The All Module Campus Session (11/11/16) – Looking at Arts-Based Research

Last Friday a number of BAPP students came together to participate in a campus session as hosted by Paula. In attendance were Lily and Charnelle from module three, Victoria and Lizzie from module two. Megan and Taz from module two also participated via Skype as well as Lucy from module one. I hadn’t seen a number of the BAPP community since being away so it is always nice to reconnect and learn how individuals are progressing with the course. With a number of us from each module, we are all of course at different stages but the theme of the session as proposed by Paula is one that we could collectively delve into as it permeates a thinking between all of us as we develop our inquiry topics. Before getting started, Paula asked everyone to give a brief overview of where we were all at individually. Lizzie and Victoria mentioned that they are finding module two studies quite expansive given it is the time of study in which you are exploring inquiry topics of interest to take forward into module three. Lucy also chimed in, saying that she was wrapping her head around the earlier tasks in module one and trying to find correlations between the programme’s content and her previous propositional knowledge (Eraut, 1992). It was interesting listening to BAPP students who were experiencing the same as I had whilst studying prior modules and hearing their own separate learning journeys. The focus for the session was arts-based research. Paula opened by mentioning that it is a term that can be applied across multiple mediums within the performing arts field.

In her text ‘Method Meets Art’, scholar Patricia Leavy (2009) defines arts-based research as;

“a set of methodological tools used by qualitative researchers across the disciplines during all phases of social research including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and representation. These emerging tools adapt the tenets of the creative arts in order to address social research questions in holistic and engaged ways in which theory and practice are intertwined.”

Paula added that arts-based research is incredibly reflexive (Gibbons, 2008) and can therefore be approached and evaluated with varying disciplinary knowledges (Lawrence, 2010). Furthermore, “Arts-based methods draw on literary writing, music, performance, dance, visual art, film, and other mediums” (Leavy, 2009) which means that research can be drawn from a number of different disciplines. Although sources, such as literary writing, may be referring to a particular knowledge (Eraut, 1992), more of a universal meaning can be found and applied to others. Paula discussed that we should be developing a thinking for drawing on a number of different stimuli, both professional and academic, when approaching studies. In regards to my own position, carrying out my inquiry as part of module three studies, I am expected to look at a number of literature sources between the margin of ten and twenty as proposed by the module three handbook. Although it seems like a large number, I have found various practitioners that cover my inquiry topic for creative collaboration and leadership within theatre production often cite others which lead me to the referenced works. As mentioned by myself previously, the consensus found for creative collaboration on my literature review has been very much in favour. Practitioners cite it as detrimental to successful projects. However, when given context, it has been the environment in which they are explored that has prompted discussion for its degree of success.

Before giving a demonstration for carrying out arts-based research, Paula cited that arts-based research has developed out of transdisciplinary study. In a later work of hers titled ‘Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research’, Leavy (2011) paraphrases Sinner et. al (2006) in saying that “practices emerged from the 1970s to 1990s and now constitute a significant methodological genre”. She mentions herself that “arts-based research has developed in a transdisciplinary methods context involving the crossing of disciplinary borders as well as cross-disciplinary collaborations” (2009). Multi and interdisciplinary approaches deal with distinct disciplines “co-existing” within a project (Johnson, 2001) and new assumptions emerging from the result of a collaboration (Austin et al, 2008) respectively. Meanwhile, knowledge transcends to transdisciplinary when a project “team spends ample time developing a research agenda: identifying key topics, building shared definitions and concepts, and developing a conceptual framework for the study that is not the property of any one discipline” (Leavy, 2011).

Paula mentioned, however, that new knowledge gained through transdisciplinary means is not restricted to the professional and organisational contexts and that the societal (Reader Five, 2015) or audience receiving the work can also benefit from the process. A transdisciplinary approach to research is always problem-based (Leavy, 2011), whether that be an internal issue between the creative team or instead a more societal theme that they wish to address with their perspective audience. Paula then turned our attention to an online news article promoting a recently staged production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical ‘Sweeney Todd’ (see the post here). The article charts the transfer of the theatre production from a real-life pie shop in Tooting, London to a replica that is placed within the heart of the West End. The idea for staging the production in this manner was not only an idea influenced by the narrative of the material being used but to also provoke members of the community to come together and celebrate artistic work being produced within a well-known local establishment. This idea for staging the production is clearly influenced from previous theatre practitioners whose aims were the same when it came to provoking a change in thought in their prospective audience, notably the work of Bertolt Brecht. Brecht developed a mode of theatre known as ‘Epic Theatre’ which seeks not for an audience to empathise with character and narrative but critically reflect on social affairs being alluded to via conventions not found in that of naturalistic acting (a full breakdown of these can be found on the following web article). One technique in particular, known as direct address (Brecht, 1964), involves actors engaging directly with their audience, breaking the “fourth wall”, meaning the space that separates the audience from the action onstage is shattered and the allusion of narrative is broken. However, whilst parallels can be found between the two it is really the aim is not to challenge a perspective as complex as political agenda like Brecht intended with his work, but instead raise an awareness for how immersive and visually stimulating storytelling within theatre can be. This is an example of transdisciplinary action working effectively. Paula also mentioned the text “The Theory of the Avant Garde” (Peter Bürger, 1984) when referencing that it is not just about doing the art form but putting it together in a way that hasn’t been seen before. This is an argument that Bürger (1984) makes in his work, that in our proposed age of postmodernism “two essential insights come together… first, that it is not in and of themselves that works of art have their effect but rather that this effect is decisively determined by the institution within which the works function; second that modes of reception must be based in social history” (1984).

Paula has asked us prior to attending the session to prepare art-based research sources that relate to our individual areas of professional practice and inquiry topics. Unlike the professional or academic, these are sources that exist on the fringes of our topic focus and feature some of the key themes we are exploring. An article that has come to make up part of my literature review is one from the human resources publication website ‘HRZone’. The article features an argument for what makes a successful collaborative leader. It goes onto list three key features that are essential showing leadership in collaboration;

“Mediation – Collaborative leaders need to be able to address conflict constructively and effectively as soon as it arises. This is a demanding skill. Evidence from many collaborative leadership 360° feedback programmes suggests that handling conflict and the associated mediation skills are often the number one leadership priority.

Influencing – Collaborative leaders need to be able to share control and so choose the best approach to influencing their partners. This requires an understanding of the organisational culture and personality type of their partners as well as an objective analysis of the business situation at hand.

Engaging others – Collaborative leaders can’t be successful without the skills of networking and relationship building. This means communicating with clarity, often in high stress situations, and involving others in decision – making at the right time.”

It is interesting that phrases such as ‘mediation’, ‘organisation’, ‘networking’ and ‘conflict’ should be terms I have found in my professional and academic literature findings as found in this article but in a context existing outside the arts. Paula explained that arts-based research can help ground our theories and make them relatable to someone outside of our community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Finding keywords in literature sources solidifies universal themes that apply across multiple communities. To conclude the session, Paula asked that we participate in a couple of collective mind map exercises. In light of the recent US presidential election result, we used this scenario as a stimulus for presenting art-based research ideologies within this context. A lot of what came out of the exercise were of course reactions strongly influenced by Trump and Clinton’s stances on policies but we agreed that simple phrases representing themes, as discovered in the previous exercise, can be understood by various multiple ‘lenses’ (Gardner, 2005). The results of the exercise can be found below. However, arts-based research is only one aspect of our inquiry, Paula noted, when it comes to structuring our inquiry it is important to remember who we are writing for. What is the aim of our inquiry and who is the prospective audience in mind who will benefit from our findings?

Bibliography

Archer, D 2013 “What makes a collaborative leader?” HRZone [online] Available at: http://www.hrzone.com/talent/development/what-makes-a-collaborative-leader [Accessed 21 Nov. 2016]

Austin et. al, 2008 “From Interdisciplinary to Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study”, Qualitative Health Research, 18, (4) [online] Available at: http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/18/4/557.short [Accessed 20. Nov. 2016]

Bürger, P (1974) Theory of the avant-garde, 1984 re-print, Manchester: Manchester University Press

Brecht, B (1964) Brecht on theatre, 2014 re-print, London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Eraut, M (1992) Developing professional knowledge and competence (1994 re-print), London: Falmer Press

Gardner, H (1983) Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences, New York: BasicBooks

Gibbons, M 2008 “Why Is Knowledge Translation Important? Grounding the Conversation”, Technical Brief No. 21 [online] Available at: http://ktdrr.org/ktlibrary/articles_pubs/ncddrwork/focus/focus21/Focus21.pdf [Accessed 20 Nov. 2016]

Johnson, R 2001 “Historical Returns: Transdisciplinarity, Cultural Studies, and History”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 4, (3) [online] Available at: http://ecs.sagepub.com/content/4/3/261.short [Accessed 20 Nov. 2016]

Lave, J, Wenger, E, 1991, “Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Leavy, P (2008) Method meets art (2009 re-print), New York: Guilford Press

Leavy, P (2011) Essentials of transdisciplinary research, Oxford: Routledge

Middlesex University, Module Two Reader Four, 2015

Sinner et. al 2006, “Arts Based Research Dissertations: Reviewing the Practices of New Scholars, Canadian Journal of Education, 29, (4) [online] Available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ766913.pdf [Accessed 20 Nov. 2016]

Cash, J 2011 “Epic Theatre Conventions” The Drama Teacher [online] Available at: http://www.thedramateacher.com/epic-theatre-conventions [Accessed 21 Nov. 2016]

Brown, M 2015, “Pie-shop Sweeney Todd transfers from Tooting to West End” The Guardian [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/11/sweeney-todd-transfers-tooting-pie-shop-west-end [Accessed 21. Nov. 2016]