Art and everyday information behavior: Sources of understanding

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn our efforts to design an ethical information future, we must develop a deeper understanding of the information phenomena in everyday lived experience. Based on work in cultural theory and philosophy, art seems to present an illuminating domain for the study of everyday life. This paper presents findings from an exploratory, phenomenology‐of‐practice study of the information behavior of artists. These findings serve as an entryway to information phenomena that have largely gone unexplored in information behavior. The study builds on the literature of everyday information behavior and artists' information behavior, and it draws on a nascent information behavior theory that recognizes understanding as an epistemic aim and conceptualizes understanding as an information constellation. In this study, seven local artists documented their process creating self‐portraits, and semi‐structured follow‐up interviews were conducted. This paper reports on the findings from four of these artists, demonstrating how memories, the lived environment, profound experiences, and online browsing were informative and contributed to the artists' understandings. It closes by discussing the meaning of these findings for the future of information science, suggesting that the information employed by artists might be recognized and appreciated more widely throughout society.