Session 3: Outsider and Insider Visions

3rd Global Conference

Tuesday 14th July 2009 – Thursday 16th July 2009
Mansfield College, Oxford

The Inner Eye and the Outer Space: Planetaria as Schools for Visual Literacy
Boris Goesl
Interdisciplinary Centre for Media Studies, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

This paper wants to explain the pivotal role of projection planetaria in training elementary visual literacy, especially at thresholds of perceptibility. Planetaria address a completely different system of vision than all other visual media: As one never can see all stars at a planetarium’s dome prima vista but inevitably has to wait for some minutes until dark adaptation is completed, this venue (re-)establishes a culture of time-aware ‘deferred visual gratification’. The (synthetic) stars—minimal visual units; pixel ‘avant la lettre’—appear only in six discriminable brightness nuances to the naked eye, thus constituting a challenge for visual literacy regarding ‘just noticeable differences’. ‘Productive imagination’ is trained in planetaria as the constellations are explained according to what ancient cultures have attributed as mnemonic shapes to the poor visual cues of the orderless distribution of the stars. But before the conventionalized constellations become disambiguated by superimposed slide projections of ornamented shape illustrations, the constellations have to be ‘seen’ with the ‘inner eye’. To this end the spectators ‘hyper co-operatively’ have to apply the basic ‘Gestalt Laws’ of grouping similar and proximate single stimuli together: ‘per aspera ad astra’. By turning the spotlight on the stellar light spots with a light-pointer an instructed mental imagery is furthered in planetaria, enabling the viewers to picture inwardly alternative, subjective ‘constellations’ beyond the conventional ones (cf. WOLLHEIM’S concept of ‘seeing-in’ 1980). The irreducibility of images as a property of an imagined set of alternatives can be clarified in this respect. Equally the ability to express oneself by means of images can be practiced in planetaria, where lines, drawn onto interactive touchscreens, instantly become projected onto the dome firmament. Analogous to KLEIST’S (1805) concept of a “Gradual Production of Thoughts Whilst Speaking” this technique allows a hands-on ‘gradual production of visual thinking while drawing’.

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

Radical Educational Policy: Critical Democratic Pedagogy and the Reinfusion of the Arts in Secondary Schools
Mary Anne (Edgeworth) Drinkwater
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

In Canada, policy actors including provincial Ministries of education, government agencies and NGOs have come together to dialogue about the important role of the arts in education. A central question that arises from this work is: What direction should policy governing the arts take? Using a critical democratic framework (Freire, 2001; Giroux,2001; Kincheloe, 2001; McMahon & Portelli, 2004), this paper will argue that radical approaches to educational policy (Apple, 2008; Joshee, 2007; Lingard et al. 2007) which are illuminated by a reinfusion of the arts in Ontario secondary schools can address issues of student disengagement, equity and social justice (Eisner, 2002; Gallagher, 2007; Power, 2008; Smyth et al, 2008; Thompson, 2006; Vibert et al, 2002). Critical democratic theory sees education as an on-going, two way, dialectic process that is built around the experiences of the student and allows for critical thinking and action to help students grow. In a truly democratic school, students are given the opportunity to have their voices heard and to build on their previous experiences and interests to plan for their continuing growth (Dewey, 1938). Moreover, it explicitly focuses on issues of power, equity, social justice and diversity. Education in and through the arts provides opportunities for all students to engage in an active curriculum which encourages critical inquiry and expression of relevant social issues. Additionally, it can help to build community, through increased understanding and tolerance within schools. Policy guidelines will be presented which provide direction along the following dimensions: learning in, through and about the arts; culture and diversity; teaching and teacher education; resources; partnerships and leadership.

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

Visualising the Essay: Using Information Graphics to Facilitate Critical Thinking Within an Art School
Desdemona McCannon
Visual Culture, North Wales School of Art, Glyndwr University, United Kingdom

My aim with this paper is to present documentary evidence from working collaboratively with dyslexic and non reading art students who are ‘visual thinkers’ to demonstrate how exploring visual strategies for displaying information, analysis and critical reflection in diagrammatic and pictographic form, can offer new paradigms for approaching theoretical thinking and critical debate.

Many art students at North Wales School of Art and Design have difficulty with the written word. Some do not read at all. Although students demonstrate high level thinking when approaching practical and creative briefs, they often have a ‘block’ when it comes to approaching written tasks.

Collaborating with participating students and staff, I am developing a set of visual tools that will be used to define the parameters of critical and contextual written assignments, helping students identify research questions, keywords and specialist terminologies

A ‘designed’ structure, a visual representation of the essay will be investigated as a possible replacement to the linear text based presentation of a conventional academic argument. This could enable the student to appreciate the connections between ideas. Iconic codes are presented within a designated, visualised system of meaning. Information is ‘designed’ into the diagram/model of an essay. Logic is embedded in the relationship between image and structure, as well as between image and text. Critical Vocabularies are fostered though the conceptual ‘unpacking’ of key words in illustrative form.

The essay becomes a visualised narrative, employing techniques of information design, and utilising the student’s ability to visualise to reflect upon their knowledge using a variety of cognitive skills.

Presentation will be highly visual and may involve audience participation.