Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in the Visual Arts - Tapa dura

“Sullivan challenges our assumptions about what constitutes research practices and in doing so presents a ground-breaking analysis for visual arts practice as research. This compelling image-text book opens the possibilities for the construction of new forms of knowledge in our increasingly visual world.” (Dipti Desai)

“Sullivan provides a timely and excellent introduction to the emerging field of visual cognition and educational research.” (Pradeep Dhillon)

“In this rich and layered reflection on visual arts practice as research, Graeme Sullivan launches a passionate and convincing case that rewrites the definitions of ‘art’ and ‘research’ as it unapologetically claims for the visual arts the respect and admiration of the academy.” (Jessica Hoffman Davis)

“Art Practice as Research is long overdue. Graeme Sullivan eloquently crafts a methodology text and articulates for contemporary visual artist-researchers how arts practices are, in fact, rich forms of research inquiry.” (Rita L. Irwin)

“Sullivan’s text is an important addition to the literature associated with research, critical inquiry, and arts education. I wish that such a text would have been available at the time that I was working on my dissertation. I will recommend it to my graduate students and colleagues.” (Doug Blandy)

"Sullivan has writen a complex, closely reasoned, and very detailed dargument about a topic that, at first glance, seems superfluous to anyone who has ever had the good fortune to observe serious artists seriously engaged in making their art...  Sullivan has created an excellent, even poetic, excercise in his own endeavor to share his understandings of the creative process." (W.S. Johnson Choice Magazine 2005-06-01)

"I can recommend Sullivan's book for those who want a thorough overview of the field of inquiry in the visual arts. It is well structured and Sullivan presents many examples to illustrate his arguments." (Folkert Haanstra 2007-03-20)

"Art Practice As Research is encyclopedic in depth and scope of material supporting the author's vital thesis, and the vision of studio art as fully acknowledged academic research, may be elusive as the dragonfly." (Patricia M. Hancock 2007-03-20)

"The book eloquently explains research practices found in the art studio and argues that visual art research is grounded in the practices that come from art itself. This profound and visionary book . . . is an essential text for every research student of art and art education in art schools and schools of education." (Susan Paterson 2007-03-20)

Art Practice as Research presents a compelling argument that the creative and cultural inquiry undertaken by artists is a form of research.

This text explores themes, practices and contexts of artistic inquiry and positions them within the discourse of research. Graeme Sullivan argues that legitimate research goals can be achieved by choosing different methods than those offered by the social sciences. The common denominator in both approaches is the attention given to rigor and systematic inquiry. Artists emphasize the role of the imaginative intellect in creating, criticizing, and constructing knowledge that is not only new but also has the capacity to transform human understanding.