Research: knowledge and method: reflections on Helen Mayer Harrison, Newton Harrison and David Haley's practice.

This paper is by way of an initial attempt to articulate a set of thoughts that are still emergent. These thoughts are concerned with artists working in public life. They are concerned with the form of research that artists do. They are concerned with the uses of knowledge. Greenhouse Britain: Losing Ground, Gaining Wisdom (2005-2008) was undertaken by Helen Mayer Harrison, Newton Harrison (the Harrisons) and David Haley, and which I joined as producer. More generally I tend to describe myself as a producer and researcher. The research word has a number of uses and I am going to try and make a little sense of them first by identifying the various individual relationships with research. Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison are Professors Emeritus of the University of California at San Diego, and have been involved in research on at least two levels for much of their career. Greenhouse Britain is typical of their work (as well as the work of David Haley) in that it involved working with scientists and others: people working on the ground with environmental issues such as farmers and water engineers