A/r/tographic Collaboration as Radical Relatedness

Abstract

In this paper the authors examine a/r/tographical collaboration in a community-engaged research study investigating immigrant understandings of home and place. The study, The City of Richgate, involves a complex collaboration between community members, community organizations, educational institutions, and a research team comprising artist-educators. The study crosses border zones of cultural, ethnic, geographic, institutional, public, private, and disciplinary boundaries, reflecting the ever-changing character of postmodern reality. In this paper the authors reflect critically and theoretically on the lived experience of radical relatedness found within the complex collaboration, particularly within the a/r/tographic research team. This offers a qualitative methodology of radical collaboration applicable to many fields of inquiry in the academy, art world, and community.

Inclusivity and aesth/ethics in third participatory a/r/tographic spaces

“…Inclusivity is mainly understood as a process concerned with the identification and elimination of barriers that enhance the presence, participation and academic achievement of every student, integrating those with more risk of being excluded or suffering school failure (UNESCO 2005). Nevertheless, this perspective might overvalue participation for academic achievement and might overlook the relevance of relationality (Bickel et al 2011), that is, human relations and its complexity. A/r/tographers have the privilege and the challenge of working through the relationships between and among the three different identities of the artist, the Madrid (2013Madrid ( -2014.…”

“…Furthermore, action could be understood as a way of becoming conscious of the radical relatedness (Bickel et al 2011) among beings, as part of the process of being present and embracing the emergence of the new. This might require a pause from purposeful action to take the time to feel and think how to deal with the complexity of the unexpected, complex, unfolding situations in educational contexts.…”

“…A/r/tography is a practice-based methodology of situations (Triggs et al in press), where the three identities of the artist, researcher and teacher coexist contiguously : xxviii) as a form of living enquiry (Irwin and de Cosson 2004) in radical relatedness with others (Bickel et al 2011). My earlier a/r/tographic practice with communities of children and youth has led me to explore the tensions and contradictions between the identities of the artist, researcher and teacher (Madrid 2012).…”

Learning, Becoming, and the Unknowable: Conceptualizations, Mechanisms, and Process in Public Pedagogy Literature

“…Bickel et al. (), for example, take up Gablik's () ideas directly in their writing on the Richgate project, a sequence of “gates” containing images from largely ethnic neighborhoods in the Vancouver area that were constructed to represent the experience of traversing those neighborhoods and experiencing the alterity therein. Similarly, Springgay (), in her work with artist Diane Borsato, went to the Chinatown area of Manhattan, to explore how sensory—largely olfactory—encounters with the mushrooms sold there contributed to a relational pedagogy.…”

‘I’m not being paid for this conversation’: Uncovering the challenges of artist–academic collaborations in the neoliberal institution

“…They form ‘empowering mode(s) of communication beyond writing, talking, mapping and survey’ (Tolia-Kelly, 2012: 137) and constitute ‘representational challenges that are transformative’, enabling the ‘loosen[ing of] the knowledge/power axis involved in knowledge production’ (O’Neill, 2008). The potential of these engagements is particularly highlighted in relation to work on migration and mass displacement, when academics and artists join forces to intervene in public debates and develop modes representations that challenge hard borders and nativist thinking (Bickel et al, 2011; Erel et al, 2017; O’Neill, 2008; Wooley and Palladino, 2016). Publications reflecting on joint work capture the potential and actual achievements of these projects; they also need to be understood in a context in which collaborations are a relatively new(ly valued) activity, which need to be justified both to the academic community and funding bodies.…”