well for a character –– Romeo falls in love with Juliet –– only for something bad to happen to that character –– Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, is enraged and tries to kill Romeo. Or a character is down in the dumps and has a positive experience that changes things for the better.

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“We develop a way, using these advanced text analysis techniques, to quantify and try to measure the frequency and intensity of narrative reversals across a wide set of storytelling contexts,” says Samsun Knight, a research affiliate at Northeastern’s DATA Initiative and published author. “We show that this does indeed predict which stories tend to be more successful. This holds even if you look in a given TV show which episodes are more successful.”

Using a collection of 30,000 texts, which included TV shows, movies, books and fundraising pitches, the researchers analyzed them based on how positive or negative the language in a given section was. Based on that, they were able to measure how well things are going for the characters in a given story and when that situation changed, or reversed.

They counted the number of reversals that took place in each story, also measuring the frequency and intensity of each reversal and discovered it’s a fairly accurate predictor of how well a story will connect with people. In this case, that meant a movie or TV show’s audience rating on IMDb, how frequently people downloaded a book and how much money a fundraising pitch earned.

“It’s not the sole determiner of how successful a story is, but we were impressed with its consistency and the fact that it’s so simple,” Matt Rocklage , an assistant professor of marketing at Northeastern says. “The more of those reversals there are, the more successful these stories are, and the bigger these reversals are, the more successful these stories are.”

Knight says this research isn’t meant to create a formula for writers to tell their stories, but he hopes it can help writers avoid easy pitfalls when charting their story.

“In the most intuitive sense, people tend not to respond to places where nothing is getting better and nothing is getting worse,” Knight says. “You don’t want these sags in your story. … I love Samuel Beckett –– there are exceptions to every rule –– but broadly speaking, this type of unit of narrative propulsion tends to be exceptionally important. Leon Katz, a prominent dramaturg at the Yale School of Drama, called such narrative reversals the ‘formal unit’ of plot. In the same way that paragraphs are constructed out of sentences, a plot will tend to be structured out of reversals.”

Beyond people who are intent on writing the next Oscar-winning screenplay or bestselling novel, Knight says this research highlights how narrative reversals can be a useful tool in more practical contexts too. For those writing a cover letter to apply to their dream job or working up a fundraising pitch to sell people on their business concept, “tell it like a story,” reversals and all, Knight says.

“Tell us where the reversal came in where now you’re actually needing to ask for help or tell us where things could maybe come back up if you were to receive that help,” Knight says. “Structuring your communications with this rule of thumb in mind might help get your point across and just engage people more successfully.”

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• Safe outdoor activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic doesn't have to halt all of your outdoor fun. Here are several fun outdoor activities you can still enjoy.

Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the activities of many people have been affected.

With COVID-19 vaccines, testing and treatment, events and travel are back to typical levels in many places. But as waves of COVID-19 cases — called outbreaks — happen, it's important to stay flexible with your plans.

Even if it takes extra planning, seeking out fun activities can help you cope with life's challenges. That's especially true if you do activities with people in your community and boost your social network.

When it comes to being social and active during the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor activities can be a good way to have fun safely.

Why choose outdoor activities?

It's harder to catch the virus that causes COVID-19 when you are in a space with good airflow and where you can spread out.

The COVID-19 virus is mainly spread from person to person. The virus spreads when a person with COVID-19 breathes, coughs, sneezes, sings or talks.

When you're outside, fresh air is always moving, so your risk of breathing in the virus that causes COVID-19 is lower.

Low-risk ways to move more

When COVID-19 is spreading in your area, low-risk activities can keep you active in a safe way. In general, any activity that allows you to keep your distance from others is a lower risk activity.

Wearing a mask can give you added protection against catching the COVID-19 virus.

In warm or cold weather, there are many ways to be active outdoors. Walking, running and hiking are common options either in your neighborhood or at a park.

Cold-weather activities, such as skiing or sledding, can be an option for one person or a group. Finding a fun activity during the cold months can help you enjoy the season and winter activities more.

Low- to moderate-risk outdoor activities

Some outdoor activities have a low to moderate risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. Basically, the less an activity brings you into contact with groups of people, the lower the risk of exposure to the virus.

Outdoor patio dining at uncrowded restaurants where patio tables are spaced apart is typically safer than indoor dining.

Gathering with a small group of friends and meeting outdoors may be a good option.

At the beach or swimming pool, it's the close contact with others, not water itself, that can make activities at these locations risky. Water itself doesn't spread the virus that causes COVID-19 from person to person.

High-risk outdoor activities

Being in large gatherings or crowds of people where it's difficult to stay a safe distance apart makes some outdoor activities higher risk for exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Festivals and parades are examples.

Think safety and enjoyment

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it's important to take care of yourself and those around you.

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines to help prevent serious COVID-19 illness.
• Make your activities as safe as possible.
• Test for COVID-19 if you have symptoms.
• Cancel plans if someone may be sick.

When you are out, clean your hands often. Avoid touching your face. If you live in an area where the virus that causes COVID-19 is spreading, wear a well-fitted mask.

With the right information, you can make thoughtful choices about ways to bring a sense of normalcy and joy to your life during the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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• Create joy and satisfaction. Mental Health America. https://www.mhanational.org/create-joy-and-satisfaction. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Social connection. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/connection/index.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Taking steps for cleaner air for respiratory virus prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/air-quality.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Goldman L, et al., eds. COVID-19: Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, community prevention, and prognosis. In: Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Elsevier; 2024. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Nyenhuis SM, et al. Exercise and fitness in the age of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2020.04.039.
• Masks and respiratory viruses prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/masks.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• How to stay active in cold weather. American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/getting-active/how-to-stay-active-in-cold-weather. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Exercising in hot and cold environments. American College of Sports Medicine. https://www.acsm.org/read-research/resource-library/resource_detail?id=2b5a55f7-e357-4909-b68f-727a604e3913. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Leibowitz K, et al. Winter is coming: Wintertime mindset and wellbeing in Norway. International Journal of Wellbeing. 2020; doi:10.5502/ijw.v10i4.935.
• About physical distancing and respiratory viruses. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/physical-distancing.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• DeSimone DC (expert opinion) Mayo Clinic. June 7, 2024.
• Stay up to date with your vaccines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• How COVID-19 spreads. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Preventing respiratory viruses. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/index.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.
• Hygiene and respiratory viruses Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/hygiene.html. Accessed June 7, 2024.

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44 Facts About Krasnodar

Written by Margo Rhone

Modified & Updated: 25 Jun 2024

Reviewed by Sherman Smith

Krasnodar is a vibrant and fascinating city located in the southern part of Russia. Known for its rich history, diverse culture, and stunning natural landscapes, Krasnodar offers an array of attractions and experiences for visitors to enjoy. From its iconic architecture to its delicious cuisine, this city truly has something for everyone.

In this article, we will explore 44 intriguing facts about Krasnodar. Whether you’re planning a trip to this dynamic city or simply want to learn more about it, you’ll find plenty of interesting tidbits to satisfy your curiosity. So, let’s dive in and uncover the hidden gems of Krasnodar!

Key Takeaways:

• Krasnodar, the 16th largest city in Russia, offers a warm climate, vibrant culinary scene, and rich cultural heritage, making it a beautiful gift for visitors and residents alike.
• With its diverse culture, thriving community, and rich history, Krasnodar provides something for everyone to enjoy, from outdoor activities to vibrant cultural events.

Krasnodar is the 16th largest city in Russia.

Located in the southern part of the country, Krasnodar occupies an area of about 300 square kilometers.

The city’s name translates to “beautiful gift” in Russian.

Krasnodar was named by Catherine the Great in 1794, who was impressed by the natural beauty of the region.

Krasnodar is the capital of Krasnodar Krai.

Krasnodar Krai is a federal subject of Russia , and Krasnodar serves as its administrative center.

The city is known for its warm climate.

Krasnodar experiences hot summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (95°F) and mild winters with temperatures rarely dropping below freezing.

Krasnodar is a major transportation hub.

The city is well-connected by air, rail, and road networks, making it a crucial transportation node in southern Russia.

Krasnodar is home to the popular FC Krasnodar football team.

FC Krasnodar competes in the Russian Premier League and has gained a significant following in the region.

The city is known for its vibrant culinary scene.

Krasnodar offers a wide variety of restaurants, cafes, and street food stalls serving both traditional Russian cuisine and international dishes.

Krasnodar is a major agricultural center.

The fertile land surrounding the city is ideal for agriculture, and Krasnodar is known for its production of grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Krasnodar is home to the Kuban River.

The Kuban River flows through the city, providing a picturesque backdrop and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.

Krasnodar has a rich cultural heritage.

The city boasts numerous museums, theaters, and art galleries, showcasing the history and artistic talent of the region.

The famous artist Ivan Shishkin was born in Krasnodar.

Ivan Shishkin is one of Russia’s most renowned landscape painters and is known for his realistic and detailed depictions of nature.

Krasnodar is known for its annual Krasnodar Jazz Festival.

The Krasnodar Jazz Festival attracts jazz musicians and enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing both local talents and international artists.

The city is a cultural melting pot.

Krasnodar is home to people of various ethnicities, contributing to its diverse cultural landscape.

Krasnodar is famous for its traditional Cossack culture.

The Cossacks have a strong presence in Krasnodar, and their customs, dances, and music are celebrated throughout the city.

Krasnodar is a popular destination for outdoor activities.

The surrounding area offers opportunities for hiking, camping, and exploring the beautiful nature reserves and national parks.

The city is a center for higher education.

Krasnodar is home to several universities and colleges, attracting students from all over Russia and abroad.

Krasnodar has a thriving business and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The city has experienced significant economic growth, with a range of industries contributing to its success.

Krasnodar has a bustling nightlife scene.

There are numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues where locals and visitors can enjoy music, dancing, and socializing.

Krasnodar hosts the annual Krasnodar International Film Festival.

The film festival showcases local and international films, attracting filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts.

The city has a well-developed public transportation system.

Krasnodar offers a network of buses, trams, and trolleybuses, making it convenient for residents and tourists to get around.

Krasnodar is home to the largest open-air market in southern Russia.

The central market, known as “Tsentralniy Rynok,” offers a wide variety of fresh produce, clothing, and other goods.

The city has hosted international sports events.

Krasnodar has been a host city for major events such as the FIFA World Cup and the European Athletics Championships.

Krasnodar is a center for healthcare and medical research.

The city is home to state-of-the-art medical facilities and renowned research institutes .

Krasnodar is known for its beautiful parks and gardens.

The city boasts numerous green spaces where residents can relax, exercise, and enjoy nature.

Krasnodar is experiencing rapid urban development.

The city’s skyline is continuously evolving with the construction of new residential and commercial buildings.

The city has a rich history dating back to ancient times.

Archaeological discoveries in the region have revealed traces of early civilizations that once thrived in Krasnodar.

Krasnodar is a city of sports enthusiasts.

From football and basketball to martial arts and water sports, Krasnodar offers a wide range of sporting activities and facilities.

The city is known for its warm and welcoming locals.

Krasnodar residents are known for their hospitality and friendly nature.

Krasnodar has a vibrant music scene.

The city hosts music festivals and concerts throughout the year, showcasing a variety of genres and talents.

Krasnodar has a developed network of bike lanes.

Cycling enthusiasts can explore the city and its surroundings using the extensive bike paths available.

Krasnodar has a rich tradition of folk dances and music.

Traditional dance groups and music ensembles perform regularly, preserving the cultural heritage of the region.

The city has a thriving technology sector.

Krasnodar is home to numerous tech startups and companies driving innovation in various fields.

Krasnodar is famous for its vibrant food markets.

Locals and tourists flock to the markets to find fresh produce, local delicacies, and traditional Russian ingredients.

Krasnodar has a strong sense of community.

Residents actively engage in volunteer work and community initiatives, fostering a close-knit and supportive environment.

The city has a rich architectural heritage.

From historical buildings to modern structures, Krasnodar showcases a blend of architectural styles.

Krasnodar is a gateway to the Black Sea coast.

The city’s proximity to popular coastal destinations makes it an ideal starting point for beach getaways.

Krasnodar celebrates various cultural festivals throughout the year.

The city embraces diversity by hosting festivals that showcase the traditions and customs of different ethnic groups.

Krasnodar has a well-established theater scene.

From classical plays to contemporary performances, theater enthusiasts can enjoy a range of productions in the city.

The city is known for its innovative urban planning.

Krasnodar has implemented modern urban planning principles to create livable and sustainable neighborhoods.

Krasnodar has a strong sense of environmental awareness.

Efforts are made to preserve the natural beauty of the region and promote eco-friendly practices within the city.

The city is home to the Kuban State University.

Kuban State University is one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in southern Russia.

Krasnodar is a center for sports medicine.

The city offers state-of-the-art medical facilities and professionals specialized in sports-related injuries and rehabilitation.

Krasnodar has a well-developed retail sector.

From shopping malls to boutique stores, residents and visitors have access to a wide variety of retail options.

Krasnodar is known for its vibrant cultural events.

Throughout the year, the city hosts festivals, concerts, and exhibitions that showcase the creative talents of its residents.

As you can see, Krasnodar is a city with a rich history, diverse culture, and thriving community. From its warm climate to its vibrant culinary scene, there is something for everyone to enjoy in this beautiful gift of a city.

In conclusion, Krasnodar is a vibrant city that offers a wealth of history, culture, and natural beauty. With its rich architectural heritage, delicious cuisine, and friendly locals, it is no wonder that Krasnodar is a popular destination for travelers from all over the world. Whether you are interested in exploring the city’s museums and art galleries, experiencing its lively nightlife, or simply indulging in its delicious local dishes, Krasnodar has something for everyone. So, if you are looking for an exciting and memorable travel experience, be sure to add Krasnodar to your bucket list.

1. What is the best time to visit Krasnodar?

The best time to visit Krasnodar is during the spring and autumn seasons when the weather is pleasant and mild. Summers can be quite hot and humid, while winters are cold with occasional snowfall.

2. How can I reach Krasnodar?

Krasnodar is well-connected by air, rail, and road. The city has an international airport, and there are regular flights from major cities in Russia and Europe. Additionally, there are train and bus services available for travelers.

3. Are there any must-visit attractions in Krasnodar?

Yes, there are several must-visit attractions in Krasnodar. Some of the popular ones include the Kuban State University Botanical Garden, Krasnodar Regional Art Museum, Red Street, and the Krasnodar Safari Park.

4. Is it safe to travel to Krasnodar?

Yes, Krasnodar is generally a safe city to visit. However, it is always recommended to take normal precautions and be aware of your surroundings, especially in crowded areas.

5. What is the local cuisine like in Krasnodar?

The local cuisine in Krasnodar is diverse and delicious. Some popular dishes include Kuban-style barbecued meats, borscht ( beetroot soup), pirozhki (stuffed pastries), and traditional Russian desserts like blini (thin pancakes) and medovik (honey cake).

6. Are there any outdoor activities to do in Krasnodar?

Yes, there are plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy in Krasnodar. You can visit the beautiful parks and gardens, go hiking in the nearby mountains, or explore the stunning countryside on a bike tour.

7. Can I take day trips from Krasnodar?

Absolutely! Krasnodar is a great base for day trips to nearby attractions such as the Black Sea coast, the picturesque town of Gelendzhik, and the historic city of Anapa.

8. Is English widely spoken in Krasnodar?

While English is not widely spoken, you can still manage to communicate with basic English in major tourist areas. Having a few basic Russian phrases handy can also be helpful.

Krasnodar's vibrant sports scene is just one facet of this captivating city. Football enthusiasts will enjoy learning more about FC Krasnodar's impressive history and accomplishments . Kuban Krasnodar, another prominent local club , has its own intriguing tale to tell. For those curious about the visionary behind Krasnodar's transformation, Sergey Galitsky's fascinating story is a must-read.

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