Haptic thinking in the Visual Arts classroom
THE ROLE OF DRAWING AND SKETCHING IN CREATIVE THINKING To contextualise the process of developing ideas by sketching in the visual arts diary, reference can be made to the contemporary Finnish architect and writer Juhani Pallasmaa. Pallasmaa is well-known for his writing about the relationship between the hand and the mind and how drawing is a tool for creative thinking. In his book, The Thinking Hand (2009), Pallasmaa refers to a cognitive loop that emerges in the act of drawing. Through the process of visualising ideas in drawing form, marks made by hand-held pencil on paper are seen by the eyes and the mind responds intuitively through movement of the hand. As the hand drawn image forms on paper, the idea imagined in the brain is reformed. In this cyclical way, a student’s initial sketch made in the visual arts diary maps the emerging idea for a work in progress which has yet to be resolved in concrete form.
LEARNING THROUGH PRINTMAKING Learning through artmaking in Visual Arts is dependent on the fusion of cognitive and manual skills. Thinking is intertwined with haptic experiences of tactile and sensory engagement with matter. The images produced by students through bodily engagement with materials and hand tools represent thinking made concrete by the hand. At the heart of printmaking lies the complex relationship
The artists in residence gave the students insightful practical demonstrations and, in collaboration with the classroom teacher, supported each student’s experimentation with media, tools and techniques. This process was critical in informing students with an understanding of the material properties of linocut and drypoint printmaking for students to effectively develop designs for two different printmaking forms.
between hand and mind.
“The hand grasps the physicality and materiality of thought and turns it into a concrete image.” - Juhani Pallasmaa
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Illuminate Research and Innovation
Top left: Rafael Butron showing students examples of intaglio printmaking
Top right: Rafael demonstrating the inking process for drypoint printing
Bottom image: Anne Starling with Year 8 students sketching their preliminary ideas in the Visual Arts process diary
