Image-making, creative minds and symbolic consciousness : in search of a methodology of interconnectedness : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Education), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2010
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey University
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The Author
Abstract
It
is
apparent
that
in
recent
decades
there
has
been,
in
the
Western
World
at
least,
a
major
escalation
in
general
engagement
with
‘the
arts’
and
personal
arts
practice,
with
a
corresponding
growth
occurring
in
arts
and
creativity
related
education.
This
has
happened
within
a
global
context
of
significant
and
escalating
rates
of
social,
political,
technological
and
environment
change.
In
turn
this
has
fuelled
debate
about
the
role
the
arts
and
art
education
might
play
in
an
increasingly
dynamic
world.
The
dissertation
identifies
a
number
of
gaps
and
weaknesses
in
current
thinking
about
the
relationship
between
art,
education
and
change
which
can
be
addressed
by
adopting
a
‘system’
perspective
on
cognitive
development
and
changing
consciousness.
This
project
was
a
case
study
involving
students
at
a
School
of
Art
and
Creativity
called
The
Learning
Connexion,
with
the
study
having
both
descriptive
and
instrumental
objectives
(Stake
2000).
The
descriptive
level
aimed
to
achieve
an
in-depth
‘holistic’
picture
of
the
personal
and
organisational
factors
influencing
or
reflected
in
student
image-making.
The
instrumental
aim
was
to
analyse
and
interpret
these
findings
from
a
‘systems’
perspective
that
recognises
that
brain,
culture
and
‘mind’
essentially
form
interdependent
elements
that
create
the
languages,
‘or
currencies’
of
human
consciousness.
This
project
also
proceeded
on
the
premise
that
the
‘arts’
generally,
and
image-making
of
students
at
The
Learning
Connexion
specifically,
offered
a
window
into
aspects
of
this.
The
systems
approach
was
used
in
two
ways,
firstly
to
analyse
some
of
the
descriptive
findings,
and
secondly
as
a
framework
for
looking
at
the
relationship
between
ritual
and
the
earliest
human
image-making
during
the
Upper
Palaeolithic.
Parallels
and
connecting
themes
were
then
explored
between
the
pre-historic
and
The
Learning
Connexion
setting.
The
findings
indicate
that
engaging
with
a
period
of
image-
making
can
often
be
linked
with
a
major
period
of
reorientation
or
reframing
in
a
person’s
life,
coupled
with
a
particular
desire
to
develop
artistic
skills
and
a
sense
of
personal
creativity.
Those
who
engaged
the
longest
with
the
school’s
very
open
and
unstructured
programme,
tended
to
be
females
in
mid
to
later
stages
of
life,
often
with
significant
prior
qualifications
and
non-arts
career
experience.
Moreover,
when
these
people’s
images
were
combined
with
interview
statements
a
‘narrative’
was
revealed
of
an
intense
exploration
by
the
students
about
their
own
lives
and
events
affecting
these.
The
data
also
indicated
that
a
period
of
image-making
resulted
in
general
improvement
in
people’s
sense
of
personal
well-being.
When
the
well-being
finding
was
considered
from
the
systems
perspective,
it
was
theorised
to
involve
an
interweaving
of
three
sets
of
factors:
people
generally
developed
and
strengthened
an
‘artistic’
identity
through
a
unique
image-making
‘style’
with
this
assumed
to
reflect
a
person’s
unique
neurological
make-up;
the
organisational
environment
provided
important
signals
that
what
people
did
through
their
image-making
was
safe
and
appropriate;
and
thirdly,
through
the
action
of
image-making
people
appropriated
the
most
salient
features
of
their
own
life
story
and
recoded
this
into
a
new
and
unique
visual
‘currency
of
thought’.
When
student
work
was
also
analysed
in
terms
of
connecting
themes
with
Upper
Palaeolithic
image-making,
common
elements
of
shamanic
transformational
ritual
and
shamanic
healing
were
identifiable
in
both
contexts.
The
dissertation
concludes
with
discussion
of
implications
for
further
research,
arts
practice,
mature
age
transformational
education,
and
ways
the
systems
approach
used
may
be
extended.
Moreover
the
multiple
perspectives
used
pointed
to
common
‘systemic’
elements
underlying:
‘shamanic
healing’,
improved
‘well-being
through
image-making’,
and
pre-historic
image-making
and
ritual
playing
some
central
role
in
the
very
emergence
and
ongoing
reshaping
of
human
symbolic
consciousness.
It
is
therefore
felt
the
premise
underlying
the
project
that
‘the
arts’
can
offer
viable
research
windows
into
how
aspects
of
human
cognition
and
consciousness
change,
was
justified.
With
these
views
in
mind
the
idea
of
‘the
art
student
as
researcher’
and
‘the
art
school
as
a
research
organisation’
explicitly
contributing
to
such
inquiry
is
put
forward,
and
seen
as
consistent
with
a
general
academic
trend
towards
trans-disciplinary
research
fields.
Such
a
move
also
requires
the
fashioning
of
‘methodologies
of
interconnectedness’
which
enable
‘art’
and
‘science’
to
be
able
to
be
linked
as
forms
of
inquiry
into
areas
of
common
interest,
and
it
is
hoped
this
project
will
contribute
to
this.
Description
Keywords
Arts, Education, Study and teaching, Image-making