Wonderland: research questions

 

As researchers and participants we were interested in several things.

 

First, we wanted to understand the recovering person’s emotional landscape. Especially people in longer-term recovery. There is not much research about this.

 

Second, we wanted to know about the uses of visual art in research about "connected communities". We think art can strengthen the health of communities. We believe artists help to develop “felt knowledge” in research – ways of asking questions that honour and use feelings, senses and first hand experiences.

 

But we wanted to understand more:

 

• What is an artist doing when they succeed in developing feelings of ‘community’ between people?

• How can they work with people in ways that are inclusive?

• Who is the ‘right’ artist for any given community-based research project?

• How can the research findings be communicated to a wider public in ways  that ‘keep faith’ with the artist’s knowledge and the participants’ experiences?

 

Third, we wanted to know what experiences of recovery tell us about utopian impulses – the desire for a better world. Do experiences of recovery reveal something important about the human ability to hold out hope for a better present and future?