Experience in Arts Based Research

During the Summer of 2018, I took an Arts-Based Research (ABR) Class with world-renowned Drama therapist Dr. Nisha Sajnani. My culminating project for this class was an ethnocinematic exploration found here: https://youtu.be/SCGzt-ytlZo. Additionally, I’ve included in the appendix the final research paper for that class. This class proved to be a crucial component in helping me develop my methodological framework of ABR. I’ve included an excerpt of my final paper below:

“This research chronicles my Arts-Based Research (ABR) aimed at using postmodern artistic ideas of pastiche and bricolage to create original cinematic work. This project is my first exploration into a collective artistic film. The site for my work in Washington Square Park (The Park). To properly conduct my research, I must first investigate my epistemological frame of reference and how it relates to my researcher bias through the theoretical framework of a postmodern critical lens. The main methodological framework used for this study was video-based research but, more specifically, ethnography, which Harris (2017) articulates that through emerging forms of social media, “[v]ideo is changing the way we see ourselves…this medium is certainly, at least in part, the message” (442). The second methodological framework I use is ethnography because I am exploring a specific culture of artists in The Park. Saldaña (2011) defines ethnography as “the observation and documentation of social life” (4) for the purpose of drawing macrocosmic conclusions about humanity through a microcosmic study. The Park holds much cultural significance because it is a cross-cultural fusion of individuals from different socio-economic, racial, geographic, educational, and religious backgrounds. As a result, the site provides a fertile research ground to conduct and collect valuable data for effective ethnographic research about my topic of collective creation, which should be able to transcend societal constructs of classification. To collect data, I used on-site observation in a case study of one individual throughout one 45-minute interview. The research that follows conducted over a three month two week period during the summer of 2018 and meant to express the date collected over that period using a cinematic structure.

Keywords: Epistemological, postmodern, ethnocinema, ethnography, transient, pastiche, bricolage, microcosm, macrocosm.

The stance of the Researcher

There is one quintessential truth that unifies all researchers, and that is, we all carry a bias with us into our research. Saldaña (2011) states, “Thus, there are no such things as neutral, bias-free, or objective lenses for qualitative researchers” (23). Therefore, it is paramount that we adhere to certain “guidelines and procedures available to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of one’s knowledge construction to develop a vivid and persuasive account for the readers” (23). Thus, if I remain true to the structure of the particular framework, I choose to work within, then the more honest and pure my research will be.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interconnectedness through the cinematic structure. I’m most excited about exploring the human condition and seeing how who I am as the world unconsciously shapes a person around me. For this project, I’m going to investigate the methodology of ethnocinematic inquiry by using artists in The Park to create a documentary. Through the clutter of humanity that is The Park, many different individuals can seen from seemingly diverse backgrounds. To me, this personifies the spirit of postmodernity in that we have a random assortment of individuals from all walks of life converging at a singular moment in time."