Adrienne Boulton

2.9 Having Been Present: The Capture and Distraction in Arts Based Research (Paper)

Adrienne Boulton – Kwantlen Polytechnic University, BC, Canada

Abstract:

In this paper, I explore an ongoing visual inquiry project I developed and implemented with and for my mom, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In the first iteration of this project, I photographed my mom’s jewellery and trinkets as we discussed the memories my mom recalled as she held these items collected throughout her life. Through this process, I theorized the concept of having been present to understand my role as a visual inquiry researcher drawing on artistic practice in the exploration of personal and highly emotive experiences. Extending this work, I draw on Richards et al.’s (2019) work which explores the value of painting for individuals with Alzheimer/Dementia perceptions of quality of life. For this second iteration, I designed painting sessions with my mom to understand the multi dimensions of visual inquiry and artistic practice for the ways that it enables memory activation. This paper further considers the potential for having been present in both research and pedagogy and the novel ways that artistic practice shapes the research relationship not just between the false binary of the researcher and researched, but in the ways that art practice enables particular qualities of engagement to emerge. To do so, I consider what Butler (2018) refers to as photography’s ability to capture the having been there-in the presence of the sensual being while simultaneously providing a distraction from this very thing. In shifting to the practice of painting, I consider both the capture and the distraction in artistic research for what it enables rather than constrains in the research relationship.

9.2 Manifesto of Collective Practice: Ethics, Intentions, and Interdisciplinary Engagement in Art Education (Panel)

Chair:

Adrienne Boulton – Kwantlen Polytechnic University, BC, Canada

Panellists:

Natalie LeBlanc – The University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Jennifer Wicks – The University of Quebec in Outaouais, Canada

Abstract:

This presentation highlights the collaborative efforts of four international colleagues as they create a manifesto focused on collective practice, ethics, intentions, and interdisciplinary engagement through the perspectives of their respective artistic practices. Our manifesto embodies our collective’s ethical, political, and pedagogical foundations, grounded in a commitment to exploring collaborative art practice’s unexpected and evolving nature. We position collective practice as a means to counter neoliberal academic isolation and foster interdependence and connection in the face of competitive educational structures. Building on Bourdieu’s and Massumi’s theories, we conceptualize collective practice as an “event,” highlighting transformative potential inherent in collaboration. This perspective redefines artmaking as a socially situated act, challenging academic hierarchies and norms. In penning our manifesto, we embrace the ephemeral nature of these events, aligning with the Fluxus tradition of the “happening” as a way to prioritize experience and engagement over object creation. Art’s transformative potential inspires and motivates us in collective practice. We offer a conceptual representation of shared values, capturing convergences of individual and collective intention. This visual approach reinforces our work’s intermedial and interdisciplinary dimensions, referring to intersections of art and academia. This allows participants to experience overlapping boundaries defining collective artistic/academic territories. Through this lens, we edify a re-evaluation of permanence in art education, proposing a model of continuous, reflective practice, valuing process over product. Ethically, our manifesto emphasizes the concept of “trying” – striving for change without the constraint of finality. Politically, it embodies a desire to construct spaces where art challenges neoliberal norms, inviting participants to connect rather than compete. Pedagogically, it presents an art education model rooted in community, collaboration, and ongoing inquiry. In sharing our manifesto, we invite fellow educators to explore shifting grounds of collaborative practice as an “event,” reconfiguring perception and action, proposing transformative, collective approaches within the landscape of art education.