If you cannot say it, point to it

Practice as research and performance as research are methods that have developed significantly over the past decade and have subsequently caused debate within the creative arts industry and in university culture. During a research seminar at Goldsmiths University in 2011, Professor Dan Rebellato proposed the question: ‘What if there is no such thing as practice as research?’ In an attempt to unpack the connotations of the term, Rebellato further provoked, ‘Can we learn from an artwork in the way we can learn from an academic book?’ This paper is a systematic response to some of the key arguments surrounding this dialogue, as well an investigation as to how practice or performance as research may function in a performing arts context as research degree level.