Engagement Matters
Art as Pedagogy: A Multiple Case Study of Participatory Socially Engaged Art
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eunji J. Lee
In recent decades, contemporary art practices have expanded into social processes as art, and even to educational experiments. Artists create participatory projects combining art with educational activities and goals. Despite the prevalence of these artworks, contemporary art literature continues to focus primarily on the artist, thereby displacing the experiences of participants. Hence, from the stance of an art educator, I carried out qualitative multiple case studies to examine the learning experiences of the participants as well as the pedagogical frameworks of the artists. On-site observations and individual interviews were carried out with the artists, core group members who directly collaborated with the artists, and public audience members of three participatory, socially engaged art works. Through a cross-case thematic analysis, the findings demonstrate the value of intrinsically motivated learning enabled by a learning approach grounded in (art)making. In these works, a critical social consciousness was promoted among the participants by means of an enhanced social imagination provoked by the interplay between political content and artistic means. Essentially, the artworks examined in this study serve as models of transdisciplinary art for learning and teaching social justice issues and civic engagement. Moreover, the results of this study encourage collaboration between artists and educators, as artists’ approaches diversify pedagogy and, conversely, educators play a critical role in enhancing the learning experience of participants.
Plants and Art Intertwined: Dialogue Between Natural and Cultural Expressions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hanpeng Lu
This research “Plants and Art Intertwined" delves into how depiction and integration of plants in artistic endeavors reflects human engagement with nature, and explores complex linkage between plants and art. Plant patterns in nature possess astonishing beauty and complexity that have continuously served as a rich source of inspiration for humans over millennia. They have been utilized across numerous fields such as art, architecture, and design, providing abundant motivation to artists and writers alike. Plants carry cultural connotations and are used as symbols across cultures and religions, like the lotus in East Asia, symbolizing purity, enlightenment, and rebirth, and flourishing in muddy waters as a metaphor for overcoming adversity. Similarly, the Sakura in Japanese culture embodies the ephemeral nature of life and the beauty and transience of existence, highlighting humans' fascination with nature's ecological and aesthetic significance. Observing paintings, sculptures, and textiles with plant patterns, this study explores their reflection in art, considering various representation methods and meanings. One case study in the modern context for this research includes the transformation of Shodo Island’s scenery to one replete with olive groves creating cultural landscapes intertwining agriculture with tourism. From cultural expressions to contemporary settings, plants position themselves as essential elements in expressing connections with nature and raising environmental awareness. Interviews with artists, farmers, and botanists provide interdisciplinary insights from their varied perspectives. In conclusion, this paper offers new aesthetic views and interdisciplinary inspiration, promotes sustainability in art and design, and encourages innovative creative techniques and materials.
Relocate within a Blooming Affective Space through Arts
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hsuan Chi Liu
How can affects unfolding through art help people transform their states of subjectivity? Human lives nowadays intertwine with a complicated political, economical and sociocultural background. These impacts penetrate into lives and embody daily affections. It is crucial to see how one can possess these affections and find a way to adapt to different situations. As Braidotti’s theory of “nomadic subject” may serve as a solution for people to keep reforming their subjectivity at their will, this paper explores how arts can stimulate perception and affection, thereby engaging people in practicing their nomadic subjectivity. There are two goals situated in this study: the first is to reappraise posthuman theories that pertain to affects, percepts and subjectivity to construct a landscape of lived network; the second is to discuss how art can impact the meaning-making process with affects and its potential for rehearsing different positioning of subjectivity. This paper also presents a part of an interactive exhibition in Taiwan. The case is used to consider how its materiality engages people to unfold their affects and reflect on their lives. Using this case, the paper discusses how art has the potential for subjects to reflect on their states and undergo the process of becoming, which facilitates subject nomadism and makes people experience it in a reparative and mindful way.
