Konstnärskap i samspel:  om skapande arbetsprocesser i myndighetsledda samverkansprojekt

Sammanfattning: Artists in interaction: creation processes in official collaborative projects is a doctoral thesis that explores the creation processes of artists, when the project owner defines the purpose, theme and framework. The area is explored from the artists' perspective and the overall research question deals with the opportunities and obstacles that artists face when working in collaborative projects.To be able to explore the artists' working processes, in which sketches and models were tools, concepts from the visual research field were combined with knowledge theories that derive from the area of practice-based research. The knowledge theories draw on an updated understanding of ancient philosophy developed by, among others, the philosopher Martha Nussbaum. Rudolf Arnheim’s concepts of visual thinking are also vital for the interpretation of the visuals.The results indicate that skills in different sketching techniques build trust and enable communication. However, the artists experienced that it was more difficult to integrate the more indefinable parts of their knowledge, which relates to improvisation and intuition, even though this was highlighted as the most vital force in their working processes. The consequence is that the artists have not always followed their artistic intentions, which in some cases also meant compromising the quality of the works of art  they produced. The collaboration between the artists and the project-owner representatives could be more enriching for both parties if the artists' implicit knowledge is respected as a resource and given some room, although this may involve certain risks.The study also provides results regarding the interpretation of models and sketches, and discusses in what way different sketches can support (or hinder) communication in different stages of a design process, i.e. what aspects are important to consider when sketches are used to support communication. Particularly interesting is that the findings demonstrate that spoken and written language has a significant impact on how sketches are interpreted; the use of verbal language is therefore an important factor in presentations built on visuals.