Race and the Forms of Knowledge: Technique, Identity, and Place in Artistic Research

Race and the Forms of Knowledge: Technique, Identity, and Place in Artistic Research explores the development of artistic research within predominantly white institutions, highlighting its radical potential when reframed as a lineage of critical whiteness practice. It proposes a framework for working at the intersections of embodied identities, artistic techniques, and alternative forms of knowledge, drawing inspiration from recent critical studies of blackness and indigeneity.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 29 February 2024
Publisher: Northwestern University Press

This groundbreaking work takes a radically interdisciplinary approach to position performance-based research in solidarity with decoloniality. It delves into the very essence and meaning of artistic research, also known as practice research, performance as research, and research-creation. By examining its development within predominantly white institutions that have both enabled and depoliticized it, the book highlights its radical potential when reframed as a lineage of critical whiteness practice.

Ben Spatz, the author, crafts a fluid yet critical new framework, explored through a series of case studies that include Spatz's own practice-as-research. These case studies provide valuable insights into the author's own artistic journey and offer practical methodologies for working at the intersections of embodied identities, artistic techniques, and alternative forms of knowledge.

Drawing inspiration from recent critical studies of blackness and indigeneity, the book demonstrates how artistic research is inherently involved in the production and transformation of identity. Spatz offers a toolkit of practical methods and concepts, ranging from molecular identities to audiovisual ethnotechnics and earthing the laboratory, to reimagine the university and other contemporary institutions.

Through its interdisciplinary approach, Race and the Forms of Knowledge: Technique, Identity, and Place in Artistic Research provides a rich and thought-provoking exploration of the field of artistic research. It challenges readers to think critically about the power structures and hierarchies that shape artistic practices and offers practical strategies for dismantling them. This book is a valuable resource for artists, researchers, and anyone interested in exploring the intersection of performance, identity, and social justice.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780810146594