ABSTRACT

The chapter discusses the growing interest in ethnographic approaches to art practices in sociology. In the context of continuously changing practices within contemporary art, which challenge the very definition of what an artwork is, the leading idea seems to be to re-establish concrete artistic activities as central to social sciences approaches to the arts. But how is such a research proposal to be put into practice? Where should one go? When should one start, when should one finish? What should be observed and how? What makes an artistic practice recognizable and describable as such? And what can we learn about artworks by engaging in such studies? This chapter draws on an ethnomethodological perspective to study art as a domain of practices. It argues that artworks should be investigated as practical achievements, observable and reportable in a variety of contexts and activities. Throughout the chapter, the author analyzes a set of activities she has been observing, participating in and recording on video during research projects conducted at leading French art institutions: the preparation of the condition report of a work of art, the installation of an artwork for an exhibition, and the research process for a collaborative project that the author conducted with an artist and a curator. By describing how the details and properties of certain artworks are assigned relevance, the chapter discusses the significance of a detailed approach to a variety of practices that contribute to the (re-)creation of artworks. More specifically, it argues that a praxiological perspective reveals how artworks are constantly and collectively reshaped, rediscovered and redefined in and as their particulars for practical purposes.