Tracey Moffat

I have been researching Australian photographer Tracey Moffat as part of the critical contexts module. In particular I really liked these 2 pieces and found them very moving - they are very easy to engage with and immediately draw you in to reflect upon your own similar experiences or consider those of others. Simple but powerful.

This image "Homemade Hand-knit, 1958" from her "Scarred for Life II" series was to be considered in depth in relation to the concept of critical art practice and Bloom's Taxonomy:

“Before we can understand a concept we have to remember it

Before we can apply the concept we must understand it

Before we analyse it we must be able to apply it
Before we can evaluate its impact we must have analysed it

Before we can create we must have remembered, understood, applied,
analysed, and evaluated."

(Churches, 2009, p. 6)

In the representation of the process of learning presented in Bloom's Digital Taxonomy, creation is the highest order thinking skill and one which requires mastery of the lower level skills that precede it. Thus, true creation in the arts needs must spring from an ever deepening process of learning and an increasingly critical engagement with the themes or subject matter of the work.

In any sphere, a critical approach is one that requires more than merely being “the passive receiver of others’ wisdom, or the over-active promoter of your unjustified opinions that leave others unconvinced” (Poulson and Wallace, 2004, p. 6). Rather it necessitates a questioning mind that looks to the underpinning but unstated assumptions, values, purposes, ideologies and perspectives and then evaluates and analyses the information gathered. Critical practice “does not have the premises of a thinking that conclusively explains” and is often “a challenge to the status quo” (Foucault, 1978 as cited in Raunig, 2009, p. 113). The critical artist’s approach is one that is open and transformative and one which raises questions and causes the viewer to reflect. The critical artist is required not to simply recreate or replicate existing artworks or art forms, but rather to understand, analyse, apply and evaluate them, as well as the relevant aspects of society and cultural influences. Through this process, they should develop a deeper understanding, insight, question or comment related to the theme which is then represented, reinvented or presented in an original form.

I think that this work by Tracey Moffat is a very effective example of critical art practice “where critical ideas are given visual form and where visual form provides the impetus for more refined critical practice” (Atkinson, D. and Dash, P., 2005, p xii). It is part of her “Scarred for Life II” series and clearly communicates the idea of isolation, the pain of being left out due to a social faux pas and the lasting effects of this. It engages the viewer as it is something which we can all understand and identify with. Yet it also causes the critical viewer to analyse and reflect upon their own attitudes around this theme and those of their society. This in turn, in light of Bloom’s taxonomy, could provide the springboard for the further development of critical practice within this context as well as an individual transformation of attitude.

Atkinson, D. and Dash, P., 2005. Social and Critical Practices in Art Education. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.

Churches, A., 2009. Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. [online] Available at: < http://blackboard.uws.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_7916_1%26url%3d > [Accessed Sept 2010].

Poulson, L. and Wallace, M., 2004. Critical reading for self-critical writing. In L. Poulson and M. Wallace, eds. 2004. Learning to Read Critically in Teaching and Learning. London: Sage.

Raunig, G., 2009. What is Critique? Suspension and Re-Composition in Textual and Social Machines. In G. Raunig and G. Ray, eds. 2009. Art and Contemporary Critical Practice: Reinventing Institutional Critique. London: MayFlyBooks.

Tracey Moffatt information and images retrieved from:

http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/62/Group_Show_/1275/44291/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Moffatt

[accessed Nov - Dec 2011].