Abstract In artistic research, theory is often caught between institutional necessity and creative constraint. This paper proposes a shift: viewing theory not as a fixed foundation, but as a set of orientation points that guide practice without controlling it.

Drawing on the Art in Action Research (AiAR) paradigm (Lämmli, 2021), I argue that researchers should abandon pre-established universalist art concepts in favour of setting-responsive methodologies. AiAR functions as a meta-framework that elicits project-specific understandings of art, knowledge, and theory directly from the conditions of the work, e.g., materials, sites, and collaborators.

By treating theory as an active lens rather than a detached abstraction, artists can make implicit choices visible and operationalise epistemic pluralism. This approach is critical in an era where globalisation and algorithmic standardisation threaten minoritised languages and local knowledges.

AiAR’s emphasis on glocal rootings and the pluriverse allows artistic research to engage these endangered conceptual worlds not as objects of study nor as mere documentation of practice, but as living resources for resistance and innovation. Ultimately, framing theory as orientation transforms tacit, relational practices into a reflective, accountable, and transferable epistemological stance, aligning with the SAR 2026 call for anti-hegemonic knowledge production.