| This thesis explores the recent emergence of artist-led inquiry as a mode of aesthetic production. Artist-led inquiry refers to a practice in which the artist pursues an open-ended scholarly investigation of some interdisciplinary subject, using a combination of research methods borrowed from both art and non-art fields. A key factor of artist-led inquiry is that it does not depend on a physical or concrete end result. The exploratory process is not just documentation for another work or art---rather, it is an extended work of art in its own right. Artists conduct their inquiry under the auspices and sponsorship of an institution, often addressing a subject that relates to the spatial, social or temporal context of that institution. They engage with their audiences as co-producers of knowledge, and the discourse that develops from these interactions is the project's aesthetic output.;The study contends that the historic foundation for artist-led inquiry begins with 1960s Conceptual Art, in which the emphasis of process over product paved the way for inquiry to become a legitimized aesthetic form. Conceptualism also built a foundation for post-studio practices, institutional critique, activist art, and social and pedagogical practices. To trace this trajectory, the study cites the work of Helen and Newton Harrison, Hans Haacke, Group Material and Fred Wilson. Their methodologies are examined as an important precursor to inquiry projects.;This historic progression leads to two in-depth case studies of contemporary inquiry: the work of artist Mark Dion, and the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship program (SARF). Analysis of both Dion and SARF reveals certain common methodologies that may be used to describe artist-led inquiry as a practice. Among these are an avoidance of predetermined end results; the development of research strategies that are an intersection of various different fields; subversion of these strategies through humor, irony and allegory; and a meta-perspectival approach that considers the research as part of a larger epistemological and ethical context. Artists must choose an inquiry subject that relates to the institution's collections and networks, they must resist didacticism in favor of active knowledge production, and, most importantly, they must resist settling into any standard or professional academic methodology. Their research must remain fluid and changeable, different and unfamiliar, in order to create spaces for new and heterogeneous kinds of knowledge production. If they revert to the standards of any discipline, they can lose the subversive or critical capacity that is inherent to aesthetic engagement.;The study concludes by presenting suggestions for how curators might approach such programs, while also considering the challenges that must be overcome in order for them to thrive. The inherently vague nature of artist-led inquiry can make it difficult for institutions to determine how best to receive, facilitate, evaluate and document the inquiry process. The lack of standardization, a necessary trait, also prevents museums from adopting a universal curatorial strategy in regards to inquiry projects.;In order to meet the needs of inquiry, the institution must shift its organizing concept to the "athenaeum" model, a place of conversation and growth where knowledge is produced rather than consumed. In this model projects are dematerialized, localized and dynamically changing over time. Curators work alongside the artist for the duration of their inquiry, providing logistical support, institutional hospitality, discursive engagement and pedagogical design. They serve as administrators and organizers, but also as partners in the process of knowledge production. They do research, ask questions and embrace conversation, suggesting new avenues of inquiry and challenging existing ones. They also "make space," physical or otherwise, for inquiry within the context of their institution. By promoting the athenaeum model, curators can empower both artists and audiences to collectively engage in knowledge production as an essential part of the aesthetic experience. |
