Preface-Transgressions and Boundaries of the page/Voorwoord-Oor Die Einders Van Die Bladsy

This edition of Literator is devoted to the creative project Transgressions and boundaries of the page, which is a transdisciplinary investigation into the genre of the artist's book. The project is situated in the context of practice-based (1) research. The disciplines involved in this project represent (but are not limited to) Graphic Design, Creative Writing and History of Art. The project was conducted under the auspices of the Research Unit Languages and Literature in the South African Context as well as the developing research niche for visual culture (entitled Visual Narratives in the South African Context) on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. This project follows in the footsteps of the successful Tracking Creative Creatures Project 2007-2009 (Literator 30[1]), which was also a large-scale creative practice-based research project. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Transgressions and boundaries of the page manifest our belief that the creative disciplines need to negotiate and establish a sustainable and rigorous research context that circumscribes and values artistic practice (which emanates from tacit knowledge) as well as textual outputs (described as explicit research). In order to address this pursuit 40 artists from diverse creative fields such as visual arts and creative writing as well as related spheres of practice were invited to create artist's books for the project. The participants included artists and researchers from academic institutions such as the University of Johannesburg, the North-West University and the University of Pretoria. The project also included a community dimension--most notably the Tambani community project located in Venda. The artist's books produced by participants were shown at dedicated group exhibitions in Stellenbosch, Potchefstroom and Johannesburg during 2010. (For a detailed description of the project and related management issues, please refer to Ian Marley's article entitled Investigating the appropriateness of the theory of organisational knowledge creation as a management model for practice-led research in this edition of Literator.) This was a multifaceted project, and our aims were varied. Specific aims included are the following: * Create a space--conceptually as well as functionally--for creative practice across disciplines. In this space, participants would be able to participate in various creative dimensions of practice-led research and generate research data from which explicit (textual) research outputs can be developed. * Tap into the creative group dynamics of such a project in order to stimulate interdisciplinary research practice. * Improve practitioners' awareness of and insight into the nature and processes of practice-led research to allow them to formalise their practice more purposefully as research. * Stimulate critical reflection on and evaluation of the practice-based research approach or structure, also with the purpose of yielding explicit research outputs in the form of accredited journal articles, conference contributions and the like. * Contribute to the current discourse on practice-led research with its diverse approaches and applications, with a view to contribute to the national and international debate on the status and nature of practice-led research. In order to achieve these aims, the project was managed in a three-year cycle. The project was planned and launched during the first year (2009) of this cycle. This phase was designed to contextualise the project and to outline relevant theoretical points of departure. The rest of the year was dedicated to artistic exploration and production. During this phase, artists engaged and reflected on their creative production--both individually and collaboratively. The generation and application of tacit knowledge was seen as the most significant activity of this first year. During the second year (2010) the artist's books were exhibited. …