‘Oohing and ahhing’: The power of thin(g)king in art education research

Abstract

In this article, we seek to explore what new materialist theory and post-intentional phenomenology bring to art education research. Materiality is contextualized politically and historically, and then applied to an emerging research methodology which attempts to centre the material world as a key participant in an art education dissertation research project. The research site, a creative reuse store, serves as both context and participant as the authors explore the powerful collective agency of materiality in processes of art making. Portions of findings from the project are presented here and a new theory of thin(g)king is discussed.

Editorial: Arts Education in a More-Than-Human World

“…In line with Smith (in this issue), Hood and Lewis (2021) argue that since many artists are attuned to "the agentic powers of the more-than-human sphere" (p. 224), they can teach others important lessons in perceptual sensitivity to more-than-human agencies and the vitalities of materiality. Art, in this sense, is not that much about human control over materiality, but a zone of contact with the strange, not fully understandable agencies of things (Hood & Lewis, 2021) and becomings. These vital materialities might break through human perceptual grasping, "show us new ways of being" (Hickey & Moody, p. 5), and…”

“…The ontological privileging of the human over matter thus produces isolated selves, and frames artistic, creative practice as the production of isolated art objects, art projects, and art activities (Garoian, 2012). In line with Smith (in this issue), Hood and Lewis (2021) argue that since many artists are attuned to "the agentic powers of the more-than-human sphere" (p. 224), they can teach others important lessons in perceptual sensitivity to more-than-human agencies and the vitalities of materiality. Art, in this sense, is not that much about human control over materiality, but a zone of contact with the strange, not fully understandable agencies of things (Hood & Lewis, 2021) and becomings.…”

Co-Creating with a Messy Kitchen Floor

“…Here, an expanded subjectivity that moves beyond my human perception of individual material bodies is imagined, focusing on the human body as part of a larger interdependent material assemblage. This is a radical reorientation, especially within art education's and education's humanistic lineage (Hood, 2018;Hood & Lewis, 2021;Snaza, Sonu, Truman, & Zaliwska, 2016;Snaza & Weaver, 2015).…”