Words for Artworks: The Aesthetics of Meaning Making

Fróis, João Pedro; White, Boyd

doi:10.1111/j.1476-8070.2013.01759.x

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As a great deal of research into contemporary art and galleries in education has demonstrated (e.g. Hyde 2011;Herne et al 2013;Hiett & Riding 2011;Fröis & White 2013), the gallery is a site where the learner's voice can be foregrounded. The traditional authority of the art historian's voice is more easily circumvented in the contemporary gallery where artworks can take on forms that are often more contentious in their interpretation; in these spaces meaning-making occurs in a more democratic learning environment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Touched by Turner

Adams

2015

Int J Art Design Ed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This is a personal reflection on an encounter with the works of the nineteenth‐century painter J. M. W. Turner in London's Tate Britain exhibition ‘Late Turner: Painting Set Free’. The article discusses the deeply subjective nature of engaging with artworks, and touches upon theories that might account for the ineffable but moving experiences that sometimes occur in such situations, often unexpectedly, and analyses the associations that might prompt them – in this case the details of dogs in some of Turner's works. There is a discussion of the theoretical frameworks that may provide an insight into these deeply subjective, personal and yet significant encounters, and how they can provide a means to a richer understanding of an artwork. The article considers the conditions that might be conducive to these contemplative, affective experiences, and how they might occur in educational settings with appropriate forms of pedagogy. The article concludes by contrasting slow, idiosyncratic and subjective learning through artworks, with the dominant, data‐based and reductive trends that currently prevail in mainstream education.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Touched by Turner

Adams

2015

Int J Art Design Ed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Theoretical and empirical research on the topic of meaning making within the visual arts has been expanding in recent years, namely due to the work carried out by scholars in different fields-philosophy, visual culture, museum, and art education (Barret, 2010;Carroll, 2003;Émond, 2010;Fróis & White, 2013;Parsons, 1987;White, 1998). The topic of meaning making within the visual arts has direct implications for the improvement of communication activities in art museums.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Research into Meaning Making Strategies in Encounters with Artworks

Fróis

Silva

2013

Empirical Studies of the Arts

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What takes place when we undergo what is referred to as aesthetic experience? What is the educational value of such an experience? How does aesthetic experience prompt meaning making? Our article addresses these questions based on the analysis of data collected from an ongoing research project involving 24 Portuguese participants (12 artists and 12 non-artists), each of whom interacted with one artwork from an art museum in Lisbon through the use of mediation tools. Analysis of the results showed a subtle influence of academic training on the way participants made meaning out of their interactions with the artwork. The quality of their final written records clearly demonstrated that learning took place as a result of the use of mediation tools.

show abstract

“…Returning to the research by Fróis and White (2013), we know that most museum visitors respond to art through their emotions. Hence, the visitors' recognition of silence is made through an emotional memory that links them with a sense of silence.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a paper for the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, the authors wrote: "viewers need to understand that 'viewing art is its own reward' and becomes an opportunity to 'challenge their sense, their emotions and their knowledge" (Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson 1990). Another study at the Calouste Gulbenkian Modern Art Center in Lisbon created an aesthetigram to map the experience of the participants in their study (Fróis and White 2013). The authors found that while the aesthetic experience can mix cognitive and affective areas, the most prevalent response across all visitors was that of reflection and perception influenced by memories and feelings.…”

Section: Cognitive and Emotional Aspects Of Aestheticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This selfunderstanding with which art is concerned has not only temporal orientation as described by John Dewey, but also a timeless truth. A participant in a study on meaning making at the Calouste Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre in Lisbon reflected on her thoughts after viewing one work of art: "I related this moment to those moments when we contemplate the clouds in the sky and 'see' different images" (Fróis and White 2013). She realized how her interpretation of the artwork was shaped by her previous life experiences and studies of art.…”

Section: Personal Meaning-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The art of silence.

Kowalski¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This dissertation argues that the role of silence as essential to experience the full aesthetic beauty of art in a museum setting. Museums have changed their focus due to socio-economic and financial pressures. They have changed from silent "temples" for art conservation and exhibition to places for interactive art education, entertainment, and social gathering. The results of these changes have been both positive and negative. Attendance has increased, enhancing the museum experience, engaging more diverse audiences in museum activities, and dispelling the "elitist" image of the museum. These changes, however, have resulted in the loss of a silent space to quietly experience a personal and emotional connection to art. As the world becomes more urban, noisier, and addictively connected to technology, this study argues the need to include a silent experience in the art museum. This will enhance visitors' aesthetic, emotional, and educational experience with art.This dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapters one, two, and three explore the role silence plays in spiritual, aesthetic, and learning engagement. Chapter four examines the singular experience of wonder and its profound influence on the appreciation of art appreciation. Chapters five and six present silence and art from two vi perspectives: how artists reflect silence in their art works, and the silence viewers see in art. The final chapter seven presents a model for a room dedicated for viewing art in silence. This experience would provide an opportunity for visitors to connect personally, deeply, and emotionally with a work of art without influence from others.Each of the chapters cites research examining how silence develops the capacity to observe art with more detail, create a more personal and emotional connection with art, and to experience the beauty of art for its own sake before looking at it from an historical and analytical perspective.Further study is needed to assess the value of a silent experience in an art museum. This study provides evidence that silence can positively affect the visitors' involvement with art. Observing art in silence increases the visitors' ability to discover more detail in a work of art and connect personal experiences with it. In an increasingly noisy world, a silent space removes outside distractions and offers visitors an opportunity to have an emotional connection with the beauty of art.vii

show abstract

Words for Artworks: The Aesthetics of Meaning Making

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Touched by Turner

Touched by Turner

A Research into Meaning Making Strategies in Encounters with Artworks

The art of silence.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About