pedagogy: n. ped·a·go·gy [ped-uh-goh-jee, -goj-ee] the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods.

Semiotics: n. se·mi·ot·ics [see-mee-ot-iks, sem-ee-, see-mahy-] the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.

Umwelt: n. (pl. Umwelten) a German work coined by the German biologist von Uexkull and meaning roughly “surrounding world or environment.” Umwelt is more than the objective environment; it includes what an organism perceives and can act upon. In semiotics, umwelt is the environment in which an organism exists to the extent that the organism is able to perceive it.

The idea of ‘turning nature inside out’ allows the participant in an environment to encounter the world with a fresh sense of perspective, to see the beauty in nature with new eyes. Humans exist as co-creators in the world with other living organisms, yet too often the human position is one of dominance. Turning an environment inside out allows for time and quiet and reflection to enter into our perceptions. The beauty in a blade of grass suddenly becomes more vivid.

Time pauses so questions can be asked.

A chrysalis hangs on a branch. Blending into the color of the tree, it draws little attention. Soon a butterfly may emerge. Part of the recognition of natural beauty is to examine what the chrysalis at that moment is experiencing. How is the organism inside processing its rebirth? Does it know its going to fly when it emerges from its cocoon? Can it understand what it means to fly?

Whether individuals choose to recognize it our not each carries with them a unique relationship to nature. As well as different expectations of what nature should be and is to them. All of those notions affect how we interact with the world around us. It is easy to detach oneself from nature, in a theoretical sense, but now how distant can one actually be from the natural? After all everything in nature is connected.

“…the stem of a wildflower – when considered as a carrier of significance, constitutes a different element each time it is in a different environment, depending on whether, for example, it is observed in the environment of a girl picking flowers for a bouquet to pin to her corset, in that of an ant for whom it is an ideal way to reach its nourishment in the flower’s calyx, in that of the larva of a cicada who pierces its medullary canal and uses it as a pump to construct the fluid parts of its elevated cocoon, or finally in that of the cow who simply chews and swallows it as food.”

-Giorgio Agamben

Collateral experience is a previous experience that makes a unique situation accessible. In order to learn about an object, collateral experiences are necessary. In education, this is a point at which semiotics are important. A teacher with a style of teaching, a pedagogy, that uses signs that a student identifies as things he/she already knows, that student will be able to move forward in learning. The pedagogy of the artist who nurtures continually connects new experiences to the huge network of past experiences that individuals have.

Our experiences are vital to growth and learning, and when they are valued, students recognize the resources they have within themselves. A semiotic pedagogy is not about a classroom of empty vessels, waiting for a teacher to fill them; rather, experiences are the context from which students/explorers/artists build connections.

Artist statement:

As a student in the Art and Design program at Grand Valley State University with emphases in Visual Studies and Art Education, the idea of a semiotic pedagogy is what I have sought all through all my years of formative education, yet only recently have begun to find words to describe the longing. My hope is to gather as many collateral experiences as possible in my time in the university setting, to prepare me to be an educator that does not just teach art, but rather an artist that disrupts the disciplinary boundaries in education that hinder us.

References

Agamben, Giorgio. The Open: Man and Animal. Trans. Kevin Attell. Standford, CA: Stanford Univ-eristy P, 2004. 38+.

Deely, J. (1982). Introducing Semiotics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Eco, Umberto (1976): A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press/London: Macmillan.

Smith-Shank, D., (1995). Semiotic Pedagogy and Art Education. Studies in Art Education, Volume 36, Issue 4, Summer 1995.

Smith-Shank, D. (1993). Pre-service elementary teachers’ stories of art and education. Art Educa-tion, 46(5), 45-51.

Harris, T. & Hodges, R. (Eds.). (1995). The Literacy Dictionary: The vocabulary of reading and writing. Newark: International Reading Association.

With Acknolwledment to... Claire Pentecost Laurie Palmer Aspen Kelly