“That’s Not Art, It’s Just Consultation!”: Performing Innovation in Socially Responsive Creative Technologies Research

Authors

  • Rebecca Caines York University
  • Brandon Watson University of Regina

Abstract

This article brings together two perspectives on the field of creative technologies and explores its place in practice-based research. Case studies are drawn from maker culture projects, pedagogical work in developing creative technologies programs in tertiary institutions, and socially engaged art projects taking up creative technologies methodologies. The article also contains an embedded research instructable, with prompts for engaging with communities, arts institutions, and industry. This article shares hopes for creative technologies as a form of practice-based research that can disrupt exclusive art and research cultures to make room for difference and value diverse kinds of innovation.

Author Biographies

Rebecca Caines, York University

Dr. Rebecca Caines is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar, whose research crosses between creative technologies (including sound art, new media, and augmentation) and socially engaged art, with a special focus on improvisatory practices. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia and is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at York University. Her publications appear in journals such as Performance Research, Contemporary Music Review, The Canadian Journal of Action Research, Critical Studies in Improvisation, and M/C: Journal of Media and Culture. She is also co-editor (with Ajay Heble) of Spontaneous Acts:  The Improvisation Studies Reader (Routledge, 2015).

Brandon Watson, University of Regina

Brandon Watson holds a BA in Creative Technologies from the University of Regina, where he is also currently completing an MFA) Interdisciplinary Studies. His research interests focus on using maker culture and people-centered design to improve accessibility and promote design using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Published

2023-07-11

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1-2 (2023): Performing Practice-Based Research

Section

PBR and Communities of Practice/Process

License

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.

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