Choreographic Methods in Installation Work: Intersections Between Visual Arts and Dance

Visual arts and dance have been in close connection since the beginning of the twentieth century, a relationship that developed and strengthened in the sixties with the work of Judson Dance Theatre in New York City, USA. Although artists and dancers have collaborated for the last 50 years, few studies address the potential of employing choreographic methods within visual arts processes of making. It is in this context that my research inquires how installation artists may use choreographic strategies in their visual arts practices. Brad Haseman’s (2006) proposition of a new methodological paradigm for research – performative research – is my starting point for a mixed methodology. In my work, I use performative actions to investigate choreographic methods – such as improvisation, and real time composition – to produce installation work in site-specific locations. These performative actions are intended to act as a form of physical embodied knowledge production (Klein, 2010). Simultaneously, qualitative interviews with visual artists and choreographers provide data to shape and inform the construction of a conceptual framework, informed by a combination of visual arts and dance approaches to composition. It is expected that my research will offer a methodological approach that explores this new conceptual framework in practice. In this paper, I will introduce the research methodology I am currently developing as part of my doctoral study, and explain how the notions of performative research and embodied knowledge led the development of my installation work so far