In recent decades, there has been growing interest in artmaking as a source of wisdom. Increasingly, artists present themselves as (artistic) researchers, claiming that the process of creating art has epistemic value. At the same time, many philosophers have taken up artistic pursuits alongside their academic work. However, unlike artists, their artistic practices are typically seen as hobbies, separate from their academic context and unrelated to their philosophical work.

In this session, we aim to blur the strict boundary between art and research, exploring how artistic practice can generate philosophical insights. Together with a range of artists and artist-philosophers, we will address some of the longstanding questions in this domain: What kind of knowledge is typically produced through art? Through what mechanisms and processes does this knowledge emerge? And does the artmaking process, then, in any way challenge or expand traditional forms of knowledge?

We will hear from six diverse artists and artist-philosophers, most of whom identify as artists who approach their art as a form of research, while others see themselves as philosophers who engage in artmaking to enrich their academic work. All panelists are exhibiting their work at the ESDiT exhibition at the Vrijhof from October 2 to December 10, 2024. Together, they represent a broad range of current approaches to art as an epistemic practice.

The session will begin with a series of ultrashort presentations, where each artist will introduce their artistic research process based on a key example from their work. Afterward, we will engage in a facilitated discussion with the audience to explore the similarities and differences between these approaches, and to discuss the common challenges they face.

This panel continued from parallel session III track 8.