CHAPTER 4: HOW ARTISTIC TRANSGRESSIVE POSTURE MAY CHALLENGE RESEARCH ETHICS NORMS

Abstract

Research-creation (RC), an emergent field at the interface of academic research and creative activities, is challenging norms of responsible conduct of research (RCR) as well as research ethics. Striking differences exist between the perspectives of RC practitioners and members of the ethics community. For example, some RC practitioners openly state that they do not care about ethics and RCR regulations, their rationale being that the aim of arts is to transgress rules and so they disagree with having to comply to ethics requirements. Such statements are particularly interesting from a bioethical standpoint and represent a starting point for exploring how RCR can or should apply to RC practices. Using examples stemming from bio art, our aim here is to unravel this apparently conflictual relationship, and to show that it is not necessarily contradictory. We seek to find common grounds and to disarm eventual critiques from both sides when it comes to promoting responsibility in RC.