Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Arts based research has many possibilities and can have an art form at various or different points in the spectrum of research. It could be the creation of an artwork itself; or the artwork might be the object of study; art might be collected as research data; or the process to exorcise aspects of the human condition. A group of geographically (and to a degree, academically) isolated creative arts practitioners and researchers have been meeting in a online space on a fortnightly basis to provide colleagial support for each other as they wrestle with ways to turn their ideas into form. The conference presentation will describe the establishment and growth in the group and demonstrate the value of sharing insights, pains and pollinations between research, writing and creativity. Members of the Creative Practice Circle work with poetry, crochet, collage, soil and water on canvas, textiles, pastels, radio and creative writing. The practices vary but the members discuss questions about how we might attempt to understand or interpret what is being said in “languages” we do not understand. In bringing each of their research projects and products cooperatively together as a way forward to publication and exhibition, the Circle members have identified a collective theme – “Listening in the Anthropocene.” The theme is a thread that will lead the group to create a tapestry of enquiry and dialogue presenting alternative views to the world around them.