Of Research, Passion, and Art

The author inquires into the metaphysical entities of art and scholarship that became, in their singular form, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’ cornerstones of Western civilization. Both fields were motivated by the quest for research that was grounded in curiosity and desire. In the arts, research became the expression for the general artistic motivation and urge and was, until recent times, not connected to an academic connotation. Scholarship, conversely, found its last ground--its universality--in the unveiling of the Truth, whereas the arts found theirs in the universal idea of Art. In the arts, research was fundamentally idiosyncratic, whereas scholarship divested itself thoroughly from any personal connection. Both domains also developed in separate spaces. While the arts flourished in all kinds of places and developed, until the 1960s, rather independently of art schools, scholarship developed its course mainly within the university walls. In the sixties, art schools became more “contemporary” by inviting leading artists. With the recent introduction of research into the curricula of all higher arts education, the influence of art schools on the art world is increasing. The art school is accordingly becoming more responsible. Although research in and through the arts is not accepted wholeheartedly (every art school reacts differently, which mirrors the idiosyncrasy of the arts), we should not forget that the idea of art as knowledge--which is implied in research--was necessary for art to become an autonomous field around 1800. Idiosyncrasy and knowledge are born twins within the arts. The arts can, therefore, be connected to different forms of research; research in and through the arts is, however, an important aspect. The last part of the text inquires about how to deal with research in this new situation.