Experiment! Towards an artistic epistemology

Abstract

On the basis of a notion of experimentation derived from Hans-Jörg Rheinberger’s concept of ‘experimental system’, which he developed in the context of twentieth-century experimental science, this paper sketches a possible route into a genuine artistic epistemology. While experimental systems are highly conceptual in nature, they are actually meant to produce material, epistemic excess – epistemic things – that enter the world first as unknowns. Given this initial lack of knowledge, the article argues that it is less helpful to decide whether any concrete epistemic thing is fact or fiction; rather, an artistic epistemology is suggested that focuses on the radical individuality of such a thing and the way in which artistic research practice may need to protect its individuality as a site for particular knowledges. This implies a critique of Rheinberger’s emphasis on historicity in experimental systems, a critique which is explained with reference to two works by Marcel Duchamp: Fountain and Three Standard Stoppages. While the former arguably changed the history of art, the latter is said to have had a much greater effect on Duchamp’s practice and understanding.

Keywords:

• artistic research
• experimental systems
• experimentation
• artistic epistemology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Michael Schwab is an artist and artistic researcher who interrogates post-conceptual uses of technology in a variety of media including photography, drawing, printmaking and installation art. He holds a PhD in photography from the Royal College of Art, London, that focuses on post-conceptual post-photography and artistic research methodology. He is tutor at the Zurich University of the Arts as well as research fellow at the Orpheus Institute, Ghent and the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Since 2003 his exhibitions and associated events have increasingly focused on artistic research, and he has been a collaborator and adviser on a number of research projects including the ERC-funded project MusicExperiment21 (PI: Paulo de Assis) and Transpositions (PI: Gerhard Eckel) funded by the Austrian Science Fund. He is co-initiator and inaugural Editor-in-Chief of JAR, the Journal for Artistic Research. Recent publications include Experimental Systems: Future Knowledge in Artistic Research (Orpheus Institute/Leuven University Press, 2013) and The Exposition of Artistic Research: Publishing Art in Academia (Leiden University Press, 2014; edited together with Henk Borgdorff).

Additional information

Funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013; FP7/2007-2011] under grant agreement number 313419.