Format: on Shaninka campus, on HSE University campus and online
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Elina Sigalevich (Interdisciplinary Artist, Master's Student at HSE University), Anastasiia Bulatova (Performance Artist, Graduate of St. Petersburg State University, Independent Researcher)

Contemporary art operates within a complex present, the comprehension of which demands new research tools. Cultural and social turns, along with reforms in academic education, have contributed to the emergence and development of artistic research as a distinct form of interaction between art and science over the past three decades. "Research-based art" has since gained recognition at major international exhibitions and biennials while simultaneously functioning as an expanded artistic practice that equips artistic processes with new tools for self-observation and holds the potential for endless self-critique. This has led to challenges from institutions that promote art. The neoliberal economy of funding bodies, academia, the art market, and political institutions is further reinforced by technological advancements, social media, and global trends. The question of art’s autonomy becomes particularly sensitive in relation to artistic research, which calls for emancipation from the academic environment.

How can the focus of artistic research be shifted away from science and academia back to art itself? How can we reject the false competition between scientific and artistic research and overcome the established secondary role of artistic practice in relation to scientific results? How can art cease to be merely an accompaniment or illustration? How can artists work within art and engage with its own forms of thinking? Is an academic revolution possible, where a new language—one that does not conform to scientific standards—emerges from the authenticity of each artwork, allowing artistic research to extract new practices from art and integrate them into academic discourse? How can we dismantle the hierarchy that places theory above artistic practice and stop using theory as a "trendy" addition to legitimize artistic research, which ultimately dilutes both forms of knowledge? What distinguishes scientific research from aesthetic research, and how can non-scientific epistemologies be developed? Art renews itself with every work, and artistic research is self-referential, utilizing medial forms and modes of expressivity that do not adhere to philosophical or scientific thought.

The Russian context of artistic research is characterized by the absence of a strict dichotomy between art and academia, shaping a public language for engaging with problematic knowledge. Russian research initiatives have been supported by the Garage Museum's research platform, established in 2013; in 2023, the PERMM Museum launched scholarships in art and technology; MMOMA conducted a course on media archaeology of sound within an interdisciplinary framework; and in 2023, GES-2 House of Culture introduced a program on artistic research, which included a public lecture series, an artists' laboratory, and a thematic issue of Logos journal on knowledge production in art, providing broad public exposure to artistic research.

We will discuss the status of artistic research in both Russian and international contexts, examine research methodologies—ranging from well-established ones (such as archival work, autoethnography, and site-specific practices) to methodologies drawn from the social sciences (including path dependence theory and frame analysis)—and debate how to assess the quality of academic artistic research. Additionally, we will explore the role of artificial intelligence and technology in the practice of the artist-researcher.
We invite contemporary artists, researchers, curators, and representatives from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to engage with the discourse on artistic research.

The parallel program includes discussions within a spring conference at a partner academic institution, as well as events in art institutions. Based on the panel’s materials, we will establish a research and educational group on artistic research. We are conducting a performative practice of embedding artistic agents within academia and ask the question: «Is the mission possible?».

Our Telegram channel is the next door.

Illustration: Peter Belyi, The Dream, 2023