Ravin Raori’s Blog for UAL PGCert

Based on the readings:

1. Hooks, B. (1998) Art on my mind: Visual politics. New York: New Press.
2. Becker, C. (2019) ‘World Economic Forum Annual Meeting’, in How art became a force at Davos. Davos: World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/how-art-became-a-force-at-davos/#:~:text=The%20arts%20provide%20a%20way,which%20they%20hope%20to%20repair. (Accessed: 18 March 2024).

Note* I will be using the term ‘creative practitioners’ as a umbrella term for people working within artistic and design-related disciplines.

Note** My aims are highlighted in italics.

Aims of Art and Design Education:
In the first part of the workshop exercise, I highlighted the terms ‘communication skills’, ‘innovation’, ‘community engagement’, ‘disciplinary understanding’, ‘equity’ and ‘inclusivity’ as particularly important to me. The reflection below highlights what I believe to be important aims of Art and Design education. This is neither exhaustive nor complete, but rather an attempt to frame my argument through the lens of what I have learned from the two pieces and further readings.

On communication, discipline and community:
Art and Design practice has not only a place and relevance but equally a strong function within discourse related to scientific and other disciplines. Becker (2019) provides us with a case-study that helps elucidate the manner by which creative practitioners can intersect these spaces and add value to them through ways of working and making. Art/Design as work, thought or frameworks can be used to bridge gaps and bring people closer to issues in ways that might be mutually enhancing (for the stakeholders) (Muller, Froggett and Bennett, 2020). This brings me to my next point: Art and Design education should not exist solely in the vacuum of academic spaces, galleries and exhibition contexts but place a stronger emphasis on engaging communities . I have always been inspired by the work of Muller, Froggett and Bennett (2020)- The idea of engaging the public as a crucial entity in the third space of Art-Science collaboration could help students articulate how they might frame and/or communicate their work in broader contexts. Further, encouraging students to embrace inter- and trans-disciplinary practice within these contexts could help create social, cultural and political impact within communities.

On inclusivity and equity:
I will be focussing here specifically on how art and design is critiqued or included into the canon of literature around these subjects. This is also (again) in particular response to the reading and work done by Sylvia Ardyn Boone and  Bell Hooks (Hooks, 1995). It’s evident that we (educators) have struggled in the past with how we include, present and critique work that represents minority voices into teaching and learning. Looking at UAL’s commitments to decolonising the curriculum and anti-racism amongst others – it is clear to me that we must all do our bit in making education more equitable and more inclusive. As a person of colour, this is important on a personal level as well. In the time that elapsed since Radiance from Waters, Hooks writing and now  – it feels like the tension between aesthetic sensibility of the work and its perceived intentionality (Hooks, 1995) still exists. In a world of digital computing and social media, it simply manifests in different ways- through algorithms and other systems of classification. First and foremost as educators, we must question the content we consume, the content we deliver and the implicit relationship between the two. We must also give our students, through teaching and learning – the ability to question content, its inclusion, equity and relationship to knowledge. The inclusion of minority voices in Art and Design should be relevant irrespective of whether its intentionality is to challenge existing structures or towards other aesthetic/non-aesthetic concerns (Hooks, 1995). Beyond questioning bias and assumption, we must practise this (inclusivity and equity) in an active sense through curriculum design.

References:

1. Boone, S.A. (1986) Radiance from the waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
2. Hooks, B. (1995) Art on my mind: Visual politics. New York: New Press.
3. Becker, C. (2019) ‘World Economic Forum Annual Meeting’, in How art became a force at Davos. Davos: World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/how-art-became-a-force-at-davos/#:~:text=The%20arts%20provide%20a%20way,which%20they%20hope%20to%20repair. (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
4. Muller, L., Froggett, L. and Bennett, J. (2020) ‘Emergent knowledge in the third space of art-science’, Leonardo, 53(3), pp. 321–326. doi:10.1162/leon_a_01690.

Based on Reading: Willcocks, J. and Mahon, K. (2023). The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. art, design & communication in higher education, 22(2), pp.187-207.

I picked up this reading in the weeks leading up to my micro-teaching session and after the great talk we were given by Judy Willcocks & Georgina Orgill. Although the reading looks specifically at an online/digital context, it still helped frame a lot of my thinking for my session (I will expand on this in my microteaching reflection), and further enhanced my general understanding of object-based learning, its use-cases, potential benefits and challenges. 

The first thing that was immediate to me based on the experiences of the students and educators involved and reflecting further, was that there is a performative nature to objects. We interface with objects through a combination of sense including sight, sound, touch and even smell. This makes the whole experience more interactive and contributes to the performative characteristics inherent within an object and an object interaction. I had never considered things under this specific lens before and it helped to contextualise an area of my teaching practice that I didn’t know lacked a deeper context.

The next thing that stood out was the position of the object as an entry-point for a much more nuanced conversation around environmental justice, colonialism and exploitation. This made me think further about the idea of the object and what it embodies. It became apparent quite quickly that the thing we’re referring to here is ‘intersectionality’ (Willcocks & Mahon, 2023). The object is a vessel for intersectional conversations around its provenance, cultural context, material history and origin, amongst several other things. The idea of the object can open up conversations through a very organic process of association. It’s such a great way for students to learn the value of objects, by actively seeking to reveal their hidden meanings. In my course on BA Graphic and Media Design, we run a project called ‘Personal Objects of Provenance’ in Year 1. Students bring in an object of their choice that in some way informs who they are and/or contributes to an understanding of their life story. We then get the students to present, represent and dissect the meaning behind their objects through a variety of lenses. It’s been a great way to introduce the students to the principles of Curation, Exhibition, Narrative, Graphic and Media, to name a few. This activity has existed since before my time on the course and therefore, I do not take credit for its existence. However, I hope to take this learning and feed it back to how I will help deliver it with even more intentionality in the next iteration.

Going back to this idea of revealing hidden meanings, I am also currently working on and delivering another brief called ‘Reveal’ for the second half of Year 1, that builds on the ‘Personal Objects of Provenance’ project. It invites students to engage with material culture and historical context beyond the object’s surface qualities and personal provenance; perhaps a great area to be further applying some of these learnings around ‘intersectionality’. I really want the students to understand the concept/idea behind an object; that is often representative of much larger forces moving the world.

Reference:

1. Willcocks, J. and Mahon, K. (2023). The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. art, design & communication in higher education, 22(2), pp.187-207.

Based on Reading: Grout, H., 2019. Archiving critically: exploring the communication of cultural biases. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, 4(1), pp.71-75.

“It can be seen that every time an archivist makes a decision they are carrying out a philosophical act, which arises from a cultural context and has cultural implications (Pearce, 1992, quoted in Grout, 2019, p. 73).” It was this sentence that really struck a chord with me as I made my way through this reading.

The reading itself is straightforward; seemingly aimed at contextualising the archival process through the critical lens of bias, inclusion and interpretation. The first half of the reading helped confirm a number of things that I have already been thinking about in my own practice. It’s great to see how the notion of an institution-wide ‘decolonising’ of the curriculum (at UAL), could have such a simple use-case within the process of creating and building an archive. I do think it’s important that we question why material is included in an archive and how it ended up there. The authorship of the material, including its history and provenance become part of the power structures that warrant its inclusion in an archive (Grout, 2019). These were all things that were unsurprising to read about but enlightening nonetheless as an introduction to the thought leadership around archiving.

Going back to the quote itself, it was towards the end of the reading where Hannah starts to talk about cataloguing and how the process of archiving is one of making-meaning, that really got me thinking about my own teaching practice. Hannah talks about this idea of creating relationships between material and/or records (Grout, 2019). This resonated with me on many levels. Often times when we teach workshops on BA Graphic and Media Design, we will start the session by introducing references to interesting practitioners (contemporary or historical). Further, we will build connections and highlight to the students, why we have included these references from the context of the workshop but also the larger context of the brief they would be responding to. What I didn’t realise that I was subconsciously doing was in some way exactly what Hannah talks about; this idea of an active voice that not just presents the relevance of different things but seeks to understand where they overlap and how the inform each other (Grout, 2019). I’m finding this realisation particularly empowering both for myself and in how I continue to create learning for my students. This reading has perhaps helped me articulate (on some level, even just for myself), the context within which we should be presenting the relevance of research and/or archival material.

References:

1. Pearce, S. (1992). Museums, objects, and collections: A cultural study. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
2. Grout, H. (2019). Archiving critically: exploring the communication of cultural biases. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, 4(1), pp.71-75.

– 12/01/24

Hi there!

As this is my first post, I apologise for my lack of fluency with the blog format. However, I thought it would be a good idea to post some thoughts leading into my first session this week.

I just completed the two readings assigned for the first two workshops and I’m starting to see where and how the PG Cert fits into my academic practice. Although I do try my best to constantly reflect on my teaching practice, it’s nice to have a framework to contextualise my process and my thinking. I foresee a lot of learning for myself and hopefully a lot of growth through the challenges that lie ahead. I think it’s good in a way for us as educators to have to be reflexive in our own practices with a certain standard and rigour.

I’m a little worried with the time management across my commitments and I hope that I can do justice to what seems like an amazing course. I will try my best. I look forward to the first session – meeting some new colleagues and getting to know the tutors.

That’s all for now,

Ravin Raori