Aesthetic Literacy Workshop: Helsinki, February 2015

A E S T H E T I C L I T E R A C Y

W O R K S H O P :

H E L S I N K I , F I N L A N D

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 - 2 1 ,

2 0 1 5

P E K K A I H A N A I N E N &

M I C H A E L G A L L A G H E R

• Make use of open

space & enact lifelong

learning systematically

Emphasize process over

output; stimulate

learners to be self-

organized and self-

sufficient in their

learning

Model pedagogical and

personal (lifelong

learning) applications

A I M S

1. Learning and

research

Academic and

artistic

Informal and formal

Intentional and

serendipitious

M E T H O D O L O G I C A L

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S

1. Aesthetic Literacy

Autoethnography

Fieldwork Activity with

Technology

Composition

Reflection and

Dissemination

Iterative Techniques

M E T H O D S

an ability to identify learning potential

in everyday and open environments

and to methodically enact a process

of learning through them.

Aesthetic literacy, broadened from its

specific artistic focus as a capacity for

“reading” or making meaning from

artistic (everyday) material

(discussed in Gale, 2005 as the

“living of lyrical moments”), is

positioned as a means of making

meaning in open environments, to

begin to enact lifelong learning in

these open spaces.

M E T H O D S :

AE S T H E T I C

L I T E R AC Y

Aesthetic Literacy:

Learners align themselves to the

possibility of learning in an open

environment (a trust in their own

capacities for finding learning

material in their open, lived worlds),

and then attune themselves to

their specificities of their

environment for learning

(acknowledging that each location

is a constructed, specific set of

attributes- learning in a museum as

opposed to the subway as opposed

to an open field, etc.).

M E T H O D S

Align

Attune

Sense

Discussion

What do you see?

What do you feel?

(What's the

difference?)

Discussion

Cognitive Emotional

Discussion

What are we

connecting this to?

What is our frame

of reference?

a combination of both autobiography and ethnography in

that it is self-reflection and writing that explores the

experience of the researcher within a particular

environment in an attempt to connect that experience to

broader cultural, social, political or other meanings.

Subjectivity is assumed and reflected upon.

Objectivity is impossible. Rigor and transparency mitigate

this.

M E T H O D S : A U T O E T H N O G R A P H Y

How would you report

this?

How would you

compose this?

(What's the

difference?)

D I S C U S S I O N :

A U T O E T H N O G R A P H Y

What can we connect it

to?

What are the learning

advantages in making

this connection?

What are the costs of

this connection?

D I S C U S S I O N :

A U T O E T H N O G R A P H Y

M E T H O D : F I E L D W O R K W / T E C H N O L O G Y

1. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/monet/sketchbooks/

2. http://darwin-online.org.uk/

3. http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Laurentian_Library.html

http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/monet/sketchbooks/

http://darwin-online.org.uk/

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Laurentian_Library.html

What technologies do we

have?

What data can we

capture with each?

How does that kind of

data affect our overall

understanding of space?

D I S C U S S I O N : F I E L D W O R K W / T E C H N O L O G Y

Consider the power of each (audio,

video, imagery, text).

How can we tell the story of one

without the other?

What modes are you attracted to?

http://michaelseangallagher.org/wp

-content/uploads/2015/01/Ambient-

street-sounds-of-Seoul_-protest-

music-togetherness.mp3


http://michaelseangallagher.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Ambient-street-sounds-of-Seoul_-protest-music-togetherness.mp3

Who is watching us?

What

autoethnography are

they writing?

What is our role in

their narrative?


A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. Signals,

impressions, landmarks, directions, ephemeral.

M E T H O D : C O M P O S I T I O N


Postcards or Impressions


Knowledge representations

Tools? Apps? Methods?


Trust and

discussion

Transparent vs.

introspective and

private?

Circulation

through networks,

communities

M E T H O D : R E F L E C T I O N A N D D I S S E M I N A T I O N

How do you

share?

How do your

researchers

share?

How do your

students share?


R E F L E C T I O N

Pause.

Reflect.

Apply.

Iterate.

S P A C E V S .

P L A C E

F O C U S O F I N V E S T I G A T I O N

S P A C E V S .

P L A C E


What's the

difference?


What types of

spaces and

places exist?

F O C U S O F I N V E S T I G A T I O N : S P A C E

Physical?

Digital?

Hybrid?

Material?

Mobile?


What role does

technology have in

transforming space

into place?


Mapping

Geographical

Emotional

Cognitive

Social

Imaginary

M A P A N D A E S T H E T I C L I T E R A C Y V I S U A L I Z A T I O N

Tools?

Methods?

Feedback?


Education

Aesthetic Literacy Workshop: Helsinki, February 2015