Opening up to a Digital Space of Emergence in Art Pedagogy Heidi May Emily Carr University of Art and Design mayh@ecuad.ca Jody Baker Emily Carr University of Art and Design jodybaker@gmail.com
Contemporary art practices share conceptual overlaps with current discussions about pedagogy, particularly th that encourage interactive and collaborative methods of cultural production. For instance, network(ed) art con . of multiple connections made through generative processes, often, but not always, incorporating digital technol :. Network art practices, sometimes defined as participatory works, are arguably not based on art objects or d i~ instruments, but rather the relationships and processes that occur between individuals. [1] Similarly, compl theory in education embraces a multilinear experience of learning in which teaching and learning are describec moving away from the concept of one individual passing established knowledge on to another, to the concep: collectives elaborating emergent knowledge. [2] If we are to understand teaching and learning as an experience occurs in a "space of emergence," then we can understand it as a temporal epistemology, as opposed to a theor. knowledge based on fixed and static models. Similar to these common principles shared between network art a complex pedagogy, today's open-source culture consists of decentralized and multilinear processes of exch ~ _ that both challenge the role of the author and encourage creative exploration, and thus allow for new understand" _ to emerge. In this paper we argue that open-source culture can be incorporated into a curriculum which can be understooc performative-based rather than representational - a temporal epistemology centered on critical inquiry of m and an ongoing discovery of creative ways of interacting with and understanding social experience. This pa:J addresses the following topics: the theory of emergent knowledge in relation to pedagogy, how emergent knowle::_ connects to open-source culture and current remix practices, the integration of open-source culture into art _ media curriculum, and some anticipated outcomes of restructuring the classroom to an open space of lea In thinking about these ideas, we reflect upon previous online teaching experiences as we develop a pedag ~ approach for a course examining remix culture.
Relational Exchange: A Space of Emergent Knowledge "Only by wrestling with the conditions of the problem at first hand, seeking and finding his own way out, does think. In such shared activity, the teacher is a learner, and the learner is, without knowing it, a teacher... " [3] "The epistemology of emergence therefore calls for a switch in focus for curricular thinking, away from ques5 about presentation and representation and towards questions about engagement and response." [4] Learning is facilitated through 'an open communication process, one that encourages discovery of mea within ideas, objects and experiences. The traditional classroom environment, consisting of a hierarchical architecture of teacher vs. students, does not always allow for an open communication process to occur. Acco to understandings of complexity theory in education, learning is not a cause and effect relationship between a t ea:: and student but rather one part of a decentralized and complex system in which the act of learning is depe process rather than product. Decentralized approaches to teaching are most appropriate for learning situati - , which there exists more than one response to a topic. With more than one interpretive possibility, both physical more importantly, epistemological structures need to be in place for ideas to stumble across one. [5] Similar : processes which make up much contemporary network art, experiences of collaboration and relational exchan g~ more significant than the objects produced. These decentralized, or constructivist, approaches to teaching can often allow for a rhizomatic flow of em _ knowledge within a dialogical space of teaching and learning. This kind of aesthetic classroom experienCE dialogical space, has been written about by various curriculum theorists, albeit each defining the phenomeno different language to describe its intangible qualities. Renowned curriculum theorist Ted Aoki wrote about the curriculum" as something in opposition to planned curriculum and explained his concepts by using a visual illus -
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