Jennifer Ruth Hoyden

2.24 Activated: What it Means to be “Passive” (Paper)

Jennifer Ruth Hoyden – Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

Abstract:

I will report on my current self-case study exploring how changes in materials are a potential turning point for imaginative thinking. This research is part of a deep exploration into the meaning of Anni Alber’s imperative that listening to materials “makes us truly active” (Albers, 1982). Through my own engagement with my materials, my creativity is moved in unexpected directions. In this study, I am mapping the evolution of my thinking and ideas onto the moments my materials prompt new ideas – through the material’s behaviour and my response on affective, embodied, and cognitive levels. I will share the traced instances where the material provokes me over the development of two separate art works and discuss implications for practice and pedagogy.

10.19 Forget What you Know: A Material Exploration (Workshop)

Jennifer Ruth Hoyden – Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

Abstract:

Making art is about opening an engagement with materials which, in turn, prompt us to think about and express our way of being in and understanding our world. What is important is not what material you have, but how you engage with it. In this workshop, participants will enter a dialogue with material through guided explorations that bring their full awareness to what they can perceive, feel, and learn. Participants will work attentively with a completely mundane material – a piece of plain white paper – to activate it so that it, in turn, can call forth a response from them. This presentation is based on a semester-long examination of a course originated by Dr. Judith Burton, Macy Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.