Marie-Pierre Labrie

5.17 Embodied and Performative Connectivity in Media Art Education: Fostering Affects Awareness to Teens (Paper) – virtual

Marie-Pierre Labrie – Université du Québec à Montréal, School of Arts, Canada – virtual

Abstract:

Connected copresence (Grabher et al., 2018) and mobility (Sheller and Urry, 2006) are pervasive phenomena among young people, who frequently use connected mobile technologies. These technologies have the agency to enhance digital literacy, but recent studies indicate that their use does not always lead to effective teaching practices (UNESCO, 2023) or social and emotional well-being (Cataldo et al., 2021). What role can art and education play in this context? 

This communication reveals the findings of a study that took on the challenge of integrating these connected mobile technologies into a creative device within media art education, with the goal of fostering meaningful copresence among students. Through artistic «détournement» and embodied pedagogy (Fors et al., 2013), an educational intervention engaged four groups of secondary school students (Québec, Canada) in a form of performative play (Wood, 2018), through an educational social network. The students’ bodies were involved through a series of prompts that allowed them to develop self-awareness and sensory consciousness by performing short artistic actions. While many young people experience daily screen saturation that disrupts their attention (Cain et al., 2016), this study reveals that when these tools are used through an embodied art experience, they can instigate a new way of being aware of their affects in everyday places and moments. This experience also facilitates connections with personal worlds of their peers, expanding the classroom relational dimension, and teaching students about their own personal boundaries. The results highlight both the social and artistic dimensions of this connected copresence, offering insights into how connected mobile technologies can transform teaching and learning practices.