Practice As Research Approaches Critical Mass in Academe

Abstract

This paper draws on the Australian experience where several hundred creative arts doctorates have been awarded over the past decade or so. The primary argument is that this substantial quantum of completed outputs by these research higher degree students should be used to highlight the distinctive nature and quality of creative arts research. It might seem an obvious proposition to benchmark completed exemplary projects for quality but to date the focus has been on a search for a "critical mass" of theoretical writing to validate the methodology, processes or protocols followed by practice-based researchers in universities. The heterogenous nature of creative arts research might be seen as a methodological problem in establishing higher degree rules but when the register of interest shifts to the interpretation of the outputs of the research their variety, individuality and originality becomes a major strength as does the scope of their impact. This shift of emphasis to confront the research outcome as being actively embodied in the artifacts, images and other arts outputs can draw theoretical support from the increasing body of literature on the interpretation of contemporary art and its significance for social, cultural and intellectual or cognitive development.