All,
Since we have a holiday weekend coming up, your responses will not be due until next week Wednesday. The topic/questions will therefore be posted a little later than usual: possibly Saturday or Sunday.
You may have noticed from her recent blog postings that Liz has been reading ahead. She is very excited about the Leavy book, and is discovering ways of implementing arts-based feminist research methodology into her MAE research project. For this reason, I asked Liz to write this week's topic.
Liz really deserves praise for accepting the challenge of writing this week's topic. As you know, she teaches full-time at a middle school, and runs an award-winning after school program. She is also an accomplished athlete with a demanding training schedule. I don't know how she does it all, but she stepped up to the plate when I asked her to consider writing this week's blog topic.
Popular performance is dear to my heart. It was the main methodological tool I used in my own doctoral research, and I highly recommend it as an exciting exploratory approach to working with groups. If you find yourself drawn to the topic, please consider following up Leavy's chapter with Augusto Boal's (1979, 1992) Theater of the Oppressed and/or Games for Actors and Non-Actors. From there, you can stretch out in different directions, but it's best to start with Boal.
Look for Liz's post in a couple of days. In the meantime, I imagine most of you have the weekend off - so enjoy! Of course, it's also a Judeo-Christian holiday, so for those of you who observe Easter or Passover, have a great celebration.
L'Chaim!
Thank you Dr. Erler for your endless support. I can’t imagine the workload we all carry on a day to day basis. We are all striving to be successful and benefiting from each other’s knowledge and insight.
ReplyDeleteAs a professional Art Educator and a Master’s degree seeking student, my intentions are to lay a foundation that will exemplify a transformation of curriculum and teaching “styles”. My campus is transitioning from academically unacceptable to exemplary performance. This demand has given me the audacity to challenge myself as an educator and mentor to my students.
I have a preconceived notion that a child (no matter age, race, gender, or differentiated learning background) will learn if a teacher authentically engages and educates them. Middle school is a vital, integral role for a student’s career. High Schools demand incoming students to have study skills and good work habits to continue vertically aligned curriculum between middle and high school educators. High school teachers cannot afford to reteach basic knowledge and skills that should have been obtained at the middle school level. As a middle school educator I want to take an interest of my students as individuals and offer a range of opportunities and experiences my students want to pursue for their future through artistic endeavors. As a middle school art educator I want to bring attention to the importance of art-based projects to explore possible career options. I firmly believe at a student’s early age development level, teachers and students can bridge a parallel gap of fancying a dream career to achieving a dream career.
I am very passionate about integrating core area (Math, English, Social Studies, and Science) objectives into the fine arts curriculum so our students can have the knowledge of various perspectives on an assortment of careers.
There are several performance-based research methods I can incorporate interchangeably to my topic. As stated in our previous discussions I plan to integrate a medical illustration program into my curriculum and work with the high school level teachers and students. The high school that my school feeds into does offer a medical program for students interested in pursuing a medical career. Unfortunately, I recently found out that the program only had 23 students sign up for the upcoming school year. Something drastic needs to happen to this program we offer to raise student’s awareness of potential careers in the evolutionary medical field.
Through my reading and research on performance-based methods I was intrigued to know that I can practice ethnotheatre (created by a dramatic event) to promote a health theater, which refers to performances that focus on health-related topics. My colleagues and I are planning a 2K (1.24 m.) and 5K (3.2 m.) run for our school and community to raise health awareness and promote unity. This is a great opportunity to have various performance ethnographic methods in motion. Performances can range from student art work (anatomy/science based); performances can be shown such as true-to-life medical scenarios where performances are actualized (possibility performance); college/university advocates can display information on careers for students and continuing education information for people in our community; health clinics can participate and offer free diagnostics for diabetes, weight control, blood pressure/sugars; and information can be given on youth programs that enable children to be active all year long. Post-performance research and analytic data can stem from questionnaires, interviews, and public opinions regarding health/run event. As a side note, one of my student/athletes completed a Bikram yoga (hot yoga-103° room for 90 min. with 26 postures) session yesterday. Through this act of performance I was able to raise his awareness and importance of his mind, body and spirit.
ReplyDelete“Ethnotheatre can thus be used to access and present subjugated voices, to educate, and to confront and work through stereotypes and misunderstandings. Moreover, ethnotheatre has the potential to emancipate.” (Mienczakowski, 1995)
I think it would be really cool if I was to integrate one of Augusto Boal’s techniques of Invisible Theatre, which is a previously rehearsed play performed in a public space without informing the public it is a play. (Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., 2012) I would want to use this technique in school to raise awareness of bullying, sex, alcohol and violence, but invisible theatre can be dangerous because of prevocatorial topics, but it prompts an honest emotional reaction. Anything can happen.
There are endless possibilities through performance-based research methods that will facilitate our research topics and influence social change. We are all curently in a performance-based method, participatory research, as we interact through “means of creating knowledge and as a tool for education, the development of consciousness and mobilization for action…” (Rahman, 1991)
How far are you willing to go to promote social change and have yourself or society reexamine beliefs or assumptions? We are all role playing, our roles can either improve or make us rethink our research topic or research participants. I respect all of you and mean well for all of us to grow academically and personally. Please give me feedback on my research aswell. Here we go,
Franceso, you want to produce work as a means to assist data analysis and interpretation, but you have no interest in making any changes in your belief system because of being exposed to artist’s political opinions. What performance study would benefit your research, but also foster personal growth so that your inhibitions don’t counteract your research or research participants. I’ve learned that interpretations can be misconstrued and dangerous to social relationships, so I keep my comments to myself (unless I know you can handle criticism). How can you keep someone like me interested in your research using performance-based methods? Remember, I am a stranger, I am a voice in society that can hypothetically make or break your interpretations.
ReplyDeleteA-Ta- Your research explores the relationship between memory, history and identity between Lang and Chang’s photography. Huai hsiang practices can bridge a gap in society and really evoke social change. You raised my awareness and made me question and visualize my treasured past. I practice Bikram yoga to keep my own salvation and keep my life from changing direction on my terms. You have several performance research activities that you can implement, which do you foresee benefiting representation and performance the most? “ As drama utilizes imagination, it can assist people in examining how their life is and how they would like it to be.” (Warren, 1993)
Jenise-I am a visualist. I like images that catch my attention, I learn better from books that have “how to’s” using pictures that show a final product. Art teachers love books that are user-friendly. Who else can you interview for your research? Can you interview students? Or is it that you only want the students involvement to show possible career paths? Even through the book-making process you can role play with your students and have true-to-life demands of a publishing company. What creative drama collection or performance texts could you add into your research that will build a successful book and promote the knowledge-building processs. FYI, just by your icon I would buy a book from you !
Liz, rest assured that the book I am writing will be filled with images, step-by-step how-tos and bulleted text to make it easy for a reference. I too am a visual learner and prefer instructions to be visual and fun.
DeleteI would love to interview you if you would allow me to. I am going to be in Junction for only the first week of the first summer session, so if you are there at the same time, perhaps we can sit down and chat for a bit. From what you have described about your professional project, I think we have a similar vision for what the art departments in school can and should be.
In the beginning phases of my project, I wanted to interview and interact with students, however, I am not planning on becoming certified at this time and will not be doing any student teaching. So, the paperwork and the time involved has steered me from this part of the project. I want to include suggestions for ways to get students and the school community involved together, but to put it into practice isn’t going to be a part of the project.
In the ‘real world’ designers have to occasionally present ideas to potential clients to sell them on ideas with mock-ups of printed pieces, story boards and etc. A presentation amounts to a performance and it would be good for the students to feel the pressures and what goes into getting ready for it. It would also be a great idea to have mock portfolio presentations for college entrance and job interviews.
Presenting your book is completely different than your average interview. I have interviewed and hired many designers and it is clear that who practiced and who didn’t. I am open to suggestion for books that could be cited on how to prepare and performance exercises that would be relevant to the project.
Thanks for the compliment on my icon! I kept a visual journal last fall, during a very difficult time. It helped me focus on what was important and how to leave the trivial stuff behind. That little drawing of me was one of the images. I liked it and I am glad you do also.
Suzanne-I commend your bravery to incorporate you personal struggles into your work. In 2005, while in school working towards my BFA, I was told that I had a possible brain tumor and cervical cancer. I received the news during finals. I didn’t have time to worry or think about it, I had incorporated it into my final and it help put me at ease to understand and face it. I got an A on the final and no tumor or cancer, it was kind of a medical mystery why my body was doing funky things. But through art, I was okay to deal with whatever came my way. Do you think Augusto Boals use of simultaneous dramaturgy can help you with your research? Do you find yourself struggling with not knowing what to do in certain situations? Would you be open to advice from “spec-actors” if you did a simultaneous dramaturgy? Or based on your readings of performance studies, what research concept would you you use?
ReplyDeleteAllison-Your research topic can expand and enclose social life. The jewler maker and wearer are passionate of the reasons they wear or make jewlery. It is an art form of human expression, sentiment, and worship. When you attend your conference in May what performance based methods do you expect to see? That conference is a perfect opportunity for you to expand your research, pull resarch and analyze data from collegues performing in front of you. What can you take from this performance chapter that will prepare you for taking full advantage of your opportunity? Think of your idols who might be there, research participants, interview any willing participants. Can you have a workshop or have a place to display your drawings and get feedback? Now you have my head reeling eith ideas.
Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. (2012, March 10). Retrieved April 8, 2012, from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed
B.Warren. (1993). Using the creative arts in therapy: A practical introduction. New York: Routledge.
Mienczakowski, J. (1995). The theatre of ethnography: The reconstruction of ethnography into theatre with emancipatory potential. Qualitative Inquiry 1, 360-375.
Rahman, O. F.-B. (1991). Action and Knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action-research. New York: Apex Press.
"This is theatre-the art of looking at ourselves." -Augusto Boal, 1931-2009
Jewelry makers and wearers likely are very passionate about why they make or wear the brooches they do, and they likely place a great deal of meaning on these pieces, but what is that process? What does it entail? How is meaning arrived at for each in these groups? Do symbols, spirituality, connection, identity, expression, sentiment have a part of their process of creating meaning?
DeleteThe conference will be attended by studio production jewelers (more commercial realm), studio art jewelers (one of a kind and low number multiples), student metalsmiths and educator metalsmiths (who are also studio art jewelers), plenty of folks to interview, including my idols.
Various activities will be very “performance styled” events, such as: exhibition in motion, a pin swap, and a trunk show. We will also have an educators dialogue, exhibition crawl and party at the end of the conference. In between we have speakers and presentations. These are endless opportunities to interview makers, who are also wearers! Performance based methods I feel will work with my goals and data collection include: Reader’s Theatre, ethnographic performance texts, ethnodrama and performative mapping. I plan to do as much research as I can, first I must get permission from TTU for that and also possibly permission from the conference sponsors. I want to do interviews, and have them do some drawings, perhaps later create some collaborative works with them. I am building a blog site for future or continued interaction. I am considering bringing my handycam for video, digital recorder for interviews, and even my digital camera. I will bring plenty of business cards to pass out with blog address and contact info, and with a blurb describing what I am doing. My aim is to present my dissertation or parts of it as papers in future conferences and curate a show of works, 2-d stills and actual pieces, likely to be collaborations. It would be great to invite the guests to wear their meaningful brooch to show and possibly record for the exhibit. Since brooches are small, a photographic image of the brooch could be sent to me via snail mail to include in the show. My ideas are flowing, but the research will determine where it goes…
I am not a metalsmith, but I make jewelry for fun. Many years ago, I had a very severe hand injury and had to wear a brace. It was formed for me by my physical therapist of a thermoplastic. As the therapy progress, she trimmed it to make it more streamlined and she gave me the discarded piece. I made a brooch from that piece that symbolized the journey of over-coming the injury. it is a healing hand and I wear it proudly.
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DeleteLiz, thank you for your encouraging words, I don’t feel very brave, most of the time I feel inadequate to the task. I feel that the concept of Augusto Boals’ use of simultaneous dramaturgy could be beneficial for me both in my research and also in my life. Honestly, often during this journey with my mother as she struggles with aging and loss of memory I wish that I could either “replay” the actions and reactions that I have chosen OR I wish that someone else could “stand in” for me and show me the way I need to act or react! I am definitely in the learning curve as I navigate this unfamiliar terrain with my mom.
Delete“Simultaneous dramaturgy is a technique used to define a type of actor-audience interaction. It is the technique where amidst the middle of a theatrical work, the actors on stage will stop the play and ask the audience for solutions to their situation. The audience will voice their opinion toward a solution.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed)
Do you find yourself struggling with not knowing what to do in certain situations? Would you be open to advice from “spec-actors” if you did a simultaneous dramaturgy?
Yes, indeed, please see comments above. I don’t know, however, if I could actually act this out myself for this research topic. For one: I am absolutely terrified of memorizing lines. I don’t mind acting out with my physical presence; I learned to role-play and enact silly characters with my elementary students, but learning lines and reciting them is not one of my skills.
Another difficulty is the concern of ethical treatment of my mom. She certainly does not fall into the typical category of the sweet little old lady with a bun and a plate of cookies. She was much more likely to be found in the studio than the kitchen and she wears a pink gimme cap with “REBEL” emblazoned across it. She can be a shock jock with her crusty language and strong opinions. Not your usual little old lady.
Or based on your readings of performance studies, what research concept would you use?
After reading this chapter I have thought that I might be comfortable with a Reader’s Theater concept that utilizes several older composite characters along with my inimitable Mother and myself. Thus, I would not be required to memorize lines (Horrors!) and I could read each character’s part or ask other art educators to read the part of certain characters. Any volunteers? If the voice of each is comprised of their own words I could retain the sense of each person’s dignity and not fall into the error of creating a stereotypical character. I could research the feelings and thoughts of some of my mother's friends, who are spread across a wide spectrum of life situations. If I check each script with the people that I have interviewed for reflexivity, I should be able to write and enact ethically. I can visualize that possibility for Performance Study.
Thanks Liz. I think basically you are asking each of us to consider how we could implement performance into our research. The performance could be an end-product, a means of gathering information/data, a way of preparing ourselves to enter the research field, or all of these at once.
ReplyDeleteI do want to say to the class: if you think Liz misinterpreted your research, or if you don't like what she said about something, please don't expend a lot of energy "setting her straight." If you disagree with something, just say "I disagree" and move on. Focus on the task, which is to think of concrete ways of bringing performance-based methods into our research. Capiche?
Thank you Liz, thank you all!
Liz, thank you for taking the time to generate individualized questions for all of us. It’s a great way to get us thinking!
ReplyDeleteI am going to take your comments piece by piece and see where this goes.
Yes, one aspect I have been pursuing for sometime is the notion that all of my performance-based photographic work constitutes a form of research for my own development in the nuances of visual culture and visual literacy. I like to describe my efforts as this: I use photography to learn how not to.
Part of this effort is actually as a means to change my belief system. Exposing myself to the results of my efforts and intentions is a barometer of sorts for gauging the relativity between what I perceive will occur and the reality of it. But, yes, I try not to be influenced by the political opinions of others. I would rather come to my own opinions through more experiential means, resolving for myself what makes the most sense to my senibility.
With this said, I can reflect back now and realize I have been conducting my own form of performance ethnography for some time. As Leavy points out, it is a way of “investigating and representing the experiences and perspectives of various groups, performance ethnography can also serve as a vehicle for addressing the research process itself, that is, how the knowledge-building process unfolds, including how it is experienced by the researcher and others involved” (Leavy, p.151).
So for me, its wonderful to discover there is an actual label for this act of self-discovery through research. As such, I am not actually too concerned with how interested others are in my work. In this sense, my research is the art practice. The physical work (photographic imagery) exists in the public space and I intend for the public to engage with it but not to the degree where I am trying to convey some political message to them. The work is a catalyst to generate a situation where reactions take place in order for me to witness these reactions. It comes down to being an unsanctioned social experiment.
When I used to work in the darkroom, I didn’t spend hours in there worrying about how much others will like my pictures. I got lost in my work because I was simply doing what made me feel good about myself. My sense of fulfillment came from recognizing my own developing proficiency. So, my research in visual culture and literacy can be seen as a selfish act. Of course, I would love to write and publish something about it once I think I have something worth sharing.
As for your last line, I am slightly confused by what you mean about making or breaking my interpretations. If you get a chance, please go a little deeper in explaining. Thanks again for the question.
p.s. and off topic…where do you do Bikram Yoga? I got to do it in San Fran for 4 days straight a few weeks back and I’m totally hooked! It is absolutely amazing for posture.
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DeleteThat is interesting that you have worked in the dark room. What are your thoughts on manipulating photos in the darkroom verus the computer? Having worked in both world too, I feel guilty for preferring the digital world, like ditching an old friend.
DeleteBut having said that, I don't think I could ever go back. My husband holds on to his darkroom equipement, but I gave mine to my daughter
Francesco,I was referring to society. It was more directed at your belief system in your work. To stay true to your work regardless of what people will say or interpret. So, your having your own invisible theatre with your work being the actors and you get to watch peoples reactions take place. I understand you and your research better and appreciate you sharing your self discovery.
ReplyDeleteI do Bikram yoga here in San Antonio. www.bikramyogasa.com I have completed two 60-day challenges, the challenge is to go everyday for 60 days. I can without a doubt say it has changed my life. I am in the process of proposing to my school district to send me to Bikrams school of yoga to get certified and bring it back to my district as a wellness program. The school is in LA and costs a pretty penny, Bikram himself teaches the classes. So, these research methods are also helping me with my proposal and getting others to believe in me and what I hope to change for the betterment of our district.
I miss San Francisco, I lived there for a couple of years while in school. I always stared at the yoga studios wishing I had the money to try it. Little did I know with time everything works out. Thanks for your response and I look forward to reading everyones !!
All,
ReplyDeleteI want you to know that I will be in Boston at the American Culture Association conference all this week. For this reason, my response to this very interesting discussion, which by the way is off to a great start, may be less thorough than you have probably come to expect from me. I apologize for this in advance. Please be assured that I am reading your comments as you post them.
Next week's reading will be shorter than usual, first because we have a smaller window of time to work with (due to the student holiday), and second because I will be at the conference. I will be asking you to read the preface, introduction, and chapter 1 of the book on Suzanne Lacy. I am generating questions right now, but will wait to post them until later this week. Hopefully I won't have any trouble finding free wi-fi in Boston. Some cities have free wireless coverage for all.
Wish me luck "performing" my research on Wednesday and listening to what others are working on. It should be a fun time, although right now I'm very nervous! Notice that instead of getting a good night's rest (I have an early flight to catch in the a.m.), I am blogging to you.
I look forward to seeing what direction(s) this discussion will take. Keep up the great work!
carolyn
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ReplyDeleteHi Liz, thank you for your time to relate the performance –based research to my dissertation tropic. As you pointed out my dissertation is about two photographers’ huai hsiang in their photographic work. That means I will like to disclose what is their valuable past that related to their memory, history and identity? Maybe I didn’t make what is huai hsiang clear last time, and I will try to re-clarify here. Huai hsiang is a Chinese term that meaning is close to “homesickness” or “nostalgia” in English. For example, if I said “Lang’s huai hsiang”, the meaning close to “Lang’s homesickness”. Their homesickness means they are missing their certain memories of the past. Through the reconstruction of their memories, their own history thus will be constructed. As I stated, my research will disclose what are the “meanings” of huai hsiang in respective photographer’s work? In other words, I will dig out their ideologies of Taiwan history through their work.
ReplyDeleteTo response to the chapter five, if possible, I may employ enthodrama. As Leavy’s (2009, p.144) quotation about Saldana’s statement of enthondrama:
An ethnodrama, the written script, consists of dramatized, significant selections of narrative collected through interviews, participant observation field notes, journal entries, and /or print and media artifacts such as diaries, television broadcasts, newspaper articles, and court proceedings …this is dramatizing the data.(2005,p.2)
One of photographers, Lang, passed away in 1995, so the methods of traditional interview and participant observation field notes will not available for my research. As I post before I may employ fictional interview, according to data of his publications, notes, letters, journal and newspaper articles that is about him and etc. Here, to response this chapter, I may use ethhodrama to make my interview or argument more “juicy” to my audiences. According to Saldana: “This methods [ethnodrama] aims to reduce the data to the “juicy stuff” in order to achieve dramatic impact.”(Leavy, p.146) In this way, not only make my dissertation easy to read, but also make it impressive for the audiences of my dissertation.
My writing strategy will be like this:
Characters:
Lang: as Lang himself
His alive family members: as his alive family members (I will interview them to collect more information about Lang),
I : as his close friend who knew him since we were teenagers.(as Saldana proposes: how does I involved in this research as a researcher, as a friend)
Plot: I will follow his life steps with him, and asked him questions about his ideas about the situation of country, works, and aesthetic. During some significant time, for example, how does he feel about Qing Dynasty was defeated by western imperials, when the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, when the Chiang Kai-shek government was defeated by Mao’s communist government and fled to Taiwan. I will involved his family members into the discussion sometime as well, in order to reveal Lang’s ideologies.
All,
ReplyDeleteI am writing you from Boston, where I'm attending the American Culture Association Conference. The great thing about this conference is that the ACA partnered with the Popular Culture Association to put on this event, so the array of conference topics is truly amazing. While I'm in the Visual Culture caucus, there are about 100 other caucuses on topics such as Circuses and Circus Culture, Punk Culture, Disasters & Culture, World's Fairs & Expositions, Motorcycling Culture & Myth, Fat Studies, Generation X, Protest Issues & Actions, and so forth. The Keynote Speaker is George Takei who played Sulu in the original Star Trek series. He was held in a Japanese-American internment camp in the USA during WWII. He has since become an outspoken advocate on LGBTQ issues.
A Ta, I wish you were here to attend some of the sessions by the caucus on Memory & Representation. Allison, you would love some of the topics being covered by the group on Fashion, Style, Appearance, Consumption & Design. There is so much here to take in. It's truly a feast.
I have read your responses to Liz' questions and want to thank you for delving into the performative aspects of "doing" research, or at least considering it as part of your expanding repertoire of research strategies. As Liz explained, there are a great many ways that we can view/explain/interpret our actions and the actions of others as performance - or not. If you choose to further investigate performance as a research strategy, there is a very rich body of literature out there for you to discover and read. In general, I think that the more your research incorporates the body, the more you should probably use performance methods. Allison, you come to mind as someone whose subject - the brooch - is inextricable from the body(ies) of makers/wearers. A Ta, I think it might be useful to consider how the homesickness is deeply felt in the core of the body. Homesickness is not just a thought and it is more than an emotion; it is, indeed, a kind of "sickness" as the English term implies. One feels literally sick in one's longing for home. That sick feeling is located in the body. It is much like grief. What we do with this sick feeling is up for consideration as performance: the performance of homesickness, the performance of grief and loss.
In Suzanne's research, I think of caregiving as a traditional female performance, but in this case I prefer it be called labor. Caregiving is a traditionally gendered and feminized form of domestic unpaid labor. It was unpaid because men presume/d women did it naturally and effortlessly. So I think it would be interesting for Suzanne to think through the differences between labor and gendered performance in relation to caregiving activities. The feminist philosopher Nel Noddings has a very important book on this topic titled Caring.
I must run off now, but once again I thank you for your efforts to contribute to the conversation this week. I will post a new topic tonight.
Carolyn; I have sent off to amazon.com for Nodding's book, Caring, thank you for your caring!
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