Thursday 12 January 2012

A/r/tography

Through an open dialogue with a work, a question is posed based on existing knowledge and experience. The question and the questioner become transformed through appropriated knowledge and experience gained from the work and through the dialogue, and new questions are posed. This cyclical process of idea (theory) and experience (practice) informing and transforming each other is referred to as a hermeneutic circle.” (Costantino, 2002, p. 78).

There are several pieces that interested me on the A/r/tography website, in particular I found Costantino’s discussion of the hermeneutic circle very illuminating. I felt it summarised the point I have reached in my own teaching practice and the methodology I am trying to implement both in critical studies work and as a way to initiate inquiry in practical work. The “ArtsSmarts” project, which was accessed through the A/r/tography site, goes along a similar process whereby “ArtsSmarts projects start with a BIG question or idea […] ArtsSmarts engages students in the creative process through artistic inquiry into topics that span many different subject areas of the curriculum” (ArtsSmarts, 2012). I feel that this type of cross curricular enquiry through the arts enables pupils to make connections in their understanding and to really integrate new knowledge into their existing schemata. In my own practice, I have successfully utilised an art based enquiry approach as a way to explore the topic of genetics. I found that pupils were very engaged with this process and responded very positively to a more joined up, cross curricular methodology. Using the arts as a stimulus also promoted open ended discussion and the vital process of reflection to which all pupils could successfully engage: “Reflection, the process of thinking about one’s actions, is essential in helping our students develop their own scaffolds for structuring knowledge and organising their life experiences” (Berghoff et al, 2006, p. 89).


In addition to this, I have found that my view of my role as a teacher has changed to incorporate the role of the artist much more fully. ArtsSmarts (2012) states that “artists model creative thinking, inquiry, artistic processes and habits [and] serve as model learners”. I have found it very liberating to become more of a ‘learner’ in the classroom, modeling the inquiry process rather than directly transferring ‘known’ knowledge to pupils, and that pupils are more engaged in the process. My role has changed to be more what Costantino describes here:


“The teacher serves as moderator, striving to keep the dialogic inquiry open by steering away from debate, posing stimulating questions, and exploring how a work of art might relate to students’ personal experiences.” (2002, p. 79).




ArtsSmarts, 2012. ArtsSmarts' Project Model: The BIG Idea and Artist-Teacher Collaboration. [online] Available at: < http://www.artssmarts.ca/en/in-schools/artssmarts-project-model-the-big-idea-and-artist-teacher-collaboration.aspx > [Accessed Dec 2011].


Berghoff, B., Borgmann, C. B. and Parr, N. C., 2006. Semiotic Cycles of learning in the Arts. In Arts and learning Research. 2006, 22 (1). pp. 87 - 117.

Costantino, T. E., 2002. Philosophical Hermeneutics as a Theoretical Framework for Understanding Works of Art. In Arts and learning Research. 2002-2003, 19 (1). pp. 75 - 97.

Friday 6 January 2012

Reflections transformed

I am very interested in the ways in which an image can be transformed to suggest an entirely new construction of subject. I took two of photos of reflections that I had taken earlier during my colour studies, and transformed them into much more abstract, organic representations of landscapes.

This was the initial reflection image:


My first editing of it for the colour series:


Further transformations have created this final piece - to me it suggests looking out towards a window with clouds reflected in a lake:


This was the initial reflection image:


My first editing of it for the colour series:


Further transformations have created this final piece - to me it suggests looking out over a beach towards the crashing surf:



Landscapes - Colour

I decided to further develop some of my paintings / photos. I took this image and altered the colours to create a more dramatic contrast.


To me, it now suggests a night time scene with the suggestion of a moon in the left hand side of the sky, and the light blue line as if the light was just breaking in the morning.