paper presented at IM2.

method a particular procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, from Gk methodos ‘pursuit of knowledge’, Concise Oxford Dictionary

Research Unit for Contemporary Art Practice

inventing methodologies2 is the second in a series of experimental workshops which aim to provide a platform for the discussion of the novel and highly-contested notion of practice-based research.

Practice-based researchers are faced with a dual challenge. The first is the intrinsically bifurcated nature of a research project composed of a written element in conjunction with a practical element. The second is the interdisciplinarity inherent in writing art. These structural complexities are also an enduring characteristic of the practice/theory relationship.

What constitutes research in the context of practice-based PhD? What is the relationship between research and artpractice? Is the written element also a practice requiring its own set of competencies? Indeed, how many practices are involved in practice-based research?

Can the tension between theory and practice provide one way to unravel methodological processes? Does the reflexive monitoring of empathic or ‘obsessive’ research strategies in fact generate the discourse and criticality of the project? Is it possible to outstrip the criteria of legitimation by setting tailor-made criteria for research objectives?

inventing methodologies2 provides the opportunity to unravel these processes and the incentive to articulate these personal avenues by encouraging discussions on the possibilities of practice-based research.

Adnan Hadzi “Deptford.TV – strategies of sharing”

What Is Deptford.TV?
• A platform for collaboration with a focus on Deptford communities. (Elvira)
• A collaborative environment for film-making on the Deptford regeneration that accommodates different levels of participation and engagement. A community project. (Bitnik)
• A pool of clips. (Stephen)
• A grassroots media project. (Camden)
• A public access media project that investigates into new areas such as collaborative film editing. (James)
• A project that aims to generate shared resources by uploading materials which people will be able to share. (Gordon)
• A collaborative film – a project on issues of regeneration. (Amanda)
Deptford.TV (1) is a research project on collaborative film-making in collaboration with Deckspace media lab (2), Bitnik collective (3), Boundless (4), Liquid Culture (5) and Goldsmiths College (6). It is an online media database documenting the regeneration process of Deptford, in South- East London. Deptford.TV functions as an open, collaborative platform that allows artists, filmmakers and people living and working around Deptford to store, share, re- edit and redistribute the documentation of the regeneration process. The open and collaborative aspect of the project is of particular importance as it manifests a form of liberated media practice. In the case of Deptford.TV this aspect is manifested in two ways: a) audiences can become producers by submitting their own footage, b) the interface that is being used enables the contributors to discuss and interact with each other through the database. Deptford.TV is a form of ‘television’, since audiences are able to choose edited ‘timelines’ they would like to watch; at the same time they have the option to comment on or change the actual content. Deptford.TV makes use of licenses such as the creative commons (7) and gnu general public license (8) to allow and enhance this politics of sharing.
1 See http://www.deptford.tv
2 See http://dek.spc.org/
3 See http://www.bitnik.org/en/
4 See http://www.boundles.coop
5 See http://www.liquidculture.info
6 See http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk
7 Creative Commons is a nonprofit organisation that offers flexible copyright licenses for creative works. See http://creativecommons.org
8 The Gnu General Public License aims to guarantee everybody’s freedom to share and change free software. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.htm