Art, accounting and technology: unravelling the paradoxical “in-between” Nicholas McGuigan and Alessandro Ghio Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reflection on how ongoing revolutionary technological changes can extend the possibilities of accounting into artistic spaces. In addition, arts ability to protest, challenge, open and inspire may be instrumental to humanise technological advances transforming the accounting profession. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws upon the methodological, theoretical and empirical literature of accounting, technology and art and outlines a research and professional agenda for developing the role of art in the context of accounting and technology. Findings – The authors unravel and navigate the paradoxical “in-between” of art, accounting and technology. It emerges that the transformative power of new technologies lies not only in the technologies themselves but also in their ability to extend the possibilities of accounting into the artistic spaces of visualisation, curation performance and disruption. New technologies, combined with artistic spaces, present a unique ability to open up the latent disruptive potential of accounting itself, pushing accounting in new directions towards more humanistic models of multiple narratives. Originality/value – The insights of this paper are relevant to open professional and scholarly dialogue that relates accounting, art and technologies during a significant period of disruptive and transformative technological changes. This paper provides new understandings of how art through visualisation, curation, performance and disruption can force accounting researchers and practitioners to challenge the traditionally held views of accounting, opening us towards more futuristic models of accountability. Keywords Accountability, Accounting, Art, Technologies Paper type Conceptual paper 1. Introduction New technologies, such as arti ficial intelligence, machine learning, automation, crypto-currency and blockchain, big data and visualisation, virtual and augmented reality, social media, network systems technologies, simulation and gaming, have the ability to further dehumanise accounting, accountants and accountability through enhanced technocracy (Dai and Vasarhelyi, 2017; Schmitz and Leoni, 2019; Warren et al. , 2015). However, these same technologies equally have the potential to extend the possibilities of accounting, disrupting its bounded past and pushing accounting into spaces such as art which may open accounting towards more humanistic models of accountability (Gallhofer and Haslam, 1996; Gallhofer et al. , 2006; Gallhofer and Haslam, 2005). This paper, thus, aims to draw critical reflection in such a disruptive age to stimulate dialogues that unravel and navigate the paradoxical “in-between” of art, accounting and technology. That is, the type of “in-between” space that such disparate disciplines may, when combined, occupy. Many may very well think of art as the antithesis of accounting. However, there is a growing body of accounting literature that brings accounting and art into theoretical relation (Gallhofer Art, accounting and technology 789 Received 18 April 2019 Revised 6 June 2019 Accepted 19 June 2019 Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 27 No. 5, 2019 pp. 789-804 © Emerald Publishing Limited 2049-372X DOI 10.1108/MEDAR-04-2019-0474 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2049-372X.htm