SCIENTIFIC–ARTISTIC EXPERIMENTAL COMPLEX “NIII”
(Scientific Research Institute of Art)
REPORT ON THE SPECULATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM CONDUCTED AS PART OF THE PROJECT
Institute for the Study of Artifacts

1. Basis for the Research

In accordance with the Institute's programme of fundamental research in contemporary cultural semiotics, the Department of Hybrid Media Theory (DHMT) of NIII initiated a comprehensive investigation into the phenomenon of the technological artifact. The object of study comprised both the material dimension of technological artworks and their accompanying documentation—including sketches, observations, calculations, diagrams, and related research materials. The primary objective was to examine the intersections between scientific inquiry and artistic research.

2. Methodology and Research Framework

The project Institute for the Study of Artifacts employed a methodology of speculative research. This approach involves constructing logically coherent yet inherently unverifiable models and scenarios as a means of examining contemporary cultural and social phenomena.
Within the framework of the project, a fictional research institute was established at [SHTAB] Center for Contemporary Art, conceived as an institution that had already ceased its operational activities. This speculative model functioned as a controlled scientific-artistic environment for investigating artifacts as carriers of information, detached from their original utilitarian context.

3. Description of the Research Material

The research material consists of a series of installations simulating laboratory apparatus, archival repositories, and workspaces belonging to artist-researchers. Each installation is accompanied by a complete or partial Case File, containing:

• information about the artist-researcher;
• a description of the cultural and technological conditions under which the artifact emerged;
• working drawings;
• visualizations; and
• supporting documentation.

The Case File constitutes an integral component of the artifact itself. Without it, any interpretation of the object is considered incomplete and methodologically invalid.

4. Conclusions

1. Speculative research has proven to be an effective methodology for the artistic and theoretical analysis of complex media systems.
2. The technological artifact constitutes a complex object that records and materializes processes of interaction with its surrounding environment.
3. Documentation should be understood not as supplementary material but as a constitutive element of the artwork, shaping the conditions for its interpretation.
4. The perception of such artifacts requires viewers to occupy the dual role of observer and interpreter, giving rise to a new model of audience participation.

6. Recommendations
The materials collected during the field session of the Institute for the Study of Artifacts should be systematically catalogued and transferred to the archive of [SHTAB] Center for Contemporary Art for future research. It is further recommended that the speculative institutional model developed within this project be considered a prototype for subsequent experimental investigations into the evolution of artistic media.

Curator of the project Institute for the Study of Artifacts
Tatiana Osipova
Head of the Department of Hybrid Media Theory (DHMT), NIII
Alexandra Meleshkova
Director of NIII and Founder of SHTAB Center for Contemporary Art
Sergey Bedrosov