You Don’t Have to Like Art

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Journal of Applied Arts and Health | Volume 1 Number 1

© 2010 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jaah.1.1.93/1

JAAH 1 (1) pp. 93–110 Intellect Limited 2010

HANNELE WEIR City University London

You don’t have to likethem: Art, Tate Modernand learning

ABSTRACT

The context for the article is a workshop that takes place at Tate Modernin London, with a focus on exploring violence. The material is drawn fromtwo small-scale research projects. The participants, who come from a vari-ety of occupations, observe and deal with violence in their work in varyingdegrees. The rationale for the art gallery based session is that ‘live’ visualworks of art stimulate engagement in cognitive and emotional processes

whilst exploring societal phenomena relevant to professional knowledge anddevelopment.

There are two main themes: the first focuses on the art gallery visitas a means of learning, and the second is to consider the impact on stu-dents and whether learning in an art gallery might give insight into theirpractice.

INTRODUCTION

Whilst there has been a growing interest in using art as an educa-

tional medium the following rather strong reactions still reflect the

KEYWORDS

art museum violencelearning practice



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apprehension, or a sense of distance, that museums and art galleriescan generate in the public:

“When I was young museum was the most boring shit mumcould take me to. I’m turning twenty on Saturday and this visit

made my soul better.” (Graffiti on the wall of a Tate Modern lava-tory 2007)

‘I couldn’t believe I was getting into this.’ (Mature student)

Whilst both comments express suspicion of museums and what theymight represent they also convey surprise and satisfaction that seem-ing ‘effort’ of getting engaged with art may be beneficial.

This article reflects on a small-scale piece of research followingstudents’ discussions during a workshop held at Tate Modern as partof an inter-professional Master’s level sociology module ‘Historical,

Cultural and Social Perspectives of Violence’. Additional materialis drawn from an earlier research conducted by one of the curators, Alison Cox, with students during a similar workshop in 2006, withinthe same module.

Collaboration with Tate Modern has developed a particular way of exploring violence in the context of the module. The overallpurpose of the article is to consider how consciousness of com-plex and difficult issues that surround violence can be exploredby experiencing the ‘live’ contact with works of art; how viewingart may reveal depths that spoken words in a lecture may not do;

and how such an experience might impact directly or indirectly onapproaches to practice. In order to address art in education andlearning in an art gallery I will consider arguments that address the‘getting involved’ in art aspects; describe and give examples of thecontent of one session; report on the comments made by studentsand finally consider what impact the viewing and discussion hasmade on the participants.

The session, the last in the module programme, in Tate Modern fallsunder the auspices of the ‘Art into Life’ workshop programme, whichaims to encourage visits from a variety of groups, and whilst ‘widening

participation’ is not a conscious part of the curricular aims – indeed it would not be relevant as such – the visit may generate further interestin art in general as an unintended consequence. The participants, whoare nurses, police officers and other professionals, work in settings thatinvolve contact with people who have suffered intentional and uninten-tional violence.

BACKGROUND

Why art – in education?There is accumulative evidence of ‘use’ of art in teaching (see

Blomqvist et al. 2007; Simons & Hicks 2006), which indicates a varietyof reasons and outcomes, for example, Blomqvist et al. refer to art as a



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skilful interpreter of emotions (2007: 89); Simons & Hicks argue thatthe use of different art forms in teaching facilitates trust, confidenceand the expression of emotions (2006: 80).

Whilst these writers appear to prioritise emotions in the use of artin learning they also make reference to reflective thinking (Blomqvist

et al. 2007: 92) and integrating the emotional level with the intellectualand cognitive aspects (Simons & Hicks 2006: 85). We might expectarts to generate such processes, in addition to the aesthetic apprecia-tion of the work created by artists, but the increasing utility of muse-ums as places of teaching and learning within a formal curriculum isless obvious. However, I want to emphasise the point of engagementin and with art. Whilst ‘using’ art is often seen as the shorthand wayof describing how artworks increase our insight and comprehensionin an educational or therapeutic context, the attempt here is to convey how focused viewing of art compels engagement, and draws into

some depth of exchange between the viewer and the piece in ques-tion. ‘Use’ therefore may refer to a more transient impact; and argua-bly devalue the energy and emotion invested by the artist in the piece.In our case the engagement is guided and enhanced by the specialistfacilitation and group work.

For novice viewers there are inevitable questions about the pur-pose of educational visits to an art gallery, as it might turn out to beseen as just a nice idea and a mildly interesting afternoon. The con-cern of the type and extent of engagement is to do with how art couldchallenge our thinking and emotions, and reveal something that washidden; expose something about the way we construct explanationsabout events and the world around us.

The claim that art is not only an aesthetic experience but also ‘theconsciousness of the world’ (Doran 1978, quoting Cezanne’s thoughtson ‘the stages of man’ cited in Marion 2007) leads us to academicdebates about the purpose and value of art. There are sophisticatedacademic arguments about art and its value both as art and as aninvestment (see, for example Berger 1972), the skills and choice of top-ics by artists, and whether galleries should purposefully widen theirdoorways to the public. We may also draw attention to learnt assump-tions about art, and ways of looking at art, to which Berger (1972) in

Ways of Seeing refers, and that the way we see things is connected to what we believe or know (1972: 8).

The understandable scepticism that viewers may feel and expressis rooted in larger domains than just those of personal prefer-ences. Elitism still surrounds art galleries and artworks that appearobscure to the majority of people. For example, Bourdieu (Savage& Bennett 2005: 8) has observed that the art museum serves as asite of cultural and social distinction and that there are significantinequalities of access to works of art and participation in culturalactivities. After Wolff (1993) it could argued that art can be effec-

tive not only in enlightening viewers politically and historically butit could also be a tool in learning about the other societal issues



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relevant to professional knowledge; although that depends on howprofessional knowledge is conceptualised and its function defined. Art offers a means of exploring life events and organised activityof society, and facilitates a commentary on life events by way ofsymbolism and the visual impact viewers experience in engaging in,

looking, seeing, feeling and thinking. What difference does viewing and discussing art make to our com-

prehension of life events? In this article it is argued that visual art canhelp to deconstruct and reconstruct meaning, presentation and repre-sentation of conflict, aggression, violence and subtle sense of uneaseand discomfort as depicted in a small selection (five to six) of artworkson which the session focuses.

The participants in all participating groups so far are not regular visitors to art galleries. The underlying purpose is that complex anddifficult issues that surround violence, and seeking to understand

how violence, by which we are touched in one way or another daily,can be explored in relation to visual works of art, rather than, forexample viewing television news. Whilst television presents a realitythat is image perfect in that the images are a direct presentation ofan event and people as we might see it, almost, if we were present. Art involves a process by the artist, in terms of planning, thinkingand the execution of the work. The end result is a representationthat may be visually more complex than news footage shot with acamera; it presents layered meanings that are not obvious by a cur-sory and fleeting viewing.

The important factor in working in the gallery is the live impactof the art, a point emphasised by Liz Ellis, curator, who leads thesession. It is to do with the directness and nakedness of the work without a camera lens in between mediating the image. The col-ours, texture, the presence of the work, even the size can be fac-tors forming the relationship with the viewers. A specific personalexample concerns Picasso’s Guernica (completed in 1937), a depic-tion of the destruction of the Basque town of Guernica, during theSpanish civil war. I had seen many pictures of the painting, but I was quite unprepared for the impact that the real work impressedon me when viewed some years ago in the Museo Nacional Centro

de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. The magnitude of the painting interms of the subject, composition, colours and the horror palpablein it represents the incomprehension and suffering of the people inthe picture, and thereby people of Guernica, more powerfully thanmany television images might do. My experience oddly concurs withDavid Hockney’s point about Picasso’s cubist paintings when hesays that they better represent figural reality because he paints hissubjects from different angles (1993, cited in Hatch & Yanow 2008:26); Hockney notes ‘only if you think of one particular way of seeing’Picasso’s paintings may appear as distorted (Hatch & Yanow 2008:

27). Art, then, compels us to see things in different ways, in whichreality has many sides.




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A painting, collage or constellation presents a multitude of aspectsand possibilities to the senses of the viewer and, in doing so, mirrorsthe complexity of violence in real life. As we work towards compre-hension of the artistic presentation of events, such as Picasso’s and theartist’s expression of their experience and observations of the world,

we also are invited to appraise our experiences and the way we seethings and feel the effect with constantly changing scenes and events.

Therefore ‘beautiful’ pictures (apologies to Monet and various otherflower arrangements), which we ‘like’, do not necessarily encourage usto look beyond the obvious. In contrast, it is the potentially more unset-tling works – which, of course may be subjective – that make us turnaway. If we dare engage, they may probe the areas that are aspects ofthe reality in life.

Learning in an art gallery context is likely to be a new experiencefor many participants, and may feel socially and emotionally threaten-

ing. It also challenges what Bourdieu (1977, cited in Layder 2006) calls‘habitus’, the basic cultural stock of knowledge we carry in our heads.Sharing a stock of knowledge, cultural environment and social classbackground eases social encounters and gives us the premise from which we can anticipate the encounters and interpersonal relations with other people. An art gallery as a case example here, challengesthe ‘stock of knowledge’ with which we are familiar, in a strangeenvironment, and presents us with an ‘other’ cultural experience. It iseasy to understand the apprehension some people feel if their culturalbackground does not include art and museums as either concepts orplaces. The implication, we can surmise, is that engaging with art as a way of learning may make more immediate sense to people who arefamiliar with the symbolism that art often uses to express emotionsor life events and issues. Therefore the artworks may be more readily‘read’ by those who not only consider art as an aesthetic experience,but also as a commentary on the social world.

Wolff (1993) has noted that where only a small minority or a domi-nant group have access to culture, the potential effect and transforma-tive power as a social force is ‘extremely limited’. However, the drivefor widening participation in, for example, accessing art galleries maylead to a transformation in a variety of ways, which is to extend learn-

ing opportunities and methods. In a pedagogic sense – and to justify viewing art as a teaching and learning method – other people haveargued that participation in the arts is beneficial to personal develop-ment (Matarasso 1997), or as Simon & Hicks (2006) argue that thepower of creative art enhances opportunities for learning throughtrusting participants’ intelligence and imagination. One fundamentalaim is also to do with the encouragement for creative thinking ratherthan instruction-based approach (Lindblom-Ylanne et al. 2006). Toput it simply, the aim is to give art the chance to take intellectual andemotional space in our thinking, and present violence from an unfa-

miliar perspective in a context that occupies participants visually, andsupport the use of metaphors in reflection.



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Also, my arguments do not exclude the appreciation of artisticmerits in an academic sense, for example, how well the artists haveexecuted their works, in their use of colours and material. Aestheticallypleasurable pictures are not excluded; rather it is the focus of theirsubject matter that may not express the power and control that under-

score aggression and violence. That is not to say that the selection of works for the workshop consists of obvious violent scenes as such; butthey are more complex than still life pictures.

The module learning outcomes cover the intended learning for allthe sessions, building meaning and insight between theoretical think-ing and practice. The workshop is intended to tap into free associa-tion in a sense that the participants can articulate an understandingof the link between the academic and the artistic. My argument hasbeen that the viewing cannot be tied down too much to detailedlearning outcomes. Setting prescriptive outcomes for the gallery visit

would encourage ‘observation rules’ that would, from the outset, limitthe exploration and impact made on the viewer. Rather, the purposeis to engage with art as a means of creative (as in seeking differentmeanings and insights) and educational dialogue. Therefore the agreedlearning outcomes are tied to the opportunity and the psychosocialspace that Tate Modern offers for the participants: with focused atten-tion on pieces selected for the session with questions that lead thediscussion on each selected work; contained reflection on each work viewed; and further reflection and discussion immediately after thesession. The learning outcomes have been formulated as follows:

Students will have had an opportunity to participate and learn in a•qualitatively different experience at Tate Modern.Students will have gained another way of exploring issues that sur-•round violence.Students will have engaged with each other as a shared experi-•ence, and communicated on different levels.The session would have expanded the students’ insights by looking,•thinking and reflecting on the ‘live’ visual contact with works of art.

Each work of art is accompanied by other activities that tie in with the

piece and help the association between our world experience and the work on view.

METHODOLOGY

The methodological approach is underpinned by the experience gainedfrom the previous sessions that have taken place within the moduleprogramme at Tate Modern. The session format is always the sameand starts with a brief introduction before touring the gallery, dur-ing normal opening hours, and concentrating on between five and sixpieces of art, around which discussion and some activities take place.

Following the viewing the group meets in another room in the galleryfor feedback and reflection.




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The session is preceded by a discussion between the module leaderand the curator, Liz Ellis, leading the session. The discussion is impor-tant as it enables a dialogue about the artworks selected for the session,and gives an opportunity to consider the relevance of the works to thestudent participants. The preparation has also facilitated an understand-

ing and agreement about each other’s work and roles besides ensuringthat the works are accessible without demanding overt effort and sophis-ticated theoretical understanding (Wolff 1993). It also functions as a pointof information exchange about the students’ work context and the restof the module content. Furthermore, it becomes integral to the students’sense of safety, and confidence in the proposed activity. The methodo-logical approach to capturing the discussion during the session and forthe purpose of the research is mainly descriptive for the reasons that thecontext presents. Hence the reality revealed and the nature of the knowl-edge (Crotty 1998) created is tied to the dynamic and flowing essence of

the session (amongst the rest of the public visiting the gallery).The study was based on ethnographic method as a ‘situated activ-ity’ (Denzin & Lincoln 2000) where the module leader was a partici-pant observer, thus ‘located in the world’, as Denzin & Lincoln note(2000: 3), recording discussions as we went around the gallery. Thedata was written down simultaneously. The reflection session after thetour was audio-recorded, but due to equipment failure the feedback isbased on simultaneously made notes.

Alison Cox, a curator at Tate Modern, accompanied the group in2006 for her research. Her conclusions, based on the reflection anddiscussion after the session, and the interviews she conducted after- wards with three participants are integral to the research. As theformat was exactly the same for both groups the data from 2006 isconsidered alongside the content for 2008 group, which adds strengthto the (tentative) conclusions.

Before the session the participants were asked to give a brief bio-graphical history on their age, gender, occupation and current work.They were also asked if they had previously visited Tate Modern, orany other art gallery. The group in 2008 consented to attending twosessions at Tate Modern, with a six-month interval, in order to recallany thoughts or impact gained from the first visit.

The outline of the research was as follows:

Documentation of discussion and reflection during and after the ses-•sion at Tate Modern, which charts the first impressions and impact.Reflective narrative/ diary of thoughts, charting decisions and events•that in any way can be connected with the session at Tate Modern.Thematic analysis of feedback from participants, and consideration•of the link between the learning in a gallery and practice.

Ethical approval

Approval was sought and granted by City University London and all stu-dents were given written and verbal explanations of the session format; all



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signed a consent form according to the university regulations. All mate-rial collected was anonymous and the students understood the natureof confidentiality in the discussions and recording of the discussions. Allparticipants have also given their consent for the use of the material.

RESULTSThe biographical data for the group in 2006 was similar to the group in2008 in terms of a mix of participants and with reference to age, occupa-tion and ethnicity. The age range in both groups was from late 20s to 49 years of age. The groups consisted of nurses, police officers and people working for voluntary organisations; and people from different ethnicgroupings. Four out of six students in the 2008 cohort had visited TateModern before the session and two had not, but only two said they visited museums more than three times a year, the others did so infre-quently. This was close to the visiting pattern of the 2006 group.

The data is not strictly organised into themes. The insights andcontributions made by the participants concern firstly the initial reac-tions and surprise that they found the workshop interesting, usefuland enjoyable. A second theme was formulated from the commentsthat were to do with the artworks themselves, the discussion andinsights generated in the discussion, and how connections were made with other aspects of life. The third area focuses on the comments thatcould be linked with work life and practice. In the narrative that fol-lows these themes are enmeshed in the reported discussions.

Session content and discussion on the works viewed

The selection of artworks is based partly on what discussion could bebuilt around it that gives participants the opportunity to explore rela-tionships, various phenomena in society, including some difficult issues.The session is expertly led and facilitated by Liz Ellis, with the worksof art in the centre of the learning. The works can represent differentthings to different people, whilst there may be a particular theme.

The following section includes examples of some works viewed anddiscussed during a session. The responses are reported here verbatim ascaptured by me, as a participant observer taking part in the discussion.The intention is mainly not to comment on them as they are the realresponses to the works and, as such, describe the impact and sense gen-erated in the members of the group. It will give an idea how the sessionunfolds and how the words give that sense of exploration and connec-tion; trying to make sense and meaning of what we see and how differ-ent the observations may be. The exhibits viewed in 2008 were: Salcedo:Shibboleth ; Rothko room; Kuitca: Untitled 1992 ; and Bacon Triptych.

Shibboleth

Liz Ellis explains: ‘Shibboleth’ – a political word, borders, deliberate,about poverty, justice.




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Four participants look at the crack that runs the length of the TurbineHall. Five observed how they reacted and generally how the audience walked around and reacted to the crack.

Discussion: could be all kinds of things; ripped into; could be pushed backtogether; mouse trap – we could be trapped.

There are remarks about divisions in society, and how powerful it feltseeing it in concrete (no pun intended) terms, and which you couldnot escape as it commanded the whole length of the hall.

How was it all made

Liz explained: Salcedo wants to keep all of it secret.

Debris dropped into it – how deep is it ; one student got onto the floorand put her arm into it; one did not want to move from their spot;child friendly like a sand castle that cracks; peaceful.

Rothko room

We were instructed to keep certain words (below) in mind as we look. Again the discussion took place in groups.

Meditation: not brightly lit; compare to the other environment outside theroom; cool down zone; painting on the back wall: easier to look at – othersare more offensive; womb like; bodily sense.

Fluid: physicality of the paintings; like dried blood; first on the left ‘drizzling’;

colour; extremes of experience.

Trapped: not uncomfortable; the paintings pulse.

The paintings polarise people – we have diverse and opposite views; anddifferent feelings were generated as reflected in the words.

As the Rothko room generated rather diverse views and feelings, somereferring to rather personal feelings, Liz Ellis explained: ‘What we dohere is never therapy, but we are thinking of a way into art works.’The point is important as otherwise the impact of the works could be

diminished to consist only of the introspective reaction rather thanexploring what is on view and opening oneself to wider considera-tions and social interpretation.

Guillermo Kuitca:

Untitled 1992

Before the viewing of the work we were given crumpled balls of paperto examine and discuss in groups. The paper balls opened into maps.The physicality of the crumpled though smoothed out paper gener-ated different comments:

feels like mountains; crumpled paper cannot un-crumple – once violatedyou cannot go back, the violence is always there; cannot heal crumples.



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What we saw as we entered the room: small beds covered in fabric with maps. We looked at the beds and sat down to discuss: one par-ticipant turned her back to the beds as she could not bear to look atthem due to the connection with the finds in the Jersey children’shome – damp, grey, dusty cellar, children’s beds.

Eastern European orphanages; roses: there was a happy time once;mapping the body on the bed; clinical; slave ships-bodies packedtogether; deliberate…?

The beds were placed in a roped off area (for security and protection ofthe works), but that became also symbolic of a quarantine; the whole work was troubling physically and mentally.

As the maps on the beds were a mix of different places (notgeographically correct) they could have been representations ofmigration or being a refugee as the beds appeared to have beenbunched together in an austere gallery, suggesting regimentationand a lack of space. So we had a number of visual messages pre-sented to us that appealed to our previous knowledge: displacedpeople, who did not know where they were, possibly children asthe beds were child-size; discrepancy between part of the materialcovered in pretty flowers but soiled, and white painted bed frames,that made the beds look quite nice and conventional. Thus view-ing the beds was quite difficult for us, as it brought out so manyissues to do with poverty, migration, displacement, loss, possibly

abuse. We could tap into a number of personal and societal issuesand feelings.

The engagement with the beds is an example of leading partici-pants to focus on uncomfortable areas of life. In this instance the bedsreflected particular types of violence. The fact that maps could be readin so many different ways is like a metaphor on education and howpeople can be led to read what is presented in more than one way.Maps show you roads, places, perhaps terrain – if we can read mapsand understand the symbols. And we take for granted how mapsshould be read as a direction to places you want to visit; surely it is like

reading a book – except that you can view them in different, focused ways, as the beds suggested.

Bacon: Triptych

Started 1948, finished 1988. In three groups looked at the three parts.My notes read:

1. Physical form; incomplete; deformity; hate content, love the colour; brokenrule about body; put on a mask when sees disabled body.

2. Image of life; seed – to survive; body that could snap; incomplete; stains just outside the painted area of canvas: were they deliberate?




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Liz Ellis observed: Bacon would be delighted at the effect on the viewer.

3. Difficult to see where head and neck differ;

Liz Ellis: there is a response to Belsen 1948, but he still had itin mind in 1988.There are the extremes of emotion; getting at you, attacking you with the deformity.One participant noted: for me too much – us being part ofthis – is being complicit.

The group in 2006 also viewed the Triptych, which is an example ofan artist presenting his interpretation of events in personal circum-stances, but in the context of the wider society. The work baffled mostof the viewers by its obscurity, apparent deformity of the figures and

strong colour; it also disturbed the students, as noted above.

TATE MODERN AND THE PEDAGOGY OF THE PLACE

Can the art gallery be a place of learning that is meaningful to the stu-dents? The reactions by the participants in the beginning of the articlereflect reservations that move from disbelief: ‘I couldn’t believe I wasgetting into this’, to relief: ‘It’s OK not to like art works’. One partici-pant observed that ‘art is elite’, and another seeing it as something ‘forposh people’, but ‘beginning to make sense of art’ and ‘appreciate it’.

The comments link with the earlier point about the stock of knowl-edge, but they also demonstrate, in their way, continuity in the accu-mulation of knowledge, which, of course, is the purpose of education.

The pedagogic principle here is also driven by the moral andsocial notion in development of the whole person and acknowledg-ing socio-holistic contexts of learning (see MacNeill et al. 2005), andapplying the principles also in the work context as all practitioners’ work involved contact with people in vulnerable situations.

Impact on students

This section of the report will draw data from the discussions with thegroup in 2006 and the group who participated in the session in 2008.The reasons for this are that the two groups (2006 and 2008) reflectthe impact that learning in an art gallery may produce, and thereforereporting on the combined data gives a more extensive idea of art inteaching and learning.

It has become clear that many students are initially apprehensiveabout the session, partly due to the unfamiliar space and the sensethat they do not understand art, and there is anticipation that theyshould like what they see.

Once in the gallery the important point for the students was torealise that stopping and looking, ‘taking time to look properly’, as



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one participant put it, was rewarding. It meant going beyond theobservations about beauty, ugliness, like and dislike dichotomiesand also giving pointers for subsequent discussion. Because of the juxtaposition of the pleasure of beauty and the challenge of the dis-turbing and violent, the message at the beginning of the session that

we do not have to like the works we are going to view, put asidethe issues about assumed sophisticated or educated appraisal of the works. The approach rests on the premise that art is like a text andcan be read, with ‘seeing’ (after Berger), as a symbolic text, in whichsigns and works mediate our self-knowledge (Ricour 1981, cited inSolheim & Borchgrevink 1993), and I would argue that as part of thatprocess, viewing art mediates understanding of other people. Thatleads us to consider art as mediated ‘lived experience’. For example, violence observed on the canvas or in an artefact is, as Solheim &Borchgrevink note, what the artist has objectified through signs and

expressions. What we come to ‘know’ about that experience is oneside of the knowledge, and what we gain in self-knowledge by look-ing and absorbing the work/exhibit is the result of how it resonatesin us and in our understanding. Cezanne referred to ‘an abyss into which the eye plunges, a voiceless germination’ (Doran 1978, citedin Marion 2007: 60), which serves as a withdrawal from a literal-minded approach and confusing ‘symbolic imagination with fantasy’(Tacey 2004: 161).

‘Symbolic’ refers to an understanding that experiences and phe-nomena can be presented by symbolic signs, images and words whilst referring to real observations and events. Cezanne exhortsus to ‘lose consciousness, descend with the painter into the dark,tangled roots of things’ (Doran 1978, cited in Marion 2007: 60). Butunlike Cezanne, who resurfaces with colours, we may find that the visual presents discomfort that dredges up the hidden within us. Onthe other hand, Tacey (2004) sees the role of arts as bringing new lifeor ‘making new’ of tradition and linking it to contemporary aware-ness and experience.

Looking at conflict and turmoil of life with the eyes of the artist, asartists “represent the world through their eyes” (Tate Modern 2007),adds to the comprehension of how we feel about, and approach, vio-

lence, and how it may help our dealing with it. One participant offeredher experience in the following contribution:

I work with survivors of human trafficking, with people living with HIV/ AIDS and/ or psychiatric disorders. I see pain and suf-fering very closely in the work I do. This is the dark side and yetI know that the only way to work through this is to understandit. That was how I felt about the art we saw. Yet the most signifi-cant learning for me was that from time to time we need to allowourselves to feel our emotions, we need to come out of our com-

fort zone and recognise that we are like everyone else, human. (See Weir 2007: 387)




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The words reflect a variety of comments and emotions when the par-ticipants viewed Francis Bacon’s work: for one participant it was ‘toomuch’ with the sense of ‘being complicit’ in viewing it, whilst someoneelse appreciated the colours Bacon had used. Thus we can see how one work, as an example, resonated in different ways between the viewers.

The way artists construct their view of social reality encourages usto engage with ourselves, and the wider world, using our creativity andinterpretation. For example, Paul’s (2006) comment on Kandinsky’s work (Tate Modern exhibition in 2006) is useful when she notes that,‘it is the mood of violence and chaos that is more important than theliteral interpretation of objects or narrative’ (2006: 9). It echoes whatsome students found liberating in that personal meaning and inter-pretation was possible and acceptable, as in the following quote by aparticipant on the meaning of the viewing: ‘It doesn’t matter what theartist intended and that is revelatory… it is how you interpret it that is

important and I didn’t know that before.’The following extract from ‘random musings’ by a Mental HealthNurse taking part in the session go straight to the point about paral-lels between the art and the personal:

I found myself interacting with events or for that matter with apiece of art based on my experiences and assumptions about the world. In that respect I see art as an interpretation of an eventby the artist based on his/her interactions with the world andhis/her assumptions about the world. The risk then lies in theseexperiences we carry within ourselves, experiences that are pri- vate and at times repressed. Experiences that we might not wantto be made aware of and that no one can predict.

The following comments also indicate a shift in thinking that began totake place during and following the session: ‘It made me take a bit ofa step back and look at things a bit differently’ or that attending andengaging was worth it: ‘I would have walked past the ones we lookedat were it not for the workshop’ (Weir 2007).

The observation that the session was ‘thought provoking in a waythat made you think more about previous class sessions’ begins to take

the benefit of the Tate session beyond the gallery and, in this instance,extends the experience to other learning. The process also involvesrisk; that diversifying a teaching session into a relative unknown areafor students can be risky, and requires trust between all collaborators(see da Costa 2006). Therefore placing the session last in the moduleallows both for building up trust and theoretical exploration.

Impact on practice: very tentative observations

It is difficult to draw anything conclusive about learning with and experi-

encing art in the gallery context that could be said to impact on practice,apart from some indications included in the preceding quotations.



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Yet, the comments by six participants some months after the ses-sion give pointers, and sometimes surprising connections, to thepotential change on a personal level with influence on practice situa-tions. One participant gave a concrete example:

As a consequence of the Tate session experience and the workdone during the module has resulted in a collaboration with journalists to accompany me to observe the work of the trafficofficers dealing with traffic offences and emergencies.

Another police officer made the following point: ‘As policemen wecan become institutionalised – sessions like this help us to think out-side the box to do some lateral thinking, which is very good and valu-able’ (Weir 2007).

The participants also began to make connections between the

exhibits and life outside the gallery; how the metaphors between artand real life observation make sense and which might not have beenso powerfully experienced, and expressed, in words: ‘Art and life inmany ways are similar in the response they elicit from us. We want tosee the pretty and the hope and look away from the rest.’

The group in 2008 met for a second session six months later toreport on their thoughts on the first session and participate in anothersession. Although they had been asked to write down reflections fol-lowing the initial session, none of the four (out of six) who were ableto attend the second session had made any notes. As no specific expla-nations were offered it was left for speculation what the reasons mighthave been: the activity asked of them was additional to the modulecontent; time constraints were also likely to be a factor due to othercourse assignments and work demands; it is also likely that makingreflective notes about connections with work after one session waspremature and difficult to articulate, that is, the spheres of artworksand the linkage between daily life was not easily made (Weir 2008).

The points that emerged during the session indicate, firstly, agrowing sense of anticipation of working with the pieces of art linked with the analytical way of approaching the works (for example, link-ages between the conscious and unconscious), and secondly, what the

gallery can offer as a space for reflection and thinking, which is noteasily achieved when at work.

Three students from that group also took part in a videoed session(as part of the dissemination of the project results) at Tate Modern a year later. Their discussion elicited further insights into the meaningof art and art gallery visits. It was felt that art offers a valid way oflearning as it encourages listening to other people. There is a paral-lel between expressions in art and discussing the different views on apiece of work and listening to each other, and patients, in daily workand life. For example, exploring the strong instinctive reactions to

paintings and how you need to keep them in check at work; or should you sometimes let clients know how you feel? It was concluded that




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there is a place for art when you work with violence; that generatingdifferent ideas and considering so many sides and perspectives pre-sented by participants has parallels to working in teams, and opens upa way of looking at real life.

Simons & Hicks (2006) have pointed out that using art in education

facilitates trust, confidence and the expression of emotion. The aboveparticipants’ contributions also communicate the dilemmas betweenour perceptions of reality and the way we try to cope with it. Yet, if wedare to look, it is a challenge, but I would argue that it also locates ourfears and hope into a more realistic place in which engagement withart provides a revelatory reflection. For one group of students the ses-sion offered a space to think and think differently – a point that shouldbe applied to practice more regularly. Further links with work was theobservation that there are so many boundaries in everyday life, andcoming to a space like Tate Modern frees us from those barriers.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The participants engaged in a fairly complex process that is not nec-essarily limited to the one occasion. With reference to the particu-lar socio-cultural antecedents, as discussed earlier, a more in-depthresearch would start with a pre-session interview or some attitu-dinal measurement in order to gage previous experience of stylesand expectations of teaching and learning. Thus the results as suchare descriptive and may remain, in terms of understanding, on thelevel of discovery rather than validating the explanation of behaviour(Martin 1994), especially in the case of impact on practice.

However, what can be reported here is that the impact of the ses-sion on the participants has been varied, as could be expected giventhe various professional, but fairly consistent social class background.It was anticipated that many might not have been familiar with worksof art. The fact that many participants had not been to Tate Modernbefore, and were uncertain of what it might offer in an academiccourse, present a certain risk for teaching and learning in such a way:can it be expected that relevant and desired knowledge is acquiredand that it is relevant to practice? The results are encouraging but not

confirming. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that class and cul-tural boundaries became less inhibitive as the connection with worksof art became less threatening, and Tate Modern began to feel morefamiliar and less of a hallowed ‘arty’ ground.

The responses have indicated that something ‘happens’. It may bethat there is a transformation of attitude, even impacting on practice,or an appreciation that an art gallery offers a space that allows dif-ferent kinds of thinking, or restores a sense of connecting with crea-tive aspects of the self; and the creative side of the human brain. Theconstitution, development and transmission of knowledge could then

be approximating cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral interactions(Crossick 2006: 11) firstly as demonstrated in the collaboration between



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the university and Tate Modern, and secondly involving experiencedpractitioners from other sectors. Certainly the engagement with artsupports the idea that learning is a multidimensional rather than lin-ear process (Weir 2007, cited in Chamberlayne & Smith 2007: 265).

The impact reported here is based on students’ feedback but fur-

ther relevance is difficult to discern, let alone measure, in the timeframe available. The group who attended in 2008 and who subse-quently met two more times (outside the module requirement) has, tosome extent, demonstrated how engaging with art can support mak-ing sense of work-related organisational and interactional processes.

In almost every group, since the beginning of the collaborationbetween Tate Modern and the module, one participant has been scep-tical of the method. The apprehension and scepticism is to be expectedgiven the background, context and differences in the way people learn.The comments by those students have been an important contribu-

tion, as they encourage further exploration of the hidden and obviousin the artworks, and how to link that with everyday life. A reflection period after the workshop has implications for the

expectations of impact in terms of immediate learning and laterinsights. The group of 2008 have confirmed that one visit may be onlythe beginning of the process where art could become a resource, notonly for leisure time but also connecting with different phenomena,many of which have relevance to work.

The results of the art gallery experience cannot be restricted tolearning outcomes that promise a definite transfer of knowledge inthe conventional pedagogic sense. Crossick (2006) has, to some extent,problematised the term and provides a useful critique of how arts andcreative industries have been forced into models of knowledge trans-fer devised for science and technology. Indeed, the original idea for thesession was not constructed with such a model in mind, rather it was tohave learning outcomes that facilitate different kinds of learning, which,to a degree, are student dependent, and which we have seen in someof the above comments. However, we have examples of knowledgetransfer in that focused thinking can be transported between learningin different ways and places – the classroom and art gallery in our case,or between an art gallery and an organisation – demonstrating aspects

that are important to personal development and approaches to work.The session appeared to have generated new insights into art and

its place in the commentary on social and personal experience. Ourstudents’ feedback has suggested that viewing art presented chal-lenges and possibilities, which may develop into influential insights in varying levels of experience and some of that experience is encapsu-lated in how emotions can be provoked by the lived experience of artrather than be expressions of art ‘appreciation’. What we can reportin this article are some participants’ responses to the session and the works of art. How that experience is connected to work and practice

depends on their work and biographical background and situation,and willingness to further engage in visual thinking.




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What can be emphasised is the enhancement of collaboration andgroup work between all those who take part, which is evident duringthe tour of the gallery, in the feedback and reflection.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the students who took part in the module ses-sions in 2006 and 2008, and especially those students who enthusias-tically came back for two more sessions in 2008 and 2009. My heartfeltthanks to Liz Ellis and Alison Cox, both curators at Tate Modern, with-out whom none of the work would have been possible; and thank youto Tate Modern for the use of the facilities. The project was made pos-sible with the help of a grant from the Learning Development Centre,City University London.

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SUGGESTED CITATION

Weir, H. (2010), ‘You don’t have to like them: Art, Tate Modern and learning’, Journal of Applied Arts and Health 1: 1, pp. 93–110, doi: 10.1386/jaah.1.1.93/1

CONTRIBUTOR DETAILS

Hannele Weir is a Lecturer in Applied Sociology, City University London,Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Professional Practice, School of

Community and Health Sciences.

Contact: City University London, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies inProfessional Practice School of Community and Health Sciences, NorthamptonSquare, London EC1V 0HB.E-mail: [email protected]

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You Don’t Have to Like Art