The final event of the current incarnation of PaRNet was held on the 18th December 2018 and I am sure all who attended would like to extend a massive thank you to Rommi Smith who made sure that this event took place by taking on most of the organising. Practice*Research can cover a multitude of different research practices. The attendees at PaRNet events have always come with diverse projects from many different universities. These have included music, design, fine art, theatre, dance, therapy, curation, poetry, performance, education, architecture. At times this has made it difficult to pitch workshops that can appeal to everyone, but more often it has encouraged people to make connections and borrow from one another’s disciplines. PaRNet has always been about supporting doctoral students with the particular requirements of a P*R PhD. Practitioner-researchers have demonstrated their PhD projects and we have spent many hours discussing what a P*R thesis might look like. Always central to PaRNet has been the principle of ‘doing-thinking’ - to borrow from the title of Joanne Scott’s book listed below – I’m a practical person, I’d much rather be trying something out than hearing how it could be done. In December 2018, we returned to the University of Leeds - the site of the first PaRNet event in 2015 - for a training day led by Dr Kate Fox. Kate was a participant at that earlier event, but returned in December with her thesis complete and viva surpassed – ready to offer advice, but most importantly to get us practising. We experimented with writing in different roles that have emerged from our projects, in my case as student and promoter. Kate shared her archive of detritus, the bits that were created as part of the PhD, but didn’t ultimately make it in; we created our own. One participant commented that they enjoyed ‘talking about the nuts and bolts of writing a performance-based practice-as-research PhD’, whilst another appreciated seeing ‘the accumulation of work that goes into a finished PhD’. At the end of the day participants shared resources that they have found useful. Some of these are books about practice, about practice*research, about theory and some are examples of practice*research that have helped to inspire participants. My suggestion Alison Light’s Common People is in this last category; an account of her rigorous genealogical research, which provides a focussed social history, reflections on the practice of family history and creative meditations. It might not be as useful for everyone else’s research as it is for mine, but it is a good read! The list we created is at the bottom of this post and below that is a collection of P*R theses available online. Please let me know if you know of any more online P*R theses that we can add to this list. The organisers of the network are reaching/have reached the conclusion of their PhDs. There may be new networks emerging from the White Rose Universities, but I think these are likely to shift focus as required by current students. There is already an Ethnographic Exchange operating and there is talk of a group exploring creative methods. PaRNet was a network that we needed and I know from feedback that people valued the sense of community, support and friendship that we built. Thank you to WRoCAH for supporting us throughout – even when we massively overran our schedule! And thank you to everyone who has helped to organise events, to everyone who ran workshops, to everyone who supported others, to everyone who attended an event, to everyone who asked a question or offered an answer, to everyone who helped create a welcoming learning space; basically thank you to everyone who became a part of PaRNet. PaRNet Bibliography from 18 December 2018 Barrett, Estelle, and Barbara Bolt, eds, Practice as Research: Approaches to Creative Arts Enquiry (London and New York: I.B.Tauris, 2010) Coessens, Kathleen, Darla Crispin and Anne Douglas, The Artistic Turn: A Manifesto (Ghent: Orpheus Instituut, 2009) Clarke, Paul, Simon Jones, Nick Kaye and Johanna Linsley, Artists in the Archive, Creative and Curatorial Engagements with Documents of Art and Performance (Oxon: Routledge, 2018) Cocker, Emma, ‘Tactics for Not Knowing – Preparing for the Unexpected’, in On Not Knowing: How Artists Think, ed. by Rebecca Fortnum and Elizabeth Fisher (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2013) Extract: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/79084/79085 Eshun, Kodwo, More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures In Sonic Fiction (London: Quartet Books, 1999) Freeman, John, Blood, Sweat & Theory: Research Through Practice in Performance (Faringdon, Oxfordshire: Libri Publishing, 2010) Goodall Jr, H. L., Writing the New Ethnography (Lanham, MD: Altamira Press, 2000) Gumbs, Alexis Pauline, M Archive: After the end of the world (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018) Gumbs, Alexis Pauline, Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018) Hilevaara, Katja, and Emily Orley, eds, The Creative Critic: Writing as/about Practice, (London & New York: Routledge, 2018) Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) Light, Alison, Common People: The History of an English Family (London: Penguin, 2014) Nelson, Robin, and others, Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances, ed. by Robin Nelson (Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) Nierhaus, Gerhard, ed., Patterns of Intuition: Musical Creativity in the Light of Algorithmic Composition (Springer: Dordrecht, 2015) Pirsig, Robert, M., Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (London: Vintage, 2004) Scott, Joanne, Intermedial Praxis and Practice as Research (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) https://intermedialpraxisandpar.wordpress.com/ Joanne Scott’s Intermedial Praxis and Practice as Research was developed from her thesis, which can be read online – the link in the list below. Smith, Hazel, and Roger T. Dean, eds, Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Creative Arts (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009) Practice*Research Theses online Fox, Kathryn Elizabeth, Stand Up and Be (En) Countered: Resistance in solo stand-up performance by Northern English women marginalised on the basis of gender, class and regional identity (Doctoral thesis, University of Leeds, 2017) http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/20722 French, Jade, Art as Advocacy. Exploring curatorial practice by learning disabled artists as a site for self-advocacy (Doctoral thesis, University of Leeds, 2017), http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/19432 and http://www.artasadvocacy.co.uk/ Scott, Joanne, Live Intermediality: A New Mode of Intermedial Praxis (Doctoral thesis, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, 2014) http://crco.cssd.ac.uk/466/1/Live_Intermediality.pdf Spence, Jocelyn C, Performative experience design: theories and practices for intermedial autobiographical performance (Doctoral thesis, University of Surrey, 2015) http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/807190/
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PaRNet Summer Conference 2017 ‘Unfinished, uncertain, unknown: processes of practice-led research’7/7/2017
On 7th July 2017, the White Rose Practice-as-Research Postgraduate Network (PaRNet) held its first full conference at the University of Leeds.
Thanks to the generous support of WRoCAH who kept us supplied with refreshments and resources throughout the day. Delegates explored the conference theme ‘Unfinished, uncertain, unknown: processes of practice-led research’ through practice, presentation and discussion. The day started with a carousel of short workshops. In small groups we explored what practice (…as/led/based…) research might mean in fine art with Alaena Turner (University of Leeds), theatre with Bridie Moore (University of Huddersfield), creative writing with Rommi Smith (University of Leeds), and music with Scott Mc Laughlin (University of Leeds). Following lunch, we enjoyed a series of short presentations and provocations from students currently undertaking practice-led research. These ranged across disciplines including architecture, fine art, virtual reality, film, performance, education and considered how these can fit into the processes of the doctoral study. Presentations and Provocations: Synaesthetic scape Maha Al-Ugaily (University of Sheffield) The Process of Practice Research Marie Brenneis (CASS, London Metropolitan University) PhD: A practice based enquiry into embodied performance on a virtual stage Richard Brown (Mixed Reality Lab, Horizon DTC, Nottingham University) My practice cannot finish. My practice operates (in) immanence with uncertainty its only certainty. Proposal: @Home Again as viva Emma Gee (University of Leeds) Common or Garden Jamie Harper (Newcastle University) Untitled Pavel Prokopic (University of Salford) #periodpositive performance Chella Quint (Sheffield Hallam University) Knowing the Unknown: The Paradox of researching Uncertainty Yaron Shyldkrot (University of Surrey) The work of the day concluded with delegate led round table discussions on the topics of methods, examining the PhD, and integrating theory and practice. Before wrapping up with a drinks reception kindly provided by the School of English at the University of Leeds. Photographs taken by participants using a polaroid camera as part of Alaena Turner’s workshop: At the University of York, Alaena Turner chaired the day, which started with Helen Stratford introducing PaRNet to her playful strategies for exploring public spaces. Helen is a practice-led PhD researcher in the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. You can discover more about her exciting research at http://www.helenstratford.co.uk/ and http://playthecitynowornever.com/
We built in extra time for discussion, following feedback from previous events, and Kirsty Surgey led this with a game of PhD Consequences. In the afternoon, Ali Campbell led a workshop that fully embedded theory within practice. Ali is a practitioner-researcher in applied performance and development theatre based at Queen Mary University London. For more information on his fascinating work see: http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/staff/campbella.html A one-day event which brought together postgraduate students researching through creative practice with a focus on complementary writing and creative documentation. It was a collaborative, supportive forum in which students discussed their research successes and concerns (with lunch provided - Thanks to WRoCAH!) We welcomed two guest practitioner-researchers to lead workshops: Dr Joanne Scott from the University of Salford and Dr Helen Newall from Edge Hill University. For more information about their research and creative practice, please take a look at these websites: http://www.joanneemmascott.com/ https://helennewall.com/ And the day concluded with a PaRNetworkshop led by Rommi Smith (University of Leeds), with support from Kate Fox (University of Leeds). Some things people liked about the day... Discussion about the relationship between the academy and art, how a practice based researcher can navigate this effectively. The experience and methodologies of more experienced PAR lecturers. The language and tools I was given to help incorporate research into my practice - in particular the idea of complementary writing. Discussing the different uses of text and what PAR looks like as a thesis! PaR is not much discussed in music, so it was very enlightening to see the engagement of other disciplines with this, and to hear about so many exciting research projects. The final session which offered practical examples of practice imbricated in reflection was a great way to conclude the day And some more general comments... Incredibly useful for networking connections and to hear the approaches and experiences of others. I found the event extremely helpful in formulating my own research and being able to share and see examples of other peoples' academic, plus talks by current academics was invaluable. Kind people, and highly energetic and poetic atmosphere. It's brilliant! This event was an opportunity to experience some of the practice-led research being undertaken by students at the Universities of Sheffield, York and Leeds through practical workshops. There was also be discussion of issues of concern to practice-led researchers, in particular the documenting of practice. Omar Shahryar (York) opened the proceedings and we had two practical workshops, one using an art therapy exercise, run by Bina Hartwell (Sheffield) and the second in performance studies, led by Bridie Moore (Sheffield). In the afternoon, Kirsty Surgey (Sheffield) led a discussion about our learning from the WRoCAH PaR training days with Professor Robin Nelson and Dr Anna Fenemore and we shared possible forms of creative documentation.
Some feedback... "Useful insight into other researchers' practice. Enjoyable participatory workshops." "Extremely helpful thank you – great specific information and debates generated from material." "I appreciated having the discussion about redefining my own aesthetic criteria. I have questions I'd like to explore at the next session." A pilot meeting of the newest inter-University network of postgraduate students working through creative practice. It was an opportunity to talk our practice and discuss some of the issues facing practice-led researchers. This was the start of an open and collaborative forum for postgraduate researchers across different disciplines and universities. The day started with a chance to explore the practice/research of postgraduate students Matthew Elliott (Leeds), Rommi Smith (Leeds) and Omar Shahryar (York). In the afternoon Rommi Smith led an activity to help us help one another through the individual challenges presented by our practice and then Kirsty Surgey (Sheffield) facilitated a planning forum to decide the shape of future events.
What people said at the end of the day... "I feel the day has inspired me to carry on with more hope and motivation because I am not alone in this struggle - we're in it together." Loved all the methods we used: scribing, diagnosing, prescribing, taking words from the scripts and reworking them into poetry. The gifts given were great opportunities to discuss work through the tasks rather than in a forced way. Sharing practice ideas and sources of info and inspiration. "It was a calming and affirmative day; a day of creating a space for the nurturing of critical mass. Days like this are so important. I realised lots of my worries are normal. I also realised that whilst I have worries, I can offer insights and support to others on the same journey. Many of the issues that I met in the prescription activity were ones I had also experienced. What I saw was that as a critical mass we contain multitudes (to paraphrase Walt Whitman), and this is a fantastic things to have discovered relatively early into the process. Thanks to everyone for such generous spirits and openness" "One of the best Postgraduate sessions I have attended" "Fantastic. I gained a lot" "Great day! Really helped me in exploring the questions that I encounter consistently through out the PhD process! Cheers!" |
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