Artistic Research Does #7 - 'Tactics for Not Knowing' by Emma Cocker

This research exposition is conceived in conjunction with the publication, Artistic Research Does #7 (2023), which presents a translation of Emma Cocker’s essay ‘Tactics for Not Knowing: Preparing for the Unexpected’, originally published in Elizabeth Fisher and Rebecca Fortnum, (eds.) On Not Knowing: How Artists Think, (Black Dog Publishing, 2013). See https://i2ads.up.pt/publicacoes/artistic-research-does-7/ In addition to the translation and re-publication of the original text, the revised version of ‘Tactics for Not Knowing’ in Artistic Research Does #7 offers two further interventions in the form of annotations. In one column of margin notes, Cocker shares additional reflections, referring to some of her more recent artistic research projects and collaborations that continue to resonate with the concerns of the original text. In parallel, a second column of margin notes comprises the titles of additional pieces of contiguous writing drawn from two collections of Cocker’s writing, The Yes of the No (2016) and How Do You Do? (2023). Within this online version these margin notes include hyperlinks that enable the reader to access these different thought-fragments of writing. Artistic Research Does is edited by Catarina Almeida, André Alves. Artistic Research Does is published by i2ADS – Institute of Research in Art, Design and Society is a R&D unit based at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), financed by the Portuguese agency Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

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EPIPHANY ARISES UNFORESEEN

The process of experimentation does not always lead to the new or unexpected. A breakthrough can come unbidden, arising unforeseen. Discovery is not something that can be willed into existence, brought about through the brute force of effort or intent. Too tight a frame or focus can serve to suffocate and stifle. The revelation of epiphany can show up unannounced, appearing sudden. Be vigilant then but keep the eyes wide, as discovery can happen at the periphery of action or attention or in the very instant when focus eases, becomes relaxed or is turned away. Be wary of looking too hard or in the most obvious of places, for what emerges might not be what was anticipated, might not even have been sought. Be willing for something to happen (inclined, receptive) rather than wilful (too eager, stubborn or even headstrong). Gently, quieten the will, for if something happens, it is not by one’s own doing alone.

From Emma Cocker, How Do You Do? (Nottingham: Beam Editions, 2023)

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