Dear all,

I have arrived in Dublin to start a new working period with David, Anthony and Cathy. Tomorrow, I will show them the footage of last week’s performance in Vienna. Same as you, they don’t know yet how your and our contributions come together as a whole. (By the way, I love it). If you are curious and can’t wait until the performance video is put together, have a look at our twitter account. Clio took a few photos from the show and featured the amusing, creative LEGO session “Who are you tonight?” we held with random visitors of the European Researchers Night.

I have decided to write a short blog post every day while I am in Dublin meeting with the team. You will hear from me today, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Tieing in with the Researchers Night, I would like to start with a few thoughts on research in the arts.

I have realised that academics and scientists often frown upon artistic research. They claim our work can’t be objective, because we are personally involved and part of the research question we want to investigate. Of course as artist researchers we have to work self-reflecting, we have to use a well-funded methodology and have to prove the objectivity and validity of our findings. Same as everywhere in academic research. To learn how to do that when I wrote my doctoral thesis, was one of the most rewarding undertakings in my professional life.

Artists are not the only once to come under scrutiny by their fellow academics. Watch this short film in which famous, but also critically seen chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall talks to us.

Jane Goodall, dubbed by her biographer “the woman who redefined man,” has changed our perceptions of primates, people, and the connection between the two. (http://www.ted.com/speakers/jane_goodall)

Film about Jane Goodall: © NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers