Conceptual smoke and digital mirrors? Issues in audio-visual (A/V) practice research

This article addresses a number of issues in the field of audio-visual (A/V) practice research with reference to contexts, paradigms, forms, UK funding, documentation, peer review and dissemination, with reference to three closely related areas, crudely defined by funding sources: practice research in and through A/V media forms (resourced by the research and funding councils); experimental work in a creative media arts context (independent or arts funding); and media industry production (work funded by, or intended for, distribution and exhibition in a media industries context). The discussion is underpinned by the conviction that A/V practice research across these inter-connected areas creates a unique site for the systematic interrogation and development of media forms and modes of representation; it also acknowledges the ongoing need to argue the case for the distinctive creative, social, intellectual and economic qualities and values of practice research to higher education and media industry institutions and funding regimes.