In the last decade, A Prior has focused attention on the creations of artists in the most direct manner possible: A Prior published artist’s projects that were thought up and designed especially for the magazine, new creations that were also accompanied by reflective texts written by third parties, authoritative authors, friends of the artists, people with a special position in respect to their oeuvres, or the artists themselves. During the years, this division between artists on the one hand and external observers on the other has never struck us as artificial. We occasionally also chose to publish texts written by the artists themselves. This was the case, for example, with Jimmie Durham, who in A Prior #9 opted for an extensive, meandering and at times naturally poetic conversation with A Prior editorial staff member, Rudi Laermans. This was in fact taken to an extreme in The New York Conversations in A Prior #18.
The formal division between creation and reflection over the work has never played a role for A Prior, even though we repeatedly felt the reservations on the parts of the artists when it came to writing about their own work. For many, it was an automatic response to delegate this writing to third parties. This perhaps also had to do with the artistic choices made by A Prior itself. For us, again and again, it was about producing projects in collaboration and in dialogue with the artists. The creation for A Prior #18, again The New York Conversations, was in this regard then especially surprising and enriching for us. It has therefore also probably become one of the key issues in our production over the last ten years, one that makes a return to the old original model completely impossible. In that issue, the creation literally fell together with the reflection on the creation. In a new, hybrid form of the magazine, artists Nico Dockx, Anton Vidokle, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Liam Gillick, Lawrence Wiener, Joe Scanlan and others spoke with theorists about their position and creation, and they all resolutely considered this reflection a fundamental part of their artistic production. The distinctions between artists, writers and theorists were completely dissolved, and, apart from the specific oeuvres and interests of the artists involved, it was also a natural illustration of a sign of the times, one that not only exists in the minds of a few visual artists, but which also preoccupies the entire artistic scene, not least in the fields of art education and academics.
Before you now lies A Prior #20, an issue entirely made up of projects and texts written by visual artists, and which focuses all attention on the research in the arts. For this issue, A Prior selected five artists, each of whom in their own way write about their research and show it to their viewers. 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, 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 readily they accept.
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 had 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 ourselves, 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.
