Making Objects to Make Meaning: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding The Embodied Nature of the Artmaking Experience A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kristen Marie Breitfeller, B.A. Graduate Program in Art Education The Ohio State University 2010 Thesis Committee: Candace J. Stout, Advisor Clayton B. Funk Copyright by Kristen Marie Breitfeller 2010 Abstract Teachers in any subject must sift through an enormous amount of material, deciding what content is the most important for their limited amount of instructional time. As an art education student I was able to observe the practices of numerous art teachers and the choices they made concerning the content of their curriculum. I found that art teachers often placed differing values on the teaching of artistic skills, techniques and knowledge of media (object-making), and the teaching of meaningful exploration of ideas through artmaking and interpretation (meaning-making). A systematic review of the literature from the last ten years of Art Education, Visual Arts Research, and Studies in Art Education revealed this divide as prevalent in art education theory, with much greater value placed on meaning-making. I believe dichotomous thinking such as this reflects a wider philosophical divide in Western thought: that of body versus mind. However, an understanding of the mind as inherently embodied offers art educators a relatively unexplored theoretical paradigm for better understanding the relationship between object-making and meaning- making. Furthermore, an understanding of how the embodied mind develops an underlying tacit knowledge as it interacts with the world could have immense implications for the manner in which we teach art. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to establish a theoretical framework for the future research of K-12 art curricula. From this newly conceptualized paradigm, art education theorists can ii begin developing a stronger understanding of the intrinsically intertwined nature of the physical and the conceptual in art, and how this synthesis can be incorporated in art education pedagogy. iii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my father, mother, sister and brother, who have all been steadfast companions as I journey through life. My family and friends have supported me in every way possible throughout my academic career. I could not have made it this far without them. iv Acknowledgments My thanks first go to Dr. Candace J. Stout, whose kindness and enthusiasm make her a truly encouraging thesis supervisor. Also, I am utterly indebted to Dr. Sydney Walker for her thought-provoking conversations and clear guidance. Finally, a sincere thank you must also go to Dr. Clayton Funk, for his cheery willingness to join my thesis committee. I must also thank those scholars who have paved the way in the development of an embodied understanding of the mind. I have found an abundance of inspiration from the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, Michael Polanyi and Erin O’Connor. Their ideas have provoked so many questions about the nature of the human condition and the process of artmaking that I have a lifetime’s worth of inquiry ahead of me. v Vita 1998………………………………………. Gahanna Lincoln High School 2003………………………………………. B. A. Psychology, The Ohio State University 2006………………………………………. Juried Exhibition, The Fergus Gilmore Undergraduate Exhibition 2006………………………………………. Solo Exhibition, Mood Lighting Columbus, Ohio 2006………………………………………. B. A. Art, The Ohio State University 2006 to 2007……………………………... Substitute Teacher, Columbus City Schools, Columbus, Ohio 2009………………………………………. Ohio Teacher Licensure, Art, K-12 2007 to present…………………………… Graduate Student, Department of Art Education, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Art Education vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..…ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………….……iv Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………..v Vita……………………………………………………………………………………vi List of Images………………………………………………………………………...ix Preface……………………………………………………………………………..…xi Chapter 1: Art Without the Object………………………………………………..…..1 Physicality and Meaning in Making………………………………………......1 Leaving the Making Behind: A Review of the Literature………..…….…......8 The Separation of Thinking and Doing?…………………………..…..……21 Chapter 2: Introducing the Body..…………………………………………….…......29 Approaches to the Body in Arts Education Literature…………….……...….29 The Body at the Forefront of Knowing: Three Voices from the Arts……….35 Moving Ahead: Bodies of Literature Beyond Arts Education……….………40 Chapter 3: Embodiment in Object-Making as Meaning-Making………………...…42 Merleau-Ponty: Champion of the Body……………………………………...42 The Bodily Roots of Conceptual and Metaphorical Thought………………..57 Embodiment Thus Far: A Synthesis and a Foreshadowing…………...……..70 Chapter 4: The Roles of Tacit Knowledge and Expertise………………….……..…73 vii Attending from the Brush to the Painting…………………………………....73 From Novice to Expert: The Shifting of Awareness……………………..….86 Embodiment Thus Far: A Synthesis and a Foreshadowing…………….…..100 Chapter 5: Embodied Artmaking Moving Forward…………………………….….103 Revisiting the Divide…………………………………………………….…103 From Above and Below: The Emergence of a Theoretical Framework…....108 Going Forward: Exploring Embodiment in Artmaking………………….....113 References…………………………………………………………………………..123 Appendix A: Additional Research Possibilities……………………………….……131 Appendix B: Image Reference List…………………………………………………135 viii List of Images Image 1. Minstrel (2009)……………………………………………………………..2 Image 2. Condemned, by Walton Ford (2006)………………...……………………..4 Image 3. Some/One, by Do-Ho Suh (2001)…………………………………..……...5 Image 4. Saddle, by Janine Antoni (2000)……………………………..…………...21 Image 5. Olympia, by Edouard Manet (1863)……………………………...……….33 Image 6. Portrait (Futago), by Yasuma Morimura (1988)………………………....33 Image 7. Artist Elizabeth Murray at work…………………………………………..48 Image 8. Sweet for Three Oranges, by Jessica Stockholder (1995)………………...50 Image 9. Untitled, by Lari Pittman (2002)…………………………………………..53 Image 10. La Sciara, by Philip Taaffe (1993)………………………………………55 Image 11. I flattened whatever pushing made the valley tremble, by Gregory Euclide (2009)………………………………………………………………………………...58 Image 12. Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely (detail), by Josiah McElheny (2004)…………………………………………………………………….68 Image 13. Capture #9, by Gregory Euclide (2009)…………………………………69 Image 14. Doolin, Doolin, by Ursula von Rydingsvard (1995-97)…………………75 Image 15. Artist Judy Pfaff at work…………………………………………………81 Image 16. Untitled, by Laylah Ali (1999)…………………………………………...83 Image 17. Ghost…a border act, by Ann Hamilton (2000)…………………...….84 ix Image 18. Glassblower Josiah McElheny gathering glass from the furnace………..89 Image 19. Using shears to trim molten glass………………………………………..92 Image 20. Moor, by Janine Antoni (2001)…………………………………………..96 Image 21. Touch, by Janine Antoni (2002)………………………………………….96 Image 22. Born, bronze sculpture by Kiki Smith (2002)……………………………99 Image 23. My Blue Lake, photogravure and monotype print by Kiki Smith (1994)..99 Image 24. Constellation, installation of glass, bronze, and blue Nepal paper by Kiki Smith (1996)…………………………………………………………………………99 Image 25. Riding Bikes, by Robert Rauschenberg (1998), Berlin, Germany……...104 Image 26. Wall Drawing #260, by Sol LeWitt (1975)…………………………….116 x Preface Educators, in any subject and of students of any age group, must constantly make decisions about what to teach and how best to teach. The field of visual art education is no different. Visual art and visual culture have burgeoned throughout human history, becoming more and more a part of our daily lives, growing to the highly image-saturated world of today. Art educators have at their disposal so many examples of various forms of visual images that it is impossible to address more than a small percentage of these forms in a K-12 curriculum. With so many options, the content of an art educator’s curriculum often comes down to what he or she as an individual values most as art knowledge. Yet what, exactly, constitutes art knowledge? As Kerry Freedman points out, “in order to enable investigations of the nature and origin of art knowledge, not just reproduce what has been represented as art knowledge in curriculum of the past, we need to undertake several discussions as a professional field” (2005, p. 99). This thesis attempts to do just this, by contributing to a new conversation about the nature of the artmaking process as grounded in the embodiment of mind and meaning. Furthermore, in this thesis I will begin to develop a theoretical framework for future investigations into the entwined nature of physical, technical art processes, skills and mediums, and conceptual, meaningful art content. The reasoning behind these arguments is what I see as a forced dichotomy between the teaching of technical skills and investigations of meaningful ideas in current visual art education practice and theory. The introductory section of this xi thesis offers a systematic review of the literature from three prominent visual art education journals, Art Education, Visual Arts Research, and Studies in Art Education, since the year 2000. I will argue that this body of research shows an inclination to divorce technical processes, skills and media, or “object-making,” from investigations of ideas and concepts, or “meaning-making,” in the artmaking