A Gestalt moment in Art Class
Back to school with my adults learning art and I encouraged them to use their licences to play.
Handing out varied paper and card circles and squares, I talked a little bit about the exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery, Speech Acts where I had been inspired by several artists’ use of geometric devices in their works.
Some learners were immediately gripped by the possibilities of manipulating the shapes and took up their scissors, crayons, paint and glue, exploring various methods of changing and placing the shapes.
Some were out of their comfort zones. There was also the option to use square or circular viewfinders and find subjects to draw using observational skills but everyone valiantly continued with their efforts to find satisfying results with just the card and paper shapes.
Musing about that now, I wonder if there's sometimes a need to achieve in line with others in the class or even perhaps to please the teacher. I must continue to encourage them all to believe that as individuals, they are free to determine the outcome of the session for themselves and that my expectations are formless.
I believe my role as a teacher is to enable the learners’ self-expression, gently encouraging them to challenge themselves when appropriate but allowing them to retreat into the haven of the known when they need to.
An art class is an ideal place to let go of our need to achieve success every time we sit down to learn as long as we embrace the principle that experience and experiment are of equal or higher value than a resolved outcome.
Process over Product
It is more than allowed - it’s encouraged – to go ‘off piste’ at any time!
Next week, we shall be designing letter fonts based on squares and circles and using tea and coffee to paint with… or not is that’s too bizarre for anyone!
