Editors:
Michał Matuszewski, Krzysztof Pijarski, Tytus Szabelski-

Since its inception, Widok has published artistic projects treated as “research statements but presented in a form other than that of an article.” As a team of people active not only in the academic, but also in the artistic field, we could not imagine reflecting on visual culture without considering the practical dimension of such reflection – through images and gestures, objects and processes. Over the past 12 years and 41 issues, we have systematically supported what we understand to be the privileged area of practice-based research, experimenting with various forms of publicizing and narrativizing research processes (so-called non-traditional research outputs). Until now, however, we have always worked on a curatorial basis: seeing how the content and structure of the issue we were working on were shaping up, we looked for artistic projects from various fields that could deepen and expand on the issues we were addressing, or reveal additional aspects of them.

We decided that it was high time to use our experience to create a space dedicated exclusively to this area of practice, which is why today we are opening submissions for the first special issue devoted to artistic research; the first in a planned series of several issues. Why now, and whence the epithet “privileged”?

We are at a point where existing disciplinary divisions are becoming an obstacle to understanding the world we share, and even more so to attempts at changing it. These divisions, related on the one hand to the need for common criteria, languages, or subjects of research, and on the other hand tethered to a previously unimaginable level of specialization, but also to evaluation, supervision, homogenization, and financialization. All these challenges are not conducive to reflection on the links between seemingly distant spheres that characterize the present day, understood as a polycrisis.

A good point of reference here seems to be the term “Advanced Practices,” coined by the European Forum for Advanced Practices as a category signaling the profound changes that have been taking place for over a decade in the understanding of research. Advanced Practices depart from the old model of interdisciplinarity, which only complicated the disciplinary model without changing its structure, in favor of a more open formula of intertwining various situated forms of knowledge in specific, non-categorical alliances. We recognize all forms of knowledge: tacit, hidden, bodily, intellectual—which in practice translates into the creation of new methodologies.

Artistic research seems to be a privileged place to reflect on research methods, because in the artistic field, which since the late 1960s has been functioning in a post-media (and according to some, even post-artistic) condition, the recognition of post-disciplinarity as the condition of contemporary research practices does not seem controversial. We should remember, however, that Paul Feyerabend’s notorious “anything goes” does not mean absolute freedom of strategy and methods; on the contrary, the freedom or even necessity of creating one’s own working methods requires them to be embedded in a specific practice, and, above all, situated in context, which means taking responsibility for one’s tools and seeking interfaces with other practices. That is why we are open to all forms of both research-based practice and practice-based research.

We want not only to better understand our own practices, but also to remember that we do not practice art or science for their own sake, nor exclusively for the members of our narrow professional communities. The ultimate goal must be to try to follow (keep up with?) the world in its becoming, not only to better understand it in its complexity, but also to intervene in its meanings and processes. One might be tempted to say that, contrary to the seemingly mass availability of knowledge, the reality that sets the limits of our experience has never been as opaque, and it is obvious today that the (over)production of knowledge alone is not the answer to the challenges of the present. Among them is the need to decolonize knowledge and include questions of social justice in the horizon of epistemological issues. We believe that artistic research, especially in the guise of advanced practices, can be a step in this direction.

Furthermore, it is of paramount importance that, given the complexity of the contemporary world, we remain helpless as individuals, even if we demonstrate “excellence” within our professional communities; we need co-creative communities in which we can combine our competences, complementing each other and learning from one another. The dynamics of such collaborations can be challenging, as they require negotiating languages, meanings, and understanding of practices.

We therefore invite both individuals and artistic-research teams to submit their projects for publication, but PLEASE NOTE – we are slightly changing the rules for submitting applications to suit the needs of practice-based research:

1. we accept submissions in any medium, but would like to focus on audiovisual projects first – however, we are eager to learn about the entire spectrum of activities of the creative community to better plan our next steps (in terms of topics of the forthcoming issues)

2. if research texts (theory, fiction, interviews, etc.) have been created in the context of the project or association, we invite you to submit them as a set – we are interested in all assemblages of methods and practices, because we understand artistic research as intertwined – that is, social, organizational, research-based, but also awareness-raising – forms of practice that redefine what we call research

3. analogous to the rules for accepting papers, projects submitted for publication will first be evaluated by the editorial team, and if positive feedback is received, they will undergo a review process

4. each submission should include:

   1. an artistic project or its proper documentation: please share video works as a link to Vimeo/YouTube, audiovisual files as a download link, if possible without an expiration date

   2. short biographic notes of the authors of maximum 500 characters, including

      1. first and last name

      2. email address

      3. links to websites and profiles that the person wishes to share (portfolio, IG, linktr.ee, etc.)

      4. description of research interests, recent exhibitions/publications/presentations or other forms of publicizing research results that are relevant to the person

      5. institutional affiliation (not only academic, non-governmental organizations and informal groups are also important)

   3. abstract with keywords

   4. commentary on the project, which should include a self-reflexive:

      1. description of the process of selection/construction/emergence of the research subject and its naming

      2. description of the process of selection/construction/emergence of the working method – its place in the person's practice and in the broader context of artistic practices, and above all in the reality it interferes with

      3. possibly a description of cooperation with other people or entities whose contribution to the project was significant

      4. a description of previous forms of publication, along with a possible proposal for presentation in “Widok” – the final form of presentation will be developed in dialogue with the editorial team

      5. academic apparatus, analogous to other forms of research work, i.e., footnotes and bibliography

We look forward to receiving your submissions by November 15, 2025. We look forward to your submissions!

If you have any questions, please contact us at: redakcja@pismowidok.org.