I am very happy to announce that a new article by Gjilke Keuning, Marijke Lucas and myself has just been published: “The “Function” of Art?: Challenges of Setting Up Artistic Research Residencies in Elderly Care Institutions” is out on the online Journal for Trial and Error (JOTR).
JOTR seemed particularly interesting to publish this work, as the journal is interested in methodological flaws and conceptual errors in research, in discussing and questioning what kind of knowledge is deemed valuable, and in putting transparency and compassion above profit, division and bottom lines (quoted from the journal’s website). All of these topics have a strong resonance with the work we are doing on the brink of arts and care, in our research network Creating Cultures of Care.
In the article, we reflect on the co-creative processes of three artistic research residencies in an elderly care institution in Leiden, The Netherlands. The artists were asked to immerse themselves in the institution for half a year, 2 days a week, to carry out practice-based and experience-driven research. Through artistic methods such as sketching, photographing, or creating mockups, the artists were supposed to reflect on their experiences in the institution, in particular on the relation of the residents to staff, caretakers, and their loved ones at home. These reflections were supposed to lead to final artistic works that offer alternative views on the institution and everything happening in it, from the inside out. Two challenges became apparent in these residencies: First, balancing the imaginative and speculative artistic process with the urge to “help”, to make a meaningful — however instrumental — contribution to the institution on the other. Second, the urge to use spoken language (i.e. dialogue and discussion) quickly dominated the exchange between artists and participants in the institution and threatened the work with artistic materials, which are often not lingual in nature. The institution itself and its staff are highly thankful for the fresh and sometimes unexpected/unorthodox views of the artists, but do these more ‘systemic’ observations actually help the artistic process? And what exactly is the value that the arts and artists have to offer with their practices?
Falk Hübner 