Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry

Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry:

Engaging Students with Art Objects:

 “Appropriately selected and employed, such strategies can create pathways through which students can enter works of art. Once engaged, students can be moved to other levels of discourse and inquiry.” Just like having many mediums to create art, having just as many paths to actively involve and stimulate meaningful connections with art objects is important. 

Carroll mentions 7 strategies to help facilitate sensory involvement which calls on, 

“intuitive, imaginative, emotional and or physical response to focus or heighten engagement.” (Carroll, 2007, pg. 140)
Being an advocate and participant in Creative Dramatics I chose that strategy as one I would like to investigate more, with Games coming in second. I feel like the others are just as valid and would no doubt use any and all depending on which one would fit best with my lesson plan.

When orchestrating a thought provoking discussion about art it can be an empathetic experience, “when there is an effort to connect what is observed with the viewer’s own world of experience.” And Ping over to a constant thread being woven by many 20^th century educators and post modern art education practices that advocate and stress the importance of creating relevant, personal connections for authentic meaning making.
(Carroll, 2007)

Orchestrating Conversations About Art:

I like the way Carroll says that discussions of art can be interactive, inductive and empathetic. There’s that word again and we are seeing it in many other places from Pink to TedTalks, in documentaries, such as I Am, and brain science findings of the mirror neurons that are said to cause our empathetic response. 

“Understanding art transforms both the viewer and the subject through the involvement of cognitive, physical, and affective domains (Siskar, 2000; Salander, 2001)” (Carroll, 2007)

Of course, my favorite practice is VTS because I can always find more!

Employing Storytelling and Puzzle Problems:

Just as we all unconsciously make first impression judgments based on ones appearance or from gossip or stories about a person, the same can happen with our first encounters with art. I think Carroll makes a good argument about how stories about artists and/or artworks, “may or may not have any bearing on the truth and often distract learners from obtaining more significant information. Worse yet, such stories can diminish the qualities of artwork and misrepresent the character of the artist.” (Carroll, 2007) Carroll suggests that a story, true or not, can create a context for visual explorations and present a problem to be worked out like a puzzle.

Using Interpretive Strategies to Find Meaning:

I understand the way a “theme” can bring unity for aiding in interpretation yet I don't necessarily think it is important to establish it as a first strategy for organizing and controlling the process. Carroll states, “Introducing thematic ideas first also makes a more successful approach than beginning with description. Conversely, interpretations that lack thematic unity tend to be less coherent and fragmented.” (2007, Pg. 152)

After seeing how flexible, democratic and effective VTS is in constructing meaning I don't agree that establishing a theme is important. If the group viewing the art come to this conclusion on their own and agree on a theme then so be it. I do believe that the viewer of art is a, “Co-Producer of Meaning” which states, “the viewer, object, and context are all involved in creating meaning…” and that the meanings found are never finished yet always open to reinterpretations. (2007, Pg. 152)

Promoting Critical Thinking Through Problem-Based Inquiry:

This is self-directed inquiry and peer based learning. The teacher is there to help facilitate and redirect students in the problem solving process.

Shipps suggests discussing a post structural pragmatists aesthetic emphasizing three points: 1) human being are constantly “making up” our world, as we understand it. 2) Humans experience everything as “sign.” 3) Dealing with sings and structures allows us to ascribe meanings to things. (1996)”

Making Art Inspired by the Study of Art:

These ideas seem basic and true. After doing VTS, creative writings, creative dramatics and other forms of investigation of art, cycling back and using the art to inspire ones own

Artistic interpretation is a perfect way to follow up.

I have done this in my own art and was given these kinds of assignments at MU, such as, entering into a dialogue with a chosen artist. I did a piece, a live action video, in dialogue with the artist Sue Coe, based on this illustration:

I chose to investigate the book, Puzzles About Art: An Aesthectics Casebook. By: Battin, M. P Fisher, Moore, r and Silvers, A (1989)

 “The first casebook for use in courses in aesthetics, Puzzles about Art provides more than 180 real and hypothetical cases that illustrate important principles and theories in the philosophy of art. With 25 illustrations as well as concrete examples from legal cases, museum experiences, newspaper articles and various media, including painting, sculpture, photography, music, drama, and film.

The book is organized into 6 chapters: Art and Artworks; Beauty, Ugliness and Aesthetic Experience; Meaning and Interpretation; Creativity and Fidelity; Art and Other Values; and Critical Judgment. Each chapter begins with a 10-page introduction and then provides another 10-25 pages of questions, problems, and case studies. “

http://www.amazon.com/Puzzles-about-Art-Aesthetics-Casebook/dp/0312003072