Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Encounters with artworks are often portrayed (and studied) as silent, individual and sometimes rather private experiences. Yet, art is equally known to be a powerful vector for sharing with others, feeling and thinking in ways that are held, by many, to be universal. Entering the vast field of the experience of art from the perspective of its connection with the collective, the research project on which this communication is based also looked at encounters with artworks lived as shared events. Developing an open dialogue with small groups of six to eight years olds visiting a contemporary art exhibition, the author looked at what is happening when children are prompted to discuss their ideas, feelings and interpretations as they engage with the artworks and with others. Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, this project focused on children’s discourses to renew our understanding of what is verbalized, but also of what takes place in the collective encounters with artworks. Its results highlighted the co-construction of the experience of art as a space to be-with : expressing and learning about ways of being with the artworks, but also about ways of being with the world and with each other. Presenting the research project that took place over the course of the summer 2018, this communication will expand on its emerging theorization to open up a discussion on the innately democratic character of the experience of art and the potential this conceptualization holds for arts education.