Practices of Experimentation: Research and Teaching in the Arts Today

Practices of Experimentation: Research and Teaching in the Arts Today Department of Art & Media (DKM) at the Zurich University of the Arts, ZHdK (Ed.). (2012). Practices of Experimentation: Research andTeaching in the Arts Today. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 500 pages, 80 color plates, (paperback). ISBN 9783858812599.Practices of Experimentation: Research and Teaching in the Arts Today (2012) is the fou rth in a series of'yearbooks" edited and compiled by the Department of Art and Media (DKM) at the Zurich University of the Arts. The book's organizing theme focuses on conceptualizing art practices as forms of experimentation. The edited collection of 17 contributions is derived from a wide-ranging scope of authors from inside and outside the school, including invitational works from international guests. Presenting a mixture of theoretical content and practical examples, scholars in theory, aesthetics, media arts, and cultural studies are situated alongside contributions from students, alumni, and artists. The project both documents the practices of the Department of Art and Media and explores contemporary problems concerning research and teaching in the Arts. This paperback combines both English and German editions, visually separated by a series of color plates located at the heart of the book. Readers with particular interests in the epistemologies of art, philosophies or methodologies of artistic research, and the application of related contemporary theoretical inquiry to teaching artistic practices will likely find the conceptual offerings of this project to be academically enticing.Theoretical contributions from various positions of professional practice and knowledge discourses converge, providing the reader with a complicated impression of the school's intellectual climate. Examples of formal art teaching practices at a university of the Arts are presented in many formats to illustrate the alignment of theory to practice. As a collection, the essays provide fragmented entry points that seem only to scratch the surface of portraying the complexity of the school's ethos and curricular program as one that is guided by intensive theoretical inquiry into research, teaching, and practices in the Arts. Areas of study and the structural organization of the post-secondary institution are briefly outlined in the foreword by Schiesser and Brunner.Presented as an international model for arts education and research that pushes the boundaries of contemporary practices, Zurich University of the Arts houses two dedicated research centers (The Institute for Contemporary Art Research and The Institute for Critical Theory), which contribute to a cross-pollination of transdisciplinary discourses underpinning the school's creative and academic activities. In form, the book is an artful project. Rather than presenting a reductive narrative to describe specific qualities and methodologies of the school, the creative format positions the reader within an interpretive space to draw connections where theoretical experimentation and experimental practices overlap. Contributions include traditional scholarly articles, free-form theoretical brainstorming, reflective narratives, visual artifacts, and project descriptions.In "Slow Practices-11 Theses," Christopher Brunner explores the "epistemic surplus value of artistic research" utilizing a phenomenological approach (p. 57). Focusing on the concept of being in the present moment of engagement in artistic practice, Brunneroffers a set of theoretical propositions as "tendencies of acting and thinking" by slowing down, feeling, and participating in an event (p. 57). Brunner outlines his individual theses separately, developing his initial thoughts on how "slow practices" problematize, produce subjectivity and objectivity, refer to collective processes, and are relational, heterochronic, political, creative, and not just productive transversal practices or techniques of existence based on intensity and duration that transform the concept of knowledge. …