The Epistemologies of Aesthetic Practices programme sheds light on the autonomy, particularity and indispensability of aesthetic knowledge distinct from the scientific discourse, and approaches the arts as forms of thought in their own right. There are two sides to this questioning: On the one hand, art is posited as a sui generis form of knowledge that makes its arguments using more than just discursive means: with the media of film, painting, performance, design, etc. On the other hand, it is just as important to highlight the genuinely aesthetic dimensions of scientific work – such as experimental arrangements, the metaphorics of speaking, research design, etc. In this way, the arts and sciences converge to an extent, as the arts are given their own type of «stating» or knowledge, while artistic or aesthetic components are also brought to the fore in the sciences.
All the arts with their specific forms of knowledge are included in this process: literature as well as the fine arts, architecture, music, media art or film and the performative arts. What «knowledge», «findings», and «action» mean in relation to these different forms, what constitutes their particular «validity» and limitations, which types of formations they emulate, what effects they produce or the way in which they articulate themselves – whether based on things and their materialities, the mode of display and exhibition, or as phenomena – will be examined to an equal extent as the question of the discursive or non-discursive format in which these forms, modalities and processes would initially
be developed. Both sides – the discussion of the location of a possible episteme of the arts on the one hand as well as the discussion of an appropriate language to describe and translate it through interpretation and critique on the other – constitute the content framework for the doctoral programme.
Therefore, the programme not only focuses on the plurality of voices in relation to the broad field of aesthetics, but also on the productivity of dialogue between the arts and the sciences. This means that the approach offers an opportunity to define the currently widely circulating concept of “artistic research” as the core of an epistemology of aesthetic practices. The aim is to find a common language within the framework of interdisciplinary collaboration for something that is difficult to fully verbalize, but is worthy of description and specification despite the challenging nature and seeming futility of the task at hand.
The cornerstones of the programme are regular research colloquia in which students discuss individual chapters of their dissertation projects with their supervisors; writing retreats in which the focus is on addressing the needs of the individual PhD students as well as the exchange among the PhD students and associates; public lectures, artist lectures, screenings and workshops that are largely carried out in collaboration with partner institutes and programmes of ZHdK, UZH and ETH, as well as events designed and organized independently by PhD students. The individual mentoring sessions offered by the supervisors and external experts are also an important part of the programme.