P2: Research-Creation Project
Work format: Groups of 3–4
Final format: Completed research-creation artwork, public project record on Webador, research-creation poster, and class exhibition
Overview
In groups of three or four, you will develop a research-creation project inspired by an artist or collective studied during Project 1. Building on the research and initial proposal created by your classmates, you will develop your own artistic direction that engages an issue of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
The project develops through seven connected stages. You will revise the initial concept, research and test an unfamiliar technology or technique, create and develop artistic prototypes, gather audience responses, participate in critique, and complete and exhibit your final artwork. Each stage builds on the previous one. Research, experimentation, and feedback should lead to visible decisions and changes in the artwork.
Your group will document its process on its existing Webador page under Artistic Responses, while preserving and crediting the original Project 1 research.
Project index
How the project develops
| Stage | Main focus |
|---|---|
| Version 1: Artist or Collective Inspiration and Concept Proposal | Select an artist or collective from the Project 1 profiles, review and extend the existing research and proposal, select an unfamiliar technology or technique, and develop a provisional concept on the group’s Artistic Responses page. |
| Technological Research | Learn and test an unfamiliar technology or technique, document individual experiments, evaluate its artistic possibilities and limitations, and decide how to proceed. |
| Version 2: First Artistic Prototype | Revise the concept using technological findings, divide production tasks, combine the components into a coherent first prototype, and document the result. |
| Version 3: Audience Testing and Prototype Development | Test the first prototype with people outside the group, compare their experiences with the project’s intentions, prioritize revisions, and develop the second prototype. |
| Prototype Critique and Feedback Session | Present the second prototype, explain its research and artistic decisions, receive feedback from the class, and identify priorities for final revisions. |
| Final Submission | Complete and document the final artwork, write the collaborative Artistic Analysis, prepare the final references and research-creation poster, and complete the public Webador record. |
| Class Exhibition | Install and present the final artwork and poster, engage with visitors, and contribute to exhibition organization, museography, setup, or cleanup. |
Each stage is part of the project process. Keep research notes, source information, sketches, experiments, production files, audience responses, writing, images, captions, credits, permissions, and links organized so they can be revised and reused.
Research and artistic expectations
- Use the selected Project 1 profile and proposal as a starting point while developing your group’s own artistic direction.
- Credit the original Project 1 authors and distinguish their research and proposal from your group’s contributions.
- Read, watch, or listen to assigned and selected sources in full when required for the current stage.
- Examine the selected artist’s or collective’s work through reliable documentation and primary sources when available.
- Use research and technological experimentation to inform specific artistic decisions, not simply to provide background information.
- Draw from, translate, question, or extend identifiable strategies in the artist’s practice rather than imitating an artwork’s appearance.
- Connect the artwork’s form, materials, technology, and audience experience to its artistic question or EDI concern.
- Support claims about artists, artworks, identities, communities, and social issues with specific evidence.
- Distinguish what artists state, what authors or sources argue, what audiences report, and what your group interprets.
- Use APA citations for borrowed ideas, information, paraphrases, and quotations.
- Consider representation, consent, access, positionality, cultural context, privacy, safety, and accountability throughout the project.
- Do not claim that the artwork speaks for a community or resolves the EDI issue it examines.
Accessibility and media expectations
- Organize information using clear headings and a logical reading order.
- Use readable text and strong contrast between text and background.
- Do not communicate important information through colour alone.
- Give links descriptive names instead of using phrases such as “click here.”
- Add a caption, credit, and useful alt text to every image.
- Provide captions for video and a transcript or equivalent text summary for audio-only material.
- Provide a text alternative when important information appears in a poster, diagram, collage, or other image.
- Export documents as text-based PDFs with selectable text and working links. Do not submit scanned pages or screenshots as the complete PDF.
Alt text is a brief text description that communicates an image’s relevant content or purpose to someone who cannot see it.
If a tool, process, space, presentation format, or exhibition task creates an access barrier, contact the instructor as early as possible to discuss an equivalent method or role that meets the same learning goals.
What the final project will include
- A complete research-creation artwork
- A complete public Artistic Responses Webador page documenting the proposals, Technological Research, and both prototype versions
- A 150–200-word final project description
- 5–8 final-project documentation images
- Embedded video or audio, or a stable public project link, when needed to experience the work
- Captions, credits, permissions, and useful alt text for required media
- Audience instructions and accessibility information when required
- A collaborative Artistic Analysis with a 150–200-word introduction, one 150–200-word decision paragraph per member, and a 150–200-word conclusion
- A final APA reference list without annotations
- A digital 18 × 24-inch research-creation poster uploaded to Webador
- A QR code on the poster linking to the group’s public Webador page
- One printed 18 × 24-inch poster delivered to the instructor
- Installation and presentation of the artwork and poster in the Class Exhibition
- Participation in the Organization and Museography, Setup, or Cleanup Team
The final project should demonstrate how research, experimentation, audience testing, critique, and collaboration shaped the completed artwork.
Credits: Jessica A. Rodríguez