In the last decades, the methodological interest in arts-based research and sensory ethnography has been growing considerably. Building on these two strands of research, in this doctoral thesis the potential of an aesthetic orientation to our physical surroundings is explored. Three empirical studies were carried out to investigate how we can, through exploring a changing neighbourhood, recast our methodological ways of thinking about collecting, analyzing and disseminating research findings.
The first part of this doctoral dissertation involves a mapping exercise of the use of arts-based research in community-based projects and contributes to a furthered understanding of this emerging and expansive field of research. Chapter 1 presents the findings of a scoping review that covers arts-based literature published over a twenty years' time span. It encompasses community-based scholarship wherein art is used in one or more phases of a research process, with an active involvement of the researchers in the process of art-making or in guiding research participants in creative processes. The chapter provides a descriptive analysis of the field of arts-based research focusing particularly on community building initiatives, and offers guidance to future researchers and practitioners that want to adopt creative methods in their projects. In chapter 2, one specific segment of the included articles of the scoping review is scrutinized in detail. The available photovoice studies, a specific arts-based methodology that reflects the critical pedagogy tradition and combines photography with grassroots social action, are critically investigated. The paper draws attention to the positioning of authors and the conceptualizations of 'voice' and empowerment within photovoice studies targeting female participants.
In light of the findings of this mapping exercise, the second part reports on three empirical studies. The specific setting in which these methodological explorations took place concerns a Flemish urban neighbourhood in transition, the Vaartkom. These studies describe how adult residents, art students, and youngsters were invited to 'turn on' their senses to identify the multiple lived and experienced aspects of places. Chapter 3 presents a study with adult residents that walked together with the researchers in the urban area and shared their lived experiences during sensory go-along interviews. The chapter builds on the substantial body of literature on the sensory revolution and on walking methodologies. By providing thematic findings and reflective notes, this paper delves into the implications of using a sensory research approach. Chapter 4 discusses a study in which art students were involved in a research activity that incorporated the creation of a design as a form of expression of their sensory experiences gathered from walking through the neighbourhood. The study was set up to explore how art works produced in the context of a sensory research project can be seen as data, and how they can contribute to articulating the kind of city its dwellers want. The paper proposes a material-discursive framework to analyze the research creations produced by participants. Chapter 5 presents a study in which youngsters, artists, youth workers and researchers were engaged in a series of collective sensorial walks throughout the changing urban landscape, in upcycling art workshops, and in a public exhibition in the particular neighbourhood. It offers a theoretical reflection on how the elements of a response-able pedagogy sparked the researchers' wonderings about public spaces and participatory work.
The general conclusion provides a reflection on the contributions and limitations of this dissertation, including suggestions for future research. In this conclusion, the necessary connections between theoretical, methodological and empirical work are acknowledged, since disruptive frictions on one of these dimensions have inevitably implications for the other dimensions.status: publishe