Artists, Art and Artefacts: Boundary Crossings, Art and Anthropology

Abstract

This article attempts to present an understanding of the relationship between contemporary arts practitioners and academics through a description of a project that involved both artists and academics. It explores what the boundary crossings were in the process of doing the project, and tries to articulate what each, the artists and the academics, gained from the process of doing the project. It shows how this kind of work can both inform arts practice and also provide a new lens for academics to use in their work. It draws on a body of work that is developing around the field of contemporary arts practice and anthropology. It concludes by documenting the strengths of this way of working in terms of how each is able to inform the other's practice.