Vol. 17 No. 1 (2022): Special Issue: Practices of Phenomenological and Artistic Research

This special issue explores existing and possible connections between two different sets of practices: phenomenological research practice and artistic research practice. On the one hand, both sets of practices share a basic aspect: they approach their object of research as phenomena, that is, through their phenomenal presences. On the other hand, these sets of practice are configured by different forms of action developed in different media — among many others, written or oral language, drawing, architectural design, film, photography, sound, or body movement. On this twofold basis, we invited submission that addressed the following questions and demonstrated them in action: How do the commonalities between practices and methods of artistic and phenomenological research manifest? How can phenomenological research be accomplished in artistic media and by artistic means? How can artistic research extend the scope of phenomenology as a research practice? In turn, how can phenomenology contribute to further develop artistic research practices? 

The focus of this special issue goes beyond traditional views of the relationships between art and phenomenology by considering both as fields of research, or more specifically, as ways of researching through phenomena. For the purposes of this special issue, art was not approached as an object of research for phenomenologists and phenomenology was not treated as a theoretical reference for artists producing art works. Accordingly, we neither focused on inquiry into practices of artistic production based in or inspired by phenomenology nor on phenomenological theories of art. Instead, we focused on research practices developed through the influence, combination, and even hybridization of phenomenological and artistic approaches in order to advance the methodological development of both fields.