visible thinking: using contemporary art to teach conceptual skills

National Art Education Association

Visible Thinking: Using Contemporary Art to Teach Conceptual SkillsAuthor(s): Julia MarshallSource: Art Education, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Mar., 2008), pp. 38-45Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27696275 .

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rary art offers us a wide array of

genres, media, and methods for making art. It could be said that today art is richer, more varied, and more increasingly challenging than ever before. Moreover, current art seems to reveal

more of the conceptual or cognitive processes involved in creating art than historical art.

Wang Du.

Tapis Volant-Time (2002-2003). 102

square meters: about 9.50 x 11 m. New Wool of New Zealand, hand woven.

Courtesy of Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris.

ART EDUCATION / MARCH 2008



I have in mind a particular type of

contemporary art?the kind that not

only puts ideas and concepts into visual form but also reveals the

thought processes by which that form was conceived. These works make the

thinking (or cognition) behind their ideas and forms visible; they are easily seen in the form of the work. In

allowing us to see the conceptual strategies behind them, these works make these processes accessible,

teachable, and lear able. Students can

see, learn, and use these processes for

generating statements in their own art.

Students can also come to understand

the conceptual strategies behind less

transparent works of art and the

images of visual culture. On a broader,

deeper note, the artworks presented here can help students to understand how the mind conceives and shapes its

interpretations of reality.

Why is developing cognitive skills in art important? In a time when art is under siege in schools, many art

educators justify the inclusion of art in education by

arguing that art practice involves higher level thinking (Efland, 2002; Eisner, 2002; Dorn, 1999; Freedman,

2003a; Roland, 1992). These theorists claim that making and critiquing art can help students to think more

deeply, broadly, and critically, to interpret and under

stand meanings, and to create meaning. In fore

grounding the cognitive/conceptual component of art, the contemporary works discussed here reinforce this

argument. Roland (1992) recounted two specific kinds of

learning developed through making and viewing art:

'declarative knowledge (knowledge of content) and

procedural knowledge (knowledge of how to apply that

content). Roland (1992) implied that learning how to

apply knowledge is as important as learning the 'facts.'

In foregrounding the how of art making, these artworks can help students to develop procedural knowledge. Furthermore, their transparency can help to build awareness and understanding of those processes. Erickson (2005) and (Haskell, 2001) referred to this

understanding as 'strategic knowledge'. Strategic

knowledge is often referred to as 'metacognition and it is

understood to be a critical factor in higher-level learning (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Efland, 2002;

Roland, 1992). While metacognition is critical to learning in all

disciplines, understanding what you are doing in working with

techniques, materials, design principles and with ideas is an

especially important goal of art education. When students are

directed to the processes behind these contemporary works,

metacognition is fostered.

Our challenge as educators is to locate the works of art that make

process visible, mine the strategies they use and reveal, and

provide art-making exercises in which students practice these

strategies. This article is intended to facilitate these efforts. Some

examples of current art are presented. This is a small sample; once you start looking at new art with these strategies in mind,

you will notice that these works represent a trend. Also included

is a lesson that illustrates one way to use these examples of

Visible thinking in contemporary art to catalyze connection

making or concept development.

Two Strategies for Creating and Communicating Concepts I focus here on two strategies or modes of thought for developing

concepts and meaning: metaphor and conceptual collage. These

strategies are distinct from each other in many ways but they also

overlap. Both are ways of creating concepts, meaning and new

ways of thinking through developing connections or relation

ships. These two strategies are fundamental mental processes;

they are how the mind conceives and understands its experience and the world it encounters (Stafford, 1999; Lakoff & Johnson,

1980).

Conceptual Collage (juxtaposing non-coalescent or

distinct images). Collage is the juxtaposition of images or ideas

to create new meaning. In art, a collage is created when visible, material images are placed together and their arrangement

generates a relationship between them. This relationship often

not only expresses a concept or idea but also creates it (Stafford,

1999). Conceptual collage is a variation on this idea; it occurs not

on paper through physical manipulation of visible images but in

the mind. Stanford (1999) argued that the mind develops

concepts and makes meaning by juxtaposing ideas and images and making connections between them. She also argued that

artists make these conceptual collages' visible when they make

art, no matter what material or technique they use. She argued that to make these processes visible, artists use non-coalescent

images, images that remain distinct and recognizable.

'Conceptual collaging is not necessarily placing one image next

to another but also can involve projecting one image onto

another. When this placement is novel and surprising, it causes

the viewer to see the concept in a different light. Often collage works through contrast and dissonance; the images do not fit

and the relationship shocks. This is the basis of irony. Many of

the examples presented in this article are ironic; they use shock

and humor to expose concepts or present concepts in a different

light and they emphasize paradoxes and incongruities.

JULIA MARSHALL/ VISIBLE THINKING 39



Metaphor?seeing one entity in terms of

another. Metaphor is another way to

generate meaning. A metaphor describes one

thing?the primary subject?in terms of

another?the subsidiary subject (Black,

1981). The primary and subsidiary subjects have something in common, which makes

the connection 'fit,' but they are also quite different. It is the differences between the two entities that change the way we see the

primary subject. For example, when Carl

Sandburg (1913) described fog (the primary subject) in terms of a cat (the subsidiary subject) in his poem Fog, all the associations

we have with cats (such as soft, fuzzy, quiet, and stealthy) are applied to fog. Using 'cat' instead of all these descriptive words is a very economical way to describe fog. Metaphor is

particularly powerful because it often creates

connections we did not see before (Lakoff& Johnson, 1980). Once the metaphor is made, it changes the way we see things. Fog becomes forever connected to cats. Although

metaphor is usually associated with words, visual metaphors work in the same way. Indeed, visual metaphors, because they use

visual images, are particularly powerful in

this regard (Marshall, 2004; Ricoeur, 1991).

Examples of Art Here are some specific artworks that use

collage and metaphor and demonstrate

clearly how these conceptual strategies work.

The collages and metaphors in these works

are not only visible but also provocative. The

contrasts and collisions are shocking and/or

funny. In many cases, these works appear to

be one-liners* similar to political cartoons.

The strategies of juxtaposition, decontextual

ization, and blending are easy to see. What

sets these works apart from cartoons are the

associations and implications that evolve

after the initial encounter. Collage, metaphor and the subject itself make these messages

complex and multidimensional. These are

not simple statements, but complex state

ments made simply. In them, a concept is

illuminated and opened to multiple questions and interpretations.

All of these works comment on current

critical socio-cultural issues, specifically

globalization and violence. I also see one

overarching theme in these works?the

power and pervasiveness of visual images. Each of these artworks comments or relies

on the way visual imagery can pack a lot of

meaning. The images are iconic in that they represent complex meanings distilled down

into one image. The works also juxtapose

highly contrasting iconic images to make

their point. With all their humor and irony, which betray a great deal of cynicism toward their subjects, these artists still maintain faitl

in the power of imagery and art to generate awareness and change perceptions. Their use

of art as a scalpel to penetrate and reveal

complex realities attests to this.

Tapis Volant (Flying Carpet) (2002) by Wang Du (China, France). Contemporary artist Wang Du addresses the global mass

media and how it shapes or distorts events

and truth in his art. In his Tapis Volant,

Wang Du juxtaposed contemporary

global media imagery with time-honored

traditional forms. This ironic arrange ment contrasts old and new, decorative

art and visual culture. In this piece, the

Time magazine cover announcing the

explosion of the Columbia space shuttle is

transformed into a Chinese carpet. In placing the announcement of this shocking and

tragic event as a design on a carpet, Wang Du

alludes to how such events provide another

image that 'decorates our lives. The concept here is the numbness and disconnection that

constant exposure to an image, no matter

how horrific, generates in its audience.

Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo (1995) by Ai Weiwei (China). Ai Weiwei

places the Coca Cola Label on an ancient

Chinese artwork, a Han Dynasty urn. This

juxtaposition creates a simple, visual image that communicates the concept of cultural

collision?the replacement of old Confucian

values by capitalism and consumerism in

contemporary China. Ai Weiwei s vision of

this is rather cynical. Consumerism and

globalization replace ancient ideals and

principles, and old relics become consumer

commodities. L

Twilight of the Idols 8 (2002) by Kendell Geers (South Africa, Belgium). Kendell Geers uses a similar strategy in his series of

power figures, Twilight of the Idols. In these works, the artist bound traditional African

figurative ritual objects, in this case a Nkisi

power figure from central Africa, in red and

white chevron tape to create a jarring

juxtaposition of the old, spiritual, and

:M^!$m$i\Nart Dynasty with Coca i Co/a Logo (1995). Courtesy Galerie :

Urs Meile. Beijing-Lucerne.

Kendell Geers. Twilight of the Idols # 8 (2002). Courtesy of the artist

and Stephen Friedman Gallery London, Galler?a Continua-San : ??m?gnano, Yvonne lamb?rt ;

G?ilery-?>arr?s. 'i

:ft 4B: Gabriel Kuri. Uniffl?d (Superama) (2003). Hand woven

gobelin. 114 x 44 in. (289.6 x ? 1.8

cm). Collection of Contemporary Art San Diego.Museum purchase with

funds from Museum of

Contemporary Art San ?igf?A-, ; ̂ ti?ftftt Art Auction, 2?0t?? =

? 2003 Gabriel Kuri. Courtesy of the : "artist and the Museum of

Contemporary Art San Diego.

40 ART EDUCATION / MARCH 2008



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venerable with the new, cheap, and industrial. Concepts related to spirituality in today's world emerge from this

powerful 'collage' of image and materials. Geers opened these topics up to the questions: Are contemporary

capitalism and global culture replacing spiritual traditions with consumerism? Is global consumerism

the new power?with the strength to change deeply held values and revise reality? Has an indigenous spirituality been bound and gagged by this pervasive power?

Superama ( 2003) by Gabriel Kuri (Mexico). Gabriel Kuri addresses new economic and cultural realities in

the NAFTA-created world. In his Superama, he

displayed a Wal-Mart receipt as a decorative pattern on

a hand-woven rug. This is a good example of superim

posing a common iconic image from contemporary

global culture onto a traditional handmade form to

communicate a concept and comment on its effect?

in this case the overwhelming power of global corpora tions to overtake and undermine local communities and

economies, and to replace local indigenous patterns with global capitalistic ones.

Fragment Grenades (1997) by Charles Krafft (USA). In his witty, satirical ceramic sculptures, Charles Krafft

comments on the comfort level many people have today with weapons, violence, and disasters. His Fragment Grenades consists of six white porcelain hand grenades decorated with cobalt blue designs from the venerable tradition of Delft ceramics. In creating weapon-shaped knick-knacks, Krafft points out the banality and

ordinariness of violence in American life. Weapons become collectibles, both beautiful and kitschy. Like

plates and cups, these weapons once had uses. Now they are inert and they commemorate, domesticate, and

prettify violence.

Charles Krafft. Fragment Grenades (\9&f)* Courtesy of DiRT Gallery/ Los Angeles.




Familiar Songbirds 11 (2002) by Michael Oatman (USA). Michael Oatmans collage of

songbirds wearing helmets and

carrying machine guns

displays humor and cynicism similar to Charles Krafft s. In

this startling juxtaposition, cute, cuddly, playful creatures

become deadly fighters and metaphors for an increasingly militarized society where even

natures cutest most innocent

creatures are violent. Oatmans strategy works especially well

because these lovable but menacing creatures are rendered in

the sentimental style associated with images from popular 1950s American magazines. This simple but powerful combina

tion generates questions about the way humans romanticize and

anthropomorphize nature and militarize it.

Top: Michael Oatman. Familiar

Songbirds 2 (2002). Courtesy of Miller Block Gallery.

Above, left: ? Tirso Gonzalez. Abu Ghraib Plate (2005). Handmade ceramic. Courtesy of the artist.

Above, middle: Rachel Hallquist. George W. Bush Garden Gnome (2005). Courtesy of the artist.

Above, right: Susannah Morgan. Skull

(2005). Courtesy of the artist.


A Sample Lesson: Simple Steps to Complex

This lesson took place in our preservice art education course at San

Francisco State University. The artwork presented here is by future high school and middle school teachers. The lesson began with conceptual

collage, and many of the works evolved into metaphorical images or

objects. This lesson worked because it was supported by clear examples of

collage and metaphor from contemporary art and specified clear unam

biguous steps for using or developing these strategies. Along with

facilitating conceptual processes, students also practiced their research

skills and learned techniques such as clay construction and the transfer of

images onto clay (drawing and painting with underglazes).

(1) The lesson began with each student choosing an issue to be addressed

and a primary image that represents that issue. Looking through news magazines and newspapers for current political and social

issues helped students to locate an issue to explore and an image to use.

(2) The instructor then presented examples of contemporary artwork

discussed in this article that employ conceptual collage and metaphor and facilitated a discussion of these strategies. The notion of the

subsidiary subject or medium was introduced and students came to

understand how the interaction between the primary image and the

medium develops and communicates a concept.

(3) The instructor then offered many options for the subsidiary form or

medium. In this particular lesson, we limited the medium to

ceramics and showed ceramic forms ranging from ancient artifacts

and decorative arts to contemporary souvenirs and kitsch. Students

were also instructed to research and find clay forms and traditions on

their own.



Meanings

(4) After each student chose a conventional or traditional form for her/his subsidiary form or medium, she/he made an object out of clay. To facilitate this, the instructor demonstrated an

array of hand-building techniques. Students merged their primary image with the medium

through blending the two in the construction of the object or in placing the primary image onto the medium object. The instructor demonstrated drawing and painting with underglazes to help with this process.

For the most part, students had concepts in mind before they began their work but often the

concepts took on new life and meaning as they developed into material or visible form. The

following examples of student work illustrate how this works. The explanations presented here are

my interpretations of these pieces.

Abu Ghraib Plate by Tirso Gonzales. In this work, an iconic image from the Iraq war is ringed by Arabic designs and calligraphy and projected onto a plate. This piece shocks us with its highly charged juxtaposition of a real image of misery and cruelty and a common domestic or decorative

object. In it, the artist comments on the power of visual images. This concept of power can be

interpreted in two differing ways. As a picture on a commemorative plate, the image is diminished; it becomes a souvenir of a faraway

(HOB artists opinion of Mr. Bush. In his

cuddling of a weapon, she alludes to Bush's embrace of militancy. She also addresses the concept of Mr. Bush's split public personality and asks the question: Is Mr. Bush just an ornamental figure? Is he as powerful as he wants us to

believe? Or as folksy? This is the opposite of a power figure. The artist challenges Mr. Bush's

authority, symbolically disempowering her subject.

Skull by Susannah Morgan. In this piece, the artist presents her impression of current practices in

psychiatry that promote the use of drugs for controlling mental illnesses. To convey her concepts, she chose a ceramic head marked with a phrenology map of the mind as her medium image and

updated that mind-map by replacing phrenology titles for areas of the brain with names of popular drugs for depression. She also replaced the rather neutral head used in the conventional phre

nology bust with a skull. Her superimposition of current medical practices onto an old science of

the mind relates new psychiatric practices to old discredited practices, evoking concepts of

superstition and uselessness.




War on Terror Game (2005). ****??J I ^P^^^ft-^P.JbHHHHP'"^^ Daniel Spinka, Sarah Steiner, B^wBHI^^^H^^k w*BKtK?E?fr~Ali. J^d?l^hriH^B'' and Kyra Rice. J^BhIS^II^^HHHLJ _j^^^?^;:;;:,:.!

' ?lr "-:JbB^^^W^mB?

A version of this lesson was done in another preservice course for high school and middle school teachers. In this

case, students worked in groups. The war in Iraq and the

war on terror were chosen as themes, and the medium

forms students used for conveying concepts were

souvenirs and games. Two artworks stand out for their

irony and for the way they illustrate so clearly the two

conceptual strategies of collage and metaphor. The Iraq Souvenir Pack with a decorative box displaying bottles of

'sand, blood, oil, water and culture is an ironic comment

on what the artists see as the real motives behind the war

and an excellent example of collage. The second artwork

War on Terror: The Game uses the metaphor of a board

game to describe the war on terror, mapping out all the

territories, the players, the tactics and the rules of this

deadly contest.

This lesson and artwork represent a common

practice in contemporary art that illuminates

critical social and cultural issues through the

contrasting and combining of iconic images. In

this case, the images are from historical tradi

tions and current popular culture. This is an art

of contrast and collision. Irony and humor often

emerge in this process. Some art teachers may

shy away from humor and irony, believing them

to be negative responses in which students

make light of serious issues. I argue to the


contrary. Humor and satire are serious business; they are

particularly sharp-edged tools for exposing critical incongruities and problems. Most high school students respond to irony because they encounter it everyday in the popular media. They often get their news from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, two

popular comedians who host parodies of news programs on

cable television. Students experience the ways humor and satire

can make you laugh, cry and think all at the same time. This

lesson will help them to understand that experience. It will also

help them to see how humor (and some contemporary art)

reframe and distill complex ideas down to make powerful statements. It is, therefore, a lesson in media literacy.

Conclusion

Returning to the original premise, the lesson presented here

highlights the thinking processes or strategies of conceptual

collage and metaphor. The focus here is on thinking and concept

development as fundamental art skills, which are as basic to

making an artistic statement as art techniques and design

principles (Freedman, 2003b). This approach stands in contrast

to conventional art lessons that concentrate on learning about

style, materials, techniques or genres of art. This lesson also

differs from conventional lessons in that it presents coherent

defined steps for developing meaning?simple steps that create

complexity. It gives students a clear strategy for developing their

own meanings in a structured way. In promoting conceptual

strategies and conceptual skills, it does not forgo developing the

material' art skills. Rather, this lesson provides an example how

all these skills, conceptual and material, can be taught at the

same time. It is a common belief among art teachers that honing



The Iraq Souvenir Pack (2003). Paul Gralin and Sabrina Yacoub.

technical skills should precede developing conceptual skills. This

implies that students cannot make meaning until they master the

materials or techniques. I disagree and concur with Freedman

(2003b) that these capacities need to be developed simultaneously.

Contemporary art, in providing us with images in which the

conceptual strategies behind them can be easily accessed, offers us

a great tool for doing it all.

Julia Marshall is Associate Professor of Art Education at San Francisco State

University, San Francisco, California. E-mail: jmarsh@sfsu. edu

nccCRFNCES

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metaphor, (pp. 63-81). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain,

mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: Commission on Behavioral

and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, National

Academy.

Dorn, C. (1999). Mind in art: Cognitive foundations in art education. Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Efland, A. (2002). Art and cognition: Integrating the visual arts in the curric

ulum. New York: Teachers College Press.

Eisner, E. (2002). Arts and the creation of mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University

Press.

Erickson (2005). Teaching for transfer through integrated online and

traditional art instruction. Studies in art education 46(2) 170-185.

Freedman, K. (2003a). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics and the

social life of art. New York: Teachers College Press.

Freedman, K. (2003b). The importance of student artistic production

in

teaching visual culture. Art education 56(2) 38-42.

Haskeil, R.E. (2001). Transfer of learning: Cognition, instruction, and reasoning.

San Diego: Academic Press.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of

Chicago.

Marshall, J. (2004). Metaphor in art, thought and learning. In Smith-Shank, D.

(Ed.), Semiotics and art: sights, signs and significance. Reston, VA: National

Art Education Association.

Ricoeur, P. (1991). The function of fiction in shaping reality. In M. Valdes, (Ed.)

A Ricoeur reader: reflection and imagination (117-136).

Toronto: University

of Toronto.

loland, C. (1992). Improving student thinking through elementary art

instruction. In Johnson, A. (Ed.). Art education: Elementary. Reston, VA:

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Sandburg, C. (1913). Fog. In (1970) The complete poems of Carl Sandburg. New

York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.

Stafford, B. (1999). Recombinancy: Binding the computational "new

mind"

to

the combinatorial "old mind". In Visual analogy: consciousness as the art of

connecting. Cambridge MA: MIT.

RESOURCES FOR LOCATING THE ARTWORK

Kendell Geers:

Farrell, L. Ed. (2003) Looking both ways: Art of the contemporary African

diaspora. New York: Museum of African Art.

Gabriel Kuri:

Transactions: Contemporary Latin American and Latino art (2006). San

Diego: Museum of Contemporary Art.

Ai Weiwei: Frehner, M. & Heinrich, C. Ed. (2005) Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese art

from the Sigg collection. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz.

Wang Du:

Wang Du. (2004). Paris: Editions Cercle d'Art.

Charles Krafft:

McGee, M. & Reid, L. (2002). Charles Kraffts villa delirium. Santa Ana, CA:

Grand Central Press.

Michael Oatman:

Thompson, N. Ed. (2005). Becoming animal. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.




visible thinking: using contemporary art to teach conceptual skills

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