The Research Issue
Entirely dedicated to research in the arts
www.aprior.org
Featuring special projects by:
Ruth Buchanan
Victor Burgin
Mekhitar Garabedian
Ian Kiaer
Vincent Meessen
A Prior Magazine
A series of publications on contemporary art
A Prior selected five artists, each of whom in their own way write about and present their research. Mekhitar Garabedian and Ruth Buchanan do this in an associative, poetic manner that is also beautifully present in the visual images that they create. They offer a wealth of source material, which bears witness to great generosity and which allows visitors to cast a different eye on artistic production. Victor Burgin and Vincent Meessen decided on a dialogue. In conversation with Hilde Van Gelder and Katrin Mundt, they illuminate the fundamental concerns in their work and clarify the many theoretical influences and references that have helped shape their oeuvre. Finally, Ian Kiaer gives us insight into an art historical research produced within the strict rules of academic research. These three models of research are only a few variations in the ways that research in the arts is conducted today, by visual artists. It is an exceptional, enriching honour for us to be able to offer the artists this forum and indeed, to see how differently they approach its formal aspects.
For four years now, A Prior Magazine has operated in association with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) of the University College at Ghent. The privileged position of the magazine, based on autonomy and firmly anchored within the non-academic circuit in which it has its roots and currently also able to operate within an academic context, has for A Prior been a very special enrichment. The dialogue between the two hitherto largely divided academic and non-academic worlds gives not only artists, but also the magazine, new insights and possibilities that can function free from all formality or fear of constrictions or uniformity. We have set ourselves the goal in the next few years to publish regularly on research in the arts, without further exacerbating the divisions, but on the contrary, by giving the research a place within the wider context of artistic production. A Prior #20 is a first attempt in this direction.