Experimental methodology – sociology, art and activism

 

 

Relates to action research and observation

 

Concepts: ethnography, art, culture, Situationist, installation, experiment, subjectivity, reflexivity

 

Warning: PIP markers need to see you have been ethical. Be sure your "situation"/installation is not about deceiving, shocking or demeaning you audience and follows all ethical research guidelines (see syllabus)

 

There are historic links between the art world and the sciences of the social and cultural world. This exercise builds on the methodology of ethnography, where a researcher emerges themselves in a culture over a period of time in order to understand that culture. This experiment requires you, the researcher, to create a situation where your audience is invited to contribute their ideas and knowledge to the area of your research (your PIP). Like a film maker who steps away from behind the camera to talk to her subject, you, the researcher, will engage with your topic and your audience in a way that is honest, reflexive and open-ended.

 

The task draws on the ideas of the Situationists who were a radical student cultural movement of Paris, 1968. Their ideas drew from Marxism and more recently anarchism. Amongst other political concerns, they were interested in society, culture and the use of public space. A popular contemporary take on the situationist idea is “guerrilla gardening” where a group of gardeners will take over an un-used (or badly used) space and convert it into a garden to be enjoyed by the public. (There was a brief TV series about this last year...)Another modern take on situationism is “flash mobbing”. In this way, the situationist act changes the environment through collective human activity for a greater social purpose. The greater social purpose for the Situationists was to hang a question mark over capitalist social organisation and behaviour.

 

“Situationist tactics included attempting to create “situations” where humans would interact together as people, not mediated by commodities. They saw in moments of true community the possibility of a future, joyful and un-alienated society.” (www.libcom.org)

I would like you to consider these ideas and how they might apply to your PIP. Consider that the various acts of the Situationists always stirred a response from passersby. Indeed they wished to inspire such conversation. Could you, as a social researcher, create a “situation” that generates discussion? Does the act itself change the tone of the conversation? (Perhaps for some topics this is necessary, e.g., to probe beyond a deeply entrenched taboo...) Does the act change ideas? What does this say about the relationship of your topic to the social world?

 

Example: Let’s say I’m researching attitudes in girls towards the objectification of women in advertising. I want to start a conversation on this topic in a space where I can participate and access ideas from people other methodologies might not have reached. (E.g. people who don’t like writing/filling out forms/being interviewed or other “formal” methodologies. Perhaps they are cynical about such research methods. Perhaps they are sick of “surveys” that are trying to sell them something...)

Basic requirements: public space, the element of surprise, honesty, communication, passion.I could...

-Set up an exhibition on my topic in a public space and watch as people observe. I can ask them questions as they engage with my exhibition.

-Do a performance, or involve others in a performance then invite my “audience” to comment. This is in the social theatre tradition