Join us to rethink the role of the senses in art education and how this can facilitate new approaches to making and teaching in the classroom. Together, we will discuss a range of resources exploring ideas on the senses drawing from various contexts, such as architectural theory, philosophy, mycology and artistic practice.
As architect Juhani Pallasmaa notes in his book The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Western culture has long privileged vision as the primary mode of knowledge. An excerpt from this text will provide an understanding of the importance of reconsidering the hierarchy of the senses, and in particular the significance of touch, as this integrates our whole sensory experience of the world.
In her book Let’s Become Fungal! Mycelium Teachings and the Arts, artist Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez looks at the world of fungi to learn and imagine potential new ways of thinking about our sensory engagement with the world.
Finally, we will look at Phyllida Barlow’s making process as an inspiration for new approaches to touch and tactility, and consider their importance in the context of the digital age.