OPEN LETTER Thirteenth Series, No. 4, Fall 2007 Artists’ Statements & the Nature of Artistic Inquiry Guest-edited by Rachel Nash and W.F. Garrett-Petts Open Letter gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts This issue also aided by: Acknowledgements First we want to express our thanks to the workshop participants and organizers: Shawn Berney, Alan Brandoli, Marsha Bryant, Jen Budney, Bonnie Bylsma, Frank Davey, Danyel Ferrari, John Craig Freeman, Laura Hargrave, Klaas Hoek, Michael Jarrett, Anthony Kiendl, Georgia Kotretsos, Ernie Kroeger, Donald Lawrence, Eileen Leier, Paula Levine, Glen Lowry, Helen MacDonald-Carlson, Ashok Mathur, Melinda Mollineaux, Dana Novak, Adelheid Mers, Maria Paschalidou, Brenda Pelkey, Leah Sabulsky, Henk Slager, Paul Stacey, Si Transken, Tracy Whalen, and Yaying Zhang. Special thanks to Donald Lawrence for organizing the complementary panel on the Court/House Project: “Vernacular Modes of Inquiry,” featuring artist- researchers David Hoffos, Ernie Kroeger, Donald Lawrence, and Panya Clark Espinal – in conversation with Bruce Baugh, W.F. Garrett-Petts, Walter Lew, Glen Lowry, and Celeste Olalquiaga. We also want to express our appreciation to the Kamloops Art Gallery – in particular, to Jann L.M. Bailey and Jen Budney – for both hosting the Proximities exhibition and for supporting our interdisciplin- ary inquiry. The editors and the contributing artists have made every effort to track ownership and obtain formal permission for photographs and images included in this special issue. Our thanks again to the participating artists; to the Kamloops Art Gallery; to the Hellenic Cultural Center of Chicago, and to the curators and artists of the Art of the Artist Statement exhibition; to Columbia Records; to MGM Studios Clip + Still Licencing; to Fred Douglas and his estate; to New Day Films; to Bloodaxe Books and Random House. Unless otherwise indicated, the photographs are by Dana Novak. The video sequences in the DVD were edited by W. F. Garrett-Petts and Rachel Nash, with post-production assistance by Pat Ebert and Dennis Keusch. Cover design, DVD design, and the photo collages of conference images were created by Dennis Keusch. Editing assistance was provided by Leah Sabulsky and Bronwen Scott.. We are grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding support via (1) a Workshop Grant, (2) a Standard Research Grant, and (3) a Community-University Research Alliance Grant. We also wish to thank Textual Studies in Canada for contributing editorial and production resources to this special issue of Open Letter. Contents (Print + DVD) Print Introduction: On Artists’ Statements and the Nature of Artistic Inquiry RACHEL NASH and W.F. GARRETT-PETTS 7 Focus on Artists’ Statements The Artist Statement and Phantom Presence TRACY WHALEN 16 Artists’ Statements and “The Rules of Art” FRANK DAVEY 34 Displaced Artist Statements, Reluctant Artist-Researchers: Poet-Editors of Women’s Poetry Anthologies MARSHA BRYANT 45 Exhibiting Writing: On Viewing Artists’ Statements as Art W.F. GARRETT-PETTS 64 How To Be Influenced MICHAEL JARRETT 79 Focus on Artistic Inquiry Operational Research HENK SLAGER 96 Researching Artists Required: Inquire Within ASHOK MATHUR 106 Re/Searching with Art/Ists: Praxis, Practice, and Social Justice SI TRANSKEN 116 Notations and Images from the Artist Statement Workshop Tools For Making Sense ADELHEID MERS 143 Photo Essay from the Artist Statement Workshop DANA NOVAK 144 Contributors 153 DVD Focus on the Visual Interview with Ernie Kroeger on Artists’ Statements and “Wild Writing” ERNIE KROEGER Interview with Eileen Leier on Artists’ Statements and Artistic Research EILEEN LEIER Artist Statement Workshop, Saturday Morning Panel ADELHEID MERS, JOHN CRAIG FREEMAN, MICHAEL JARRETT Writing on the Walls W.F. GARRETT-PETTS and RACHEL NASH Translating Chicago: The Art of the Artist’s Statement Afterthoughts DANA NOVAK I to Eye Stories ALAN BRANDOLI eye stories: children’s art and words HELEN MACDONALD-CARLSON and ALAN BRANDOLI Around Fiddle Reef DONALD LAWRENCE The “Early Adopters” Exhibition as an Example of Artistic Research ADELHEID MERS Shadows from Another Place: Transposed Space PAULA LEVINE . On Artists’ Statements and the Nature of Artistic Inquiry Rachel Nash and W.F. Garrett-Petts Ironically, though there’s ample evidence that we need to integrate visual ways of representing knowledge throughout life, universities have, until recently, singled out print as the privileged medium for intellectual work. Things are changing, however. Cultural theorists, including those involved in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies, are beginning to acknowledge a ‘visual turn’ in academic and creative work. The pressure to understand and accommodate ‘non- linguistic’ ways of knowing and communicating has become particularly urgent in Canada, since the major funding agency for the humanities and social sciences (SSHRC) has set aside new support for artist-researchers via its Research/Creation program. These researchers and their practices are introducing new modes and methods of inquiry, and new challenges to traditional academic notions of research. At present, however, although the academic climate seems especially warm toward notions of ‘creative research’ in general, we have no clear consensus about the definition, value, and impact of these modes and methods of artistic inquiry. Much has been said and written about research on visual arts, but there is relatively little about research for visual arts (the array of practices that both inform and constitute artistic production) or research through visual art (where artistic practice becomes a vehicle for producing and presenting new knowledge). What we do know is that artistic inquiry often challenges disciplin- ary thinking and employs multimodal representational strategies. Often described as ‘hybrid,’ ‘mixed,’ or ‘alternative’ discourse, multimodal writing, for example, seems intimately connected to changing notions of authorship, new media technologies, challenges to education posed by multicultural classes, feminization of the academy, national funding strategies tied to collaborative and interdisciplinary research, and a renewed interest in the role of the personal, especially the personal essay and creative nonfiction as 8 Open Letter 13:4 legitimate vehicles for academic inquiry. Alternative forms of academic discourse reflect changes in, and the growing diversity of, the academic community. Coming to terms with and understanding artistic research – its limitations and potential – has become a crucial challenge to the academic community at large, not just those directly involved with it.1 For the last few years, we’ve been studying changing notions of research in Canada – and elsewhere. We’ve been working with visual artists, studying their practices, intrigued by the way their work (especially the work of those artists working and teaching in universities) challenges traditional notions of research. An area of particular interest for us has been the ‘artist statement’ as a contested site of practice, a point where writing meets (variously intrudes upon, supplements, contextualizes, contradicts, enhances, extends, or gestures toward) visual arts production and exhibition. We are also intrigued by the notion of the artist statement as a vehicle for creative inquiry. In November 2005, with support from SSHRC, we brought together 29 emerging and established artist-researchers (from the visual arts and creative writing): artists, writers, language and discourse theorists, critics, curators, and cultural administrators from Canada, the United States, and Europe. This workshop, Artist Statement: Artistic Inquiry and the Role of the Artist in Academe, had two related objectives: (1) using the workshop as an initial site of research exchange, we sought to develop a research community based on increasing interest in the broad issue of artistic inquiry; and (2) as a result of the workshop, we undertook to produce this edited collection of essays on the topic of artistic inquiry, thus providing a record of the many discussions and exchanges during the workshop, and laying the groundwork for future collaborations. On Day One of the workshop, designated participants introduced the three key strands of investigation: the artist as researcher; an investigation of ‘artist statement,’ what artists say about their own works; and the artist’s place in academe. Our preliminary “Discussion Questions” focused on the following: Artistic Inquiry: (a) Our working definitions of ‘artistic research’? ‘artistic inquiry’? Nash and Garrett-Petts: Introduction 9 (b) How does artistic research contribute to knowledge? Are there, for example, visual ways of knowing? (c) What are the difficulties in, and implications of, institu- tional recognition of artistic research – for universities? for artists? for others? (d) Other emergent questions requiring our attention? Artist Statements: (a) Our working definition of the ‘artist statement’? (b) The relationship of ‘artist statements’ to manifestoes, prefaces, introductions, interviews, and artist talks? (c) The history of ‘artist statements’? (d) ‘Artist statements’ as vehicles for, or products of, artistic research? (e) Other emergent questions requiring our attention? Participants gathered in small working groups to discuss key issues and problematics in the field, reporting back to the whole workshop. The afternoon sessions were devoted to the presentation