ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emergence and development of On the Edge research from 2001 onwards through two projects, Inthrow and Celestial Ceiling. It also explores arts-based research as knowledge-producing, i.e. not just the subject or method of research but formative of a whole approach that acts as a lens through which the world is perceived and understood. In 2001 to 2004, a small research team of post-doctoral and doctoral artist researchers, working with five cultural partners, drew together two apparently incommensurable issues: remote rural culture and contemporary art. In parallel, practice-led research through the arts was emerging as a new research area. Appropriating existing research language and concepts sought to legitimize the arts' relationship with research. Art projects emerged in response to a particular way of life, working with institutions and organizations responsible for sustaining and reflecting upon the production of culture in relation to the past, present and future of a particular region.
