Placing identity, identifying place: An investigation of the role of place and identity in artistic thought and practice. Shelley Margaret Hannigan BFA (Painting), Graduate diploma (Teaching), MEd (Creative arts therapies) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2014 School of Music Shelley Hannigan, PhD Abstract This thesis explores the phenomena of place and identity in the visual artistic practices of four artists and myself. Using narrative case study and autoethnography, three research questions were investigated and answered: 1. What can be understood about each artist’s account of place and identity? 2. How do the artists encounter, use, or draw on, themes of place and identity in their creative practice, products, and thinking? 3. In what ways do the artists’ places influence their constructions of identity? Methods and techniques used to investigate these questions were interview, observation and artefact analysis. Hermeneutic philosophy was compatible with the investigation of individual insights and experiences of five artists due to its focus on the interpretation of verbal and non-verbal communication. Methodologies of qualitative narrative research were used to foreground artists’ explanations and interpretations of their own artworks and encourage storying of themselves. I investigated my own place, identity and artistic practice through autoethnography. Heidegger’s contribution to place philosophy is discussed as this along with other theories contributed to notions of place as experience. Notions of space and place are reviewed that include historical developments such the spatial turn. This turn challenged the way space and place were understood within disciplines and inspired a turn toward more interdisciplinary understandings of place and space. Geography moved toward a critical geography that included humanist geography, socialist and cultural geography (Peake, 2014) and led to the modern notion that people help create spaces and places. Identity theories are explored to show how identities form and construct as a result of personal, social, cultural, relational and other influences. Artists and their practices are positioned in a dialogic relationship as places form identities and identities form places. This study sought to understand how this relationship was played out in artistic practice. Multiple, personal insights that each of the five artists expressed about place, identity and his/her artistic practice became understood through thematic narrative analysis. As researcher and one of the artists in the study, I engaged in a hermeneutic spiral that took me deeply into understanding similarities and differences between my own and each of the four artist-participant’s experiences and insights. Each artist expressed his or her unique embodied understandings of place and identity in the context of his or her visual artistic practice. Past place experiences influenced the kind of places that each artist chose to be in or chose to explore in his/her art. As such, ii Shelley Hannigan, PhD the kinds of materials, techniques and mediums he or she explored related to his/her places and identities. Each artist experienced place as a physical location as well as a sensory experience. Being in a locale engaged in artistic practice triggered ideas, emotions, feelings and memory about other places. This highlighted the important dimension of being in a locale and also the “here” and “there” experiences of being in or contemplating place. The “here” was where the artwork tended to be created, but the “there” were places some artists had experienced or places they were creating their art for - such as galleries. Themes that related to travel, changing places, feeling a part of places, on the fringe of places or outside of places emerged. For one artist, his identity was tied up with being known as a “Melbourne painter.” Another artist embodied the identity of an “Australian artist” but also worked to create a new notion of Australian art and Identity as Australian artist. The findings contribute to the understanding of place and highlight how art and artistic practice are forms of place-making and place-based research. Understanding artistic practice as place and identity research adds to the discourse on the use of arts practice as research methodologies. Such insights into artistic practice through the lens of place and identity may be used to inform arts policy; My hope is that just as identity and place are valued for their centrality in Australian Indigenous art, place and identity can also be valued when judging and assessing art of other cultures. As a way forward, a list of artistic place experiences are provided that are currently being developed into teaching and learning modules for art students and pre-service teachers. iii Shelley Hannigan, PhD Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Shelley Hannigan, PhD Publications during candidature Hannigan, S. (2012). Turning community stories into community art. International Journal of Education Through Art, 8(2), 135–150. ERA journal ID: 10380. Hannigan, S. (2012). A/r/tography and place ontology. Visual Arts Research, 38(2), 85–96. ERA journal ID: 10573. Publications included in this thesis No publications included. v Shelley Hannigan, PhD Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. vi Shelley Hannigan, PhD Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. Many thanks to my principal supervisor, Professor Margaret Barrett. She saw the potential in my research proposal and gave me great advice and support throughout my candidature. Her knowledge, advice and guidance were invaluable to the development of this project and to my learning. Thank-you to my associate supervisors who accompanied parts of my doctoral journey. Dr Koji Matsunobu, Dr Julie Ballantyne and Dr Liam Viney each worked with me in various capacities to provide professional advice and guidance. Thank-you to the University of Queensland for providing me with the opportunity to undertake this research, and the financial means to complete this project. I could not have done this without the university awarding me an APA Scholarship, International Travel Scholarship and School of Music R. D. Kitchen Scholarships. A special acknowledgment goes to my husband Phillip Doggett-Williams and sons Joseph and Thomas who endured this long process with me. Their intelligence, love and support are greatly appreciated. A special thanks to Dr. Tamara Jones who provided editorial support, proof-reading and formatting advice in line with the Australian standards for editing practice. Her expertise and professional approach was much appreciated in the final weeks of my candidature. * I dedicate this thesis to my father Peter Hannigan who passed away during my candidature. He was an intelligent man and one of the most important contributors to my experience of place and identity. He would have been delighted to know I completed this journey. vii Shelley Hannigan, PhD Keywords Place, identity, narrative analysis, visual artistic practice, case study, hermeneutics. Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 190103, Art theory, 35% ANZSRC code: 190499, Human Geography not elsewhere classified, 30% ANZSRC code: 220207, History and Philosophy of the Humanities, 35% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 2203, Philosophy, 35% FoR code: 1905, Visual arts and crafts, 35% FoR code: 1999, Other studies in creative arts and writing, 30% viii Shelley Hannigan, PhD Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 PROLOGUE ...................................................................................................................................................................