Shifting the frame: from critical reflective arts practice to practice-based research

Abstract

How are we to understand the interplay between academic research and the creative activity involved in art making? What are the processes by which arts practitioners can lay claim to art making as a vehicle for systematic intellectual inquiry? This article focuses on the evolution of a piece of practice-based research that explores how sound can be used to re-examine the socio-political discourses surrounding the Stephen Lawrence case. In providing a ‘route map’ for the emergence of the project, I trace the journey from a critical and reflective arts practice towards framing my creative practice as academic research. More specifically, I examine the role of art making within this process and demonstrate the value of using Schön's theory of reflective practice as a mechanism for delineating the dimensions of the research. This process of mapping will hopefully offer a useful approach for the fusion of intellectual and creative activities, contributing to debates about the nature of research within the creative arts disciplines.