Sara Byers – PGCERT 2021

I know that I could have done a much much better job and honored the material I gathered more. I was so bowled over by what the students shared that I got lost in trying to work out how to represent it. I read through it many times and would get bogged down in wonderful phrases such as: ‘finding what makes you comfortable and then going nuts with it, finding what you love and taking it with you’.

I would love to do this again and be more organised. I’m apologising here and now for the disorganisation of my posts and general workflow. I have loved doing this PGCert but it has been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, apart from sitting Maths GCSE as an adult.

I’m actually feeling quite emotional because reading the students’ accounts is what this last unit has all been about and also the writings of Jean McNiff just make me want to jump around because her sentiments are pretty much mine too.

Participant 1 = A sense of being present, getting a sense of something heavy to make you feel you own lightness, Feeling irritable, having an itch you can’t scratch, safe, boring, frustrated, anxious, procrastination

Participant 2 = A bubble, being in suspension (being in in a diving pool, half way down), being bored, nothing happens here, treading over old soil, feeling stable, When I’m in my comfort zone I can move more – move around the world. I would only do self-portraits here, all autobigraphical

Participant 3 = A neutral place, stationary with comfort zone potentially growing around you

Participant 4 = A place of thinking and not enough doing, things don’t flow, Happy to stay here because it’s known and safe, sitting down and taking it easy.

Participant 5 = Knows when she’s in it and on the edge of it, feels comfort, boring and known, knows what she’s’ doing, on automatic, playing it safe with an old technique, knowing it will succeed but finding that dull and not challenging, putting on old comfy slippers, coming home, knowing how your hands and the equipment works, familiar, settled in

Participant 6 = Too far outside of CZ doesn’t feel like me, difficult stuff comes into my comfort zone without my control, feels boring, a touch-stone

Participant 7 = Safe, predictable, repetitive, known, balanced

Participant 8 = Low-light, quiet, dull, unpacked potential, silent

Participant 9 = Dark, quiet, still peaceful, solitary, safe, boring, what I know

Participant 10 = Being ‘inside’, frozen, reassuring, stability, do you let stuff in or go out?

Participant 11 = Being at college and getting the support, artwork not so successful if safe, CZ feels stagnant, safe, boring, limiting, ancestral! Not going very far

Participant 12 = Avoiding things, feels private, full of the things I like, a balancing act

Participant 13 = Low-tech processes, self-sufficient, limiting, non-creative, known materials and processes.

Small bubble that is me-shaped but a bit bigger – the value of comfort in an expanse. You’re on top of the mountain = everything is great, then you start to experiment, realise that you don’t know anything and that you are terrible at it, dive head-first into a pit of despair, push your way through it, crawl sometime and then you are on the top of the mountain again, only you realise that it’s a different mountain, you do this again and again.

A high that emphasises how low the lows can be, a balance, on the line

What gets you into your comfort zone?

General summary of themes across all 14 participants:

Environment extremely important, being in nature feels grounding – I’m part of a bigger picture,

Being mindful in a non-judgemental environment,

feeling safe and

taking breaks

going out into nature,

asking questions and getting answers,

tough love – loving critical advice

Being in nature

Forward planning

Feeling safe in a workshop

Wanting to impress and compete

Making food and being creative with it

Searching for something that will pull you in either direction

Working at home

Benefits of leaving comfort zone

Exciting

Walking away with a feeling of accomplishment

Making something you never thought you’d make

Making it happen again, despite the discomfort

Jump-starting yourself

Feeling the thrill

Feeling the buzz

Work more vibrant

Different perspective

Building something real

Exciting trying to get somewhere, excitement of trying to make it.

Making your vision

Creating your own agenda

Realising that something going bad has learning in it.

Finding new things

An element of danger

Interesting things happen

Learning to handle it

Getting more of a sense of where I sit in the world

Seeing things with fresh eyes

Seeing your work through someone else’s eyes.

Are you aware of how you use your comfort zone?

Learning to practice the difficult steps

Learning to fall, it’s a learning experience

Going out of it to learn something new, take a risk, then get comfortable again in order to absorb it, crossing in and out

Inhabiting my inner hard-core tutor

Getting inspired by peers

Feeling intimidated but asking questions and knowing this helps, having to push myself to do that.

Making myself talk to people, I know that I learn so much that way and that people are just people and also insecure

Talking to myself and motivating myself to move

If I don’t like what I’ve heard, I concentrate on forgetting it

I ignore my discomfort and make myself do something

I learn best when I’m on the edge of the comfort zone

I make myself open the window – can be really scary

Accepting that it might ‘look crap’

Crawling in the dark at times, but keeping going

Has learned to tap into people’s expertise, he can use this to move forward

Taking the thing I feel comfortable with and pushing it

I’ve learnt to handle it and push myself

Taking my comfort with me and pushing that

Doing something I like but then pushing it to an extreme (scale or level of detail)

Going to and fro across the comfort zone in order to feel safe but with a level of unpredictability

Learning to get up and keep going, have another go,

Learning resilience and to bounce back because that keeps you going forward

Bringing experience to bare

What do you fear?

Looking stupid

Looking weak

Not living up to the quality of a material (using expensive things like porcelain and gold/silver)

Not wanting to keep going

Horrible teachers

Not achieving enough

Being shut-down, someone saying a blanket ‘no’ without discussion

Working around virtuosic people

Sculpture has to exist off the page, to leap out of your head

Putting something into 3D – you know its going to look crap

It’s a risk to make something rather than draw or plan it

Seeing your art through someone else’s eyes – having to leave it in the real world

Watching people look at your art

Working in a space that I can’t control

Tools,

Meeting your own criteria – its about being self-sufficient and taking your ‘fodder’ with you.

Having and manifesting a vision

Asking questions, making yourself heard

Pushing to get what I need

Planning

Structure

Discipline

Breaking challenges down into manageable tasks

Taking your comfort with you – learning what makes you comfortable and learning to access these touch-stones.

Recognising how you learn, looking for this in a task

Faking it until you make it – pretending but with intent and vigour

Making your claim in a space, knowing this helps to feel comfortable

Problem solving – a method to get out of the comfort zone, a structure on which to climb

Trial and error – knowing that this works eventually

Developing my comfort zone-leaving muscle

Learning through trial and error – knowing this is hard but effective

Channelling my reckless side

Tackling challenges in a way that is comfortable to you.

What is helpful when leaving your comfort zone or learning a new skill?

Being in college and getting support

Making a volume of work so that you have less eggs in one basket

Being asked lots of questions,

Someone asking you about your work and listening

Having a confident person demonstrating

Someone having confidence in you

Being allowed to progress at your own speed

Making a plan, breaking challenges down into manageable tasks

Sharing with others

Having a clear path – being shown with clear instruction

Making it playful –

Having a vision in your mind

Someone telling you its ok to fail

Talking it through

Being shown

Seeing work by others illustrating success with a skill/technique

Being inspired by others using the skill in different contexts

Someone showing you something then facilitating you doing it yourself

Practical advice

Encouragement

Thinking about the fees

Having guidance and pointers

Good to see a breadth of stuff

Being encouraged to think broadly around a concept.

Group crits in a supportive atmosphere

Being trusted to have learned something

Being shown the dangers but then having it demonstrated effectively

What’s not helpful

Too much advice

School experiences – being told that if you can’t draw you’re not an artist

Being shown work that is like what you’re doing

Being treated differently because I’m older

Being told something is ‘shit’

Getting pushed into the panic zone where you freeze

Feeling intimidated by the expectations of the ‘expert’ showing you

Making a plan, making a structure, analysing what worked on past projects.

Having a set of your own rules.

Being in a safe, comfortable space

Being shown clear steps, breaking challenges down into bite-sized pieces

Showing the different parts of the process and explaining thoroughly what is going on.

Once you have tried something it becomes more comfortable

A confident person demonstrating allows you to access the process feeling safe. It can remove the mystery and the terror.

Having a personal theme to the work can make you feel very vulnerable

Take your skills and push them as far as you can go with the thing that you’re comfortable with.

A sense of being present

Space hugely important – buildings, desks, personal space to work in, environment – mentioned by Participant

Lots of geographical metaphors, mountains, chasms, rough roads, ‘wobbly bits in the road’

Being led by a material – wanting to honour the material

Being led by problem solving, you apply yourself to that rather than on the fear

A need to have someone there to support, walk alongside, have your back. Bounce ideas off, to ask you questions, to suggest other artists and where you might sit. To get you to think more broadly

Being told you’re not an artist if you can’t draw – at an early age. School having a massive impact on people’s perceptions of themselves

Being led by the material, the material helping you go outside your comfort zone. Pushing that to see where it will take you. Violet and Lucinda, Lewis all said this about honouring the material, especially if using something that you love.

Time being a factor – learning when you are tired, Bernadette and Violet, Lucinda. Taking time out being necessary as a part of coping.

Taking breaks, a complete break, really helps clear thinking.

One person’s risk may not look that risky to others, its all totally subjective

Question: what is your perception of your comfort zone?

‘What do I do to feel safe taking the plunge on something?’

Participant 13:

‘If it something like speaking in front of others then I just try to block them out and try to focus on telling myself I can do it.

I guess I also try to make sure that I am well prepared and organised so that things are less likely to go wrong’.

Participant 10:

‘I am proactive, more confident as I get older, good at identifying how to get stuff done, breaking difficult/scary tasks into chunks and making a plan. Logical, has lists. Organised’

‘An expert showing you = a teacher. You can grow because you go through the process feeling safe. Removes the mystery and the terror. Doing something carefully and tentatively can be a way of getting through the fear. It depends who’s showing you. It would make a big difference to be shown by someone who is confident. How you are shown’.

‘Coming in to a workshop, a student is already outside of their comfort zone. Going into a space that they don’t control – its not theirs. It’s a differen kind of space. SO not in their comfort zone but feeling comfortable. You can be comfortable out of your comfort zone. You can be tackling challenges in a way that is comfortable to you. If you freeze, that’s a panic zone and then you don’t get anywhere’.

‘You need an amount of comfort zone – some givens’

Participant 7:

‘Feels most comfortable when my mental environment is balanced. Breaks good – sometimes getting out of the environment is important. Feels good to change the environment.

‘After a really harsh crit my boundaries are not so firm. The edges are blurred, less like a brick wall.

One word – juxtaposition. What colour is comfort zone? Charcoal. Because that can be changed and smudged. Inspired by seeing Bridget Riley’

Participant 6;

‘Confidence of the person showing you the thing – that. Inspires confidence’.

‘As an older student, there’s a tendency to be treated differently. If its shit, tell me, just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t take it.’

‘Finding something you’re comfortable with and then going nuts with it. Taking the thing that you love and then taking that with you’.

‘I am very aware that my comfort zone within my practice sits within low-tech processes, especially in processes that I have developed myself. I have often felt unsure of more technical and complicated processes, and I have often steered away from working in workshops and with technicians because I feel much more comfortable working things out by myself.I think the strength in this is that I have developed a very self-sufficient practice, but this idea of staying in my comfort zone means that I don’t tend to go for opportunities where I rely on more specialist knowledge to get to where I want to go. This has meant that I’ve often held back from making work if it involves learning new skills in a workshop/technical setting, and I’ve preferred to learn new skills that I can teach myself.’ 

I like her description of low-tech processes and becoming self-sufficient but it seems more like a survival mechanism. I can see how that could be something that is wonderful as well as limiting which seems to be what she’s saying. To support  her in exploring different processes could mean having group demonstrations which might put her at ease a bit more especially on reading that she’s had negative experiences with technicians as mentioned here:

‘I think I’ve had a lot of negative experiences with technicians and workshops. Oftentimes people have decided to just do things for me, rather than showing me how to do things’

 (perhaps because I am a 5ft, blonde female and people assume I’d be useless). I think this has meant that I have less confidence when approaching people to learn specific skills and leave my comfort zone. I also have quite a strong sense of what I think fits within my concepts/concerns, and sometimes when things don’t fit then I can worry about moving outside of these parameters’. 

Participant 3 (male aged 23) also mentioned that technicians sometimes didn’t want to let him do things for himself and that he found this extremely frustrating. This is something I’d share with colleagues, anonymously of course. It also echoes other participants in saying how much they value being trusted to get on with something shortly after being shown a skill. One person mentioned this as a major moment in their development so far – that she was left to work alone with equipment that was potentially hazardous. She was wearing all the safety PPE so she felt safe, but felt that the technician had evaluated her abilities and decided she was ‘good to go’ and get on with the process. The technician had also shown her clearly and confidently, so she felt grounded in the skill.

‘I like to challenge myself when it comes to pushing the limits within my practice. I like to make ambitious work when it comes to scale and pushing myself when it comes to labour-intensive processes. I’ve really enjoyed, in the past, working with unusual or unconventional spaces, and the limitations of these kinds of spaces can be a really exciting, as well as challenging, because I enjoy problem-solving. and I don’t often like asking for help’

This student describes problem solving as being a mechanism to take her places. I run workshops which allow students to be playful and I sometimes set fun challenges that mean learning about a material through trying to do something mundane with it like build the highest tower you can from a cup of casting plaster. This is something I will instigate more of as students describe using materials to get outside of their comfort zone without noticing.

This is Particpant 4’s comfort zone diagram:

I am interested in supporting digital literacy and plan to make a video of my learning the ‘language’ of 3D printing from my perspective as a digital immigrant/visitor. I have a Prusa 3D printer, bought in lockdown last summer, and intend to learn how to use it in order to be able to teach these skills effectively to students and colleagues. The video will document this journey and conclude with examples of the capabilities of a Prusa. I would interview colleagues who are using these in innovative ways including its use in ceramics and print-making, and look at cutting-edge developments including the 3D printing of a house.

My original SIP idea was: How would a digital visitor/immigrant learn a digital skill in order to be able to teach a digital native/resident?

I planned to focus on learning to operate a Prusa 3D printer and to explore this from the perspective of a digital immigrant in order to be able to teach it effectively. This is a skill that I will be learning as my department recently acquired two Prusa 3D printers. I planned to make a filmed element for my presentation which would document the process of my learning journey, and what resources I would access in order to become proficient enough to be able to demonstrate the printers to students. I wanted to question other art-educators and find out what resources are their go-to methods and also address learning styles; are art-educators and students aware of how they learn best, and how do they use that self-knowledge.

I learned how to use Premier Pro in lockdown, so relatively recently had gone through a similar, very steep learning curve, with the intention of being able to teach students how to use that too.

I applied these SIP questions to this original idea:

• Demonstrate the professional context of your project (e.g. your teaching practice, creative/disciplinary practice, research, leadership).

As a sculpture technician, becoming conversant with emerging technologies is essential to being able to support student’s learning. Focussing on a particular piece of equipment by going through the learning process myself and by applying it to my own practice, will help me shape my teaching offer. Finding the necessary information will also address learning styles, what works best for students, how do they navigate their own learning?

• The question or problem your project responds to, and why this matters.

The (original) question was how a digital immigrant/visitor can learn something well enough to enhance the learning of digital natives/residents and to look at what resources are available to enable this transition. I planned to investigate these resources and to gauge and reflect on their effectiveness for myself as a teacher and also for students who may feel uncomfortable with emerging technologies (including those from digitally poor backgrounds)

• What you plan to do in terms of ACTION (e.g. intervention) and what will inform this.

I planned to film my learning of the equipment and then talk to digital visitors and a digital residents to compare and contrast their experiences of this specific device.

• What you plan to do in terms of RESEARCH (evaluation, reading, analysis etc.)

I planned to research the learning patterns of digital natives/immigrants and to include material that I found about the evolution of attention spans. I would also have researched what works best in terms of learning styles, something which interested me during the first unit of the PGCert, and how these can be taken into account when digital immigrants are learning new technologies.

I also planned to interview the ceramics technician at Camberwell to gain insight into his practice and how he has enhanced his skills using 3D printing. We’ve talked several times about how he uses 3D prints to make slip-cast pieces. Given that ceramics/pottery/clay are inherently low-tech and one of the earliest forms of art; combining this with digital technologies is an exciting area of experimentation. I would have liked to explore how to teach these skills to digital natives and I felt excited at the thought of talking to other technicians who are working in this area.

I wanted to interview an artist called Anya Gallacio who uses a 3D printer to ‘print’ complex designs using liquid clay slip. I’m fascinated by the combination of these technologies which seem so at odds with each other – the main point of this piece by her called ‘Beautiful Mind’s shown at the Thomas Dane Gallery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJS86FCZdW8

I began to simplify my research question through extremely inspiring conversations with my peers on the course. My point of focus evolved and I realised that narrowing down my investigation might mean more depth of research rather than a lighter touch across too many areas. During peer’s presentations of their ideas for research and through feedback on what I presented, I began to see the value of keeping the question and area of research more simple. Uncovering the bones of the question took many attempts and I found that trying to explain my intention to anyone who would listen was a useful device! I’m hoping that the simplifying of the idea will allow the time and space for more depth in the research rather than having too many factors to investigate.

During discussions with peers, I was describing the process of students being shown how to use dangerous equipment during inductions into safe methods of studio practice. One such activity is demonstrating the use of a battery-powered jigsaw. Whilst being wonderfully versatile and powerful, there’s a possibility of serious injury if not used with care. Students have ready access to these around the studios and can use them out-of-hours with no staff present. It is essential to make them aware of the risks of using the tool, whilst also wanting to give them the confidence to develop life-long skills. Also, from a life-long-skills perspective, students being able to use these tools safely in their studios in future is the best possible outcome.

I was describing this process to PGCert Peers and explaining that I am aware of how much learning to use a noisy and potentially dangerous piece of equipment can take people outside of their comfort zone. I was asking if peers remembered learning a new skill and wondering what part fear plays in the learning process. For example; Do you remember something more vividly, do you learn more effectively, if the learning process took you outside of your comfort zone? If you are shown a dangerous tool and the dangers are highlighted, does it mean that you absorb the necessary information more effectively? I wondered also, if this applied to other skills, not necessarily physically dangerous ones, but perhaps learning skills that you consider to be very challenging, for example, as a digital immigrant/visitor, this for me would be learning to be proficient with a 3D printer which is where I began my thoughts about my research question.

I began to ask teachers and learners how they know their own learning with the element of challenge, including pushing one’s self to explore unknown areas in their making process, and whether this actually becomes a tool in itself. This is when my research question became clearer.

Article taken from ARTNET = ‘Art Schools of the Future Need to Teach Students to Understand Technology. How Will That Change the Future of Art?’

My research question aims to explore how a digital immigrant/visitor could become proficient in a digital skill in order to teach a digital resident/native. I have begun to find material which discusses this theme and was interested to read this piece from ARTNET which suggests that art educators are struggling to keep up with current emerging technologies. Referenced in the article is a 2019 State of Art Education Survey which shows that  52.2 % of art teachers want to learn more about teaching digital art effectively, but only 21.9 % of art teachers feel comfortable actually teaching a digital arts curriculum. This has been my experience with some colleagues being excited by learning digital skills compared with others actively avoid anything digital. Colleges really need to address this if they are to combat the notion that art- schools are behind the times. This piece suggests that colleges are now realising that they need to move quickly in order to catch up with the developments and I would argue that their first priority is to offer quality training to improve the skills of their art-educators.

There are currently programmes in many colleges, offering students the opportunity of learning to teach on the job such as ArtsTemps or student-ambassadorships which have many benefits. The students, as recent graduates, know the student experience in the moment and consequently can offer first-hand advice to educators and students alike. As well as knowing the college system, they will know what the weak points are, so their input could be vital in shaping the college’s offer. Alongside the experience of established arts-educators, this could be a powerful combination.

The article I’m referencing can be found here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-school-tech-adapt-1742802 Sabrina Faramarzi, December 24, 2019.

‘One thing is clear: many artists won’t just naturally begin incorporating technology into their work without schools teaching them how. In a 2016 report, “Discovering the Post-Digital Art School,” arts educators Charlotte Webb and Fred Deakin note that “the notion of a current generation of young digital natives who inherently understand the internet with all its culture, grammar, and protocols, and who can effortlessly create innovative digital content and projects in ways that their teachers could never understand, is now acknowledged as simply a paranoid myth,” they write.’

Are you a sculptor? A painter? An illustrator? For decades, art students starting out have asked themselves these questions. But these categories could look very different in the near future, as art schools belatedly attempt to incorporate new technology into their curricula. 

Earlier this year, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools, The Royal College of Art in London, announced plans to expand its curriculum to include science and technology. It was a watershed moment that suggested some art educators are finally understanding that these subjects need to be part of the academy in order to for it to survive the digital age. 

But how can art schools adapt to this new paradigm, and how will the changes inform the kind of art that will be made in the future? 

Whilst I’m compiling my research question, I am thinking about who to interview and how I would frame my question. It’s important that I am aware of how I position myself in relation to 3D and 2D concerns as I have strong views about sculpture being more challenging than 2D artwork. The idea of positionality is a new idea to me, from reading ‘Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide, Braun & Clarke 2021’ and I want to make sure that I am sufficiently aware of it when, as Braun & Clarke put it: ‘positioning myself in relation to my data set’. I will naturally want to extract certain quotes that illustrate my own agenda.

I currently have access to students across various pathways at Camberwell including designers and painters but I recognise that I also want to address the difficulties that I feel exist around making sculpture/3D work which makes the idea of having a comfort zone and going outside of it, more relevant to the sculpture students I intend to question. Of all the Fine Art disciplines, I think that it is using 3D to manifest an idea is the most challenging as you are progressing your work with all the technical and spatial considerations that come with bringing a sculptural idea to fruition.

I found an article (below) which I think makes some valid points about this and I like the analysis here and the description of the challenges of making pieces in real space. I’ve often thought that working in 3D is much more challenging than 2D.

Creating a sculptural object/installation/performance requires you to take on a whole space. You need to be a technician and an installer and to consider all aspects of how the piece interacts with its surroundings. This is also what makes it such a wonderful and exciting discipline, but it can be extremely challenging to take an idea from the initial sketch or idea into 3D which requires the leap out of your comfort zone which I am keen to explore. When you manifest a sculpture, it exists in very real way, there’s nowhere to hide! If it has failings they are very real and very much there in front of you and everyone else.

‘This premise has been argued by painters and sculptors, whether painting or sculpture is a ‘higher’ form of work and which is more difficult and/or praiseworthy. The best (but not very exciting) answer I can give to that speculation, is that some sculptures are better art than some paintings, and some paintings are better art than some sculptures.

Something to note though, is that the propositions (the idea the artist has brought out for the viewers’ experience) of sculpture and painting are somewhat opposite.

When a painting is looked at, the viewer is mentally entering a sort of window into a picture-space. Your brain sees the pigments, decodes that information as a space, and if you have any sort of imagination, you experience the image as though it was a sort of imaginary place you visit.

But. When you look at a sculpture, it exists in real space. You didn’t have to mentally travel into the experience at all, the sculpture has come to visit you, in your actual world. While a painting contains all of its own spacial context (the stuff around and between the things in the painting), the sculpture and you share a context, and, you yourself become part of the spacial context of a sculpture when you go to view it.

So these two types of experiences are kind of inside-out versions of one another.

I do both painting and sculpture, and while I love both and certainly both are challenging, I’d say that a good sculpture is more difficult to pull off than a good painting. Not really because it is physically more work (though it is) but because there is so much more in the world of things for a sculpture to compete with. If I may get a little poetic with my explanation, I’ll say it like this: painting can contain even the smallest, most simple room as its universe, and be complete. But a sculpture has to be complex enough in form to exist to the viewer as an entity in reality, or it fails.’

This article is an excerpt from a post on ‘Quora’ by artist Ry Beloin https://www.quora.com/profile/Ry-Beloin

This is a link to the article: https://www.quora.com/How-is-sculpting-more-difficult-than-painting

Looking for other discussions around this topic, I found an interview given to The Spectator by sculptor Anthony Gormley being interviewed by Martin Gayford about his book. In the paragraph below, the artist is talking about the spatial challenges of making an object compared to working in 2D and chimes with my experience that taking early steps with a sculpture practice is much more challenging. As soon as you move from the page of your sketchbook or from your imagination into 3D then you invite people to interact with your work in real space, with all challenges and excitements that this brings. I’m not sure that this will be a main focus for my research questions, but I will see if it also chimes with my participants.

AG: ‘The fundamental difference between sculpture and painting is that a sculpture changes the world instantly by bringing something into it that wasn’t there before. It’s that capacity to change, rather than reproduce, which arguably makes sculpture into the pre-eminent art. Sculpture asks the world to stand aside and give it a place, whereas painting depends on the wall. For much of its history, painting has been a window on to another world and thus dependent on a model. Objectively it’s weak; it needs a stretcher, a wall, a building — it needs shelter.

A painted surface has to have a support. Sculpture doesn’t. It can just be out there in the elements. Their effect on it, if it’s a good sculpture, will only improve it.‘

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/antony-gormley-on-why-sculpture-is-far-superior-to-painting

Hearing other’s research questions today – so inspiring to hear people be so passionate about their subject.

https://arts.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/product/openreader?id=UALONDON&isbn=9780203029053&uid=%5Eu

We talked as a group about our project outlines and I made notes on colleagues research questions and their initial thoughts;

Firstly a peer talked about making a resource for potential students preparing portfolios for admission to BA courses at UAL. This could lead to portfolio success and to demystify the application process. She plans to research existing resources, student’s perspective, what is there, interview students and teachers from a partner college, to see what they struggle with. Talk to successful students and film and record that as the resource. Some group/one-on-one, semi structured qualitative.

Reference: ​​Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2012) ‘Chapter 4: Sampling’ in Research Methods in Education. Routledge: London, pp. 100-117

Feedback from peers’ led to the suggestion that she make the questions as neutral as possible so that they’re not already loaded. And that her research might be too busy that there’s enough to analyse without making a film as well.

Another course peer talked next about her question which is; ‘How to support Home, EU and overseas students on various course pathways’. She is thinking of creating a workshop around the theme and looking at a buddy system. She really wants to address how it’s great to take advantage of meeting students from different cultures. There are currently issues around groups of students keeping themselves separate from each other and they miss out on all the things a sense of community bring. She hopes to have a support group and to learn from this how to use their feedback to create something in 1^st Year. Do some sort of questionnaire or mail some questions in advance so that they start thinking about it ahead of time. An honest discussion.

We were were advised to think about collecting data in creative ways. To think creatively and be experimental. Use it as a sight of experimentation. You don’t have to stick with pre-existing norms.

Peers then gave feedback on my current questions which is changing pretty much every time I think about it! Currently, it is about learning a challenging skill, with a level of safety attached to it.

My feedback from peers (in note form):

MT – Likes the question – she’s interested in how we absorb and then pass on something potentially challenging.. How we learn. Students taking responsibility for their own learning, When you’re asking other peers, is this reflected in your teaching. What is my aim? Might help me to work out what I want. Should get lots of examples back. The findings of this will start to help shape the research. The way A (peer on course) absorbs info is through reading – not all students are going to love that way of learning = she won’t just include podcasts, I could try to introduce a variety of formats. Learning in ways that make you comfortable and uncomfortable to go outside your comfort zone. Going outside your comfort zone is a good thing – school made us good at learning information for exams. There are so many different types of learning, that will embed the info in your brain other than memorising info like a robot. Not being comfortable with the learning method. Static intake of knowledge, is only half the story. Do you learn more if you’re comfortable, if you have anxiety does that help. If you’re on edge – do you have adrenalin that helps you absorb. Could my question be more focussed on the value of discomfort in learning. Discomfort is good!! Maybe this is what I should hone it down to..

Maybe I could run a specific activity and then get feedback on a particular part of that – the comfort factor and how it featured, or didn’t, for participants. I will ask specific follow-up questions across the cohort to avoid leading them to my desired response (realising that how you frame the questions is massively important. Once you start asking people what they prefer, then you have to identify how many would have the insight that being uncomfortable is useful. (which is my perception, not there. There’s also a time factor. ‘You were asked to do something in 5 mins’ and then the anxiousness – how many didn’t try because there was a time pressure.

Should I interview staff or students? could make it too big to handle effectively in the time available.

Action Research cycle = learned info to inform next cycle = focussing.

M – peer on the course – her question is around the gap that exists between taught theory and practice. She teaches both, she gets asked to develop a practical workshop and there will be someone else leading the theory. How to have more connection, less of a gap. How to find connections between theory and practice. Practical with alongside lectures. A focus group or workshop where she might do something like – research in arts, a piece of academic text, but then they will respond visually. Everyone has to draw out something from the same text. Follow up questions in terms of how they read the text differently.  

Part of this is to run a brief where she would ask participants to write about a particular object. They are then asked to design their essay into 2 magazine spreads. They go away and really research the object and then visually communicate what they’ve written. There are always readings that they have to do alongside the briefs. Sometimes there is a marriage there, students might not have enough experience to bridge these two together. Two different kinds of knowledge, Letting the visuals do the talking.

A – peer on the course – ‘The role of feeling and emotion in the design process’ – graphic design, prizes rationality over anything else. So much of design process relies on reasons behind design decisions. There’s not room for feeling behind these decisions. Audry Laud’s power of erotic in life – wanted to relate this to design. Kant came up with the idea about objective good taste and objective beauty, people started to critic this in the 80’s built off cultural capital and reinforcing class devision. Arts and Crafts – admiring beauty in everyday objects such as wallpaper and furniture to bring joy to the working person.

Asking students to ask themselves how they feel when they’re designing. How to design the activity using alternative teaching techniques. Ask students for feedback after activity.
Questions she might pose: when you’re designing, how do you decide what looks good and what doesn’t?

What feelings do you experience in the process, whether that’s frustration/joy/confusion and are these feelings helpful for moving forward in the process?

When you see something beautiful what is your physical reaction

When you make decisions in the design process, how do you experience your feelings around this in your body?

How are you feeling in your body – physical sensations.

How to design an activity that elicits feeling – collect responses via padlet.

A feels that emotion is designated to Fine Art.

The inbetween – women’s work, craft not really being art.

We had great discussions around this and I was really interested in all of these research questions. These are fields that are unfamiliar to me although I recognise the hierarchy that exists around craft and fine art. I feel so motivated by today’s session and feel inspired to look at how I could creatively get feedback. I was also inspired by the last peer to present their idea, who tapes interviews of students talking about how they see themselves and how others see them, then transcribes these, highlights the text and turns them into Ipoem. He uses the ‘I’ term plus the verb to make a set of statements then he asks participants to reflect on these. His question centres on how international students might feel ‘othered’ and inferior and separated which was his experience when he was a student – also being an international student himself. He wants to reveal things that go unheard in these conversations, things that are suppressed.

A great day then but I am extremely daunted by how much I have to do! I’m in amazing company, so fantastic to hear other’s thoughts and their clarity and articulacy around their subject.

https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_luxM8D4=/ MOODLE from day

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=6193498 Link from today

Check out GDPR course on UAL Learning space: learningspace.arts.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=49

trello.com/home – organisation site?!

My original SIP idea was How would a digital visitor/imigrant learn a digital skill in order to be able to teach a digital native/resident?

A particular skill would be to learn how to operate a Prusa 3D printer and to explore this from the perspective of a digital immigrant in order to be able to teach it effectively. This is a skill that I will be learning as my department recently acquired two Prusa 3D printers. I planned to make a filmed element for my presentation which would document the process of my learning journey, and what resources I would access in order to become proficient enough to be able to demonstrate the printers to students. I wanted to question other art-educators and find out what resources are their go-to methods and also address learning styles; are they aware of how they learn best.

I learned how to use Premier Pro in lockdown, so relatively recently had gone through a similar, very steep learning curve, with the intention of being able to teach students how to use that too.

I applied these questions to this original idea:

• Demonstrate the professional context of your project (e.g. your teaching practice, creative/disciplinary practice, research, leadership).

As a sculpture technician, becoming conversant with emerging technologies is essential to being able to support student’s learning. Focussing on a particular piece of equipment by going through the learning process myself and by applying it to my own practice, will help me shape my teaching offer. Finding the necessary information will also address learning styles, what works best for students, how do they navigate their own learning?

• The question or problem your project responds to, and why this matters.

The (original) question was how a digital immigrant/visitor can learn something well enough to enhance the learning of digital natives/residents and to look at what resources are available to enable this transition. I planned to investigate these resources and to gauge and reflect on their effectiveness for myself as a teacher and also for students who may feel uncomfortable with emerging technologies (including those from digitally poor backgrounds)

• What you plan to do in terms of ACTION (e.g. intervention) and what will inform this.

I planned to film my learning of the equipment and then talk to digital visitors and a digital residents to compare and contrast their experiences of this specific device.

• What you plan to do in terms of RESEARCH (evaluation, reading, analysis etc.)

I planned to research the learning patterns of digital natives/immigrants and to include material that I found about the evolution of attention spans. I would also have researched what works best in terms of learning styles, something which interested me during the first unit of the PGCert, and how these can be taken into account when digital immigrants are learning new technologies.

I also planned to interview the ceramics technician at Camberwell to gain insight into his practice and how he has enhanced his skills using 3D printing. We’ve talked several times about how he uses 3D prints to make slip-cast pieces. Given that ceramics/pottery/clay are inherently low-tech and one of the earliest forms of art; combining this with digital technologies is an exciting area of experimentation. I would have liked to explore how to teach these skills to digital natives and I felt excited at the thought of talking to other technicians who are working in this area.

I also planned to interview an artist called Anya Gallacio who uses a 3D printer to ‘print’ complex designs using liquid clay slip. I’m fascinated by the combination of these technologies which seem so at odds with each other – the main point of this piece by her called ‘Beautiful Mind’s shown at the Thomas Dane Gallery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJS86FCZdW8

As I began to simplify my research question and through extremely inspiring conversations with my peers on the course, my point of focus evolved and I realised that narrowing down my investigation might mean more depth of research rather than a lighter touch across too many areas. During peer’s presentations of their ideas for research and through feedback on what I presented, I began to see the value of keeping the question and area of research more simple. Uncovering the bones of the question took many attempts and I found that trying to explain my intention to anyone who would listen was a useful device! I’m hoping that the simplifying of the idea will allow the time and space for more depth in the research rather than having too many factors to investigate.

During some discussions with peers, I was describing the process of students being shown how to use dangerous equipment during inductions into safe methods of studio practice. One such activity is demonstrating the use of a battery-powered jigsaw. Whilst being wonderfully versatile and powerful, there’s a posibility of serious injury if not used with care. Students have ready access to these around the studios and can use them out-of-hours with no staff present. It is essential to make them aware of the risks of using the tool, whilst also wanting to give them the confidence to develop life-long skills. Also, from a life-long-skills perspective, students being able to use these tools safely in their studios in future is the best possible outcome.

I was describing this process to PGCert Peers and explaining that I am aware of how much learning to use a noisy and potentially dangerous piece of equipment can take people outside of their comfort zone. I was asking if peers remembered learning a new skill and wondering what part fear plays in the learning process. For example; Do you remember something more vividly, do you learn more effectively, if the learning process took you outside of your comfort zone? If you are shown a dangerous tool and the dangers are highlighted, does it mean that you absorb the necessary information more effectively? I wondered also, if this applied to other skills, not necessarily physically dangerous ones, but perhaps learning skills that you consider to be very challenging, for example, as a digital immigrant/visitor, this for me would be learning to be profficient with a 3D printer which is where I began my thoughts about my research question.

I began to ask teachers and learners how they know their own learning with the element of challenge, including pushing one’s self to explore unknown areas in their making process, and whether this actually becomes a tool in itself. This is when my research question became clearer.

I also looked at research around how people learn the most effectively and found some interesting articles on brain development in connection with the comfort zone. There is scientific research that indicates that the growth zone is where the most learning happens. The following article illustrates this with Yale research and is taken from this link about learning increasing brain plasticity: https://news.yale.edu/2018/07/19/arent-sure-brain-primed-learning

‘Not knowing what’s going to happen next is generally stressful. Uncertainty signals that you’re unsure of your environment, your skills, or both. But uncertainty also signals the brain to kickstart learning, new Yale research published in the journal Neuron has found.

That means crazy, unstable situations might be uncomfortable, but they’re also essential if you want to make the most of your brain.

Stability is a shut off switch for your brain. (I find this statement interesting because surely some stability has to be essential in order to feel comfortable in the first instance?)

If you want to maximize learning you need to make sure you’re doing hard things 70 percent of the time, five-time entrepreneur Auren Hoffman has advised. It’s tough to face the possibility of failure for such a huge chunk of your working life, but this new research confirms Hoffman is on to something. If you’re not at least a little stressed about the outcome of what you’re doing, your brain shuts down learning.

To figure this out scientists taught a group of monkeys to hit various targets for a reward of  tasty juice. Sometimes the odds of a particular target producing a sweet treat were fixed — the monkeys consistently got a reward 80 percent of the time, say. Sometimes the target was more unpredictable — the frequency with which it paid and the amount of juice the monkeys received varied.

The team of neuroscientists then measured the monkeys’ brain activity while they played with the targets. A clear pattern emerged. If the monkeys could predict how often a target would pay off, brain regions associated with learning basically shut down. When the monkeys couldn’t guess what would happen, their learning centers lit up.

This makes sense. Once you’ve figured out the best way to behave in a given environment learning new techniques or approaches is pointless. If you’ve found the faster route from your house to your work, varying your routine is just going to get you stuck in a traffic jam

For this reason, stability kills learning. Which is fine if you’re trying to master your golf swing or figure out how many minutes to boil an egg. But in many areas of life — including the professional domain — we want to continually improve and learn. And to do that you need to avoid the easy and comfortable in favor of the unpredictable and probably hard.

Or as Yale neuroscientist Daeyeol Lee put it to Quartz “Perhaps the most important insight from our study is that the function of the brain as well as the nature of learning is not ‘fixed’ but adapts according to the stability of the environment… When you enter a more novel and volatile environment, this might enhance the tendency for the brain to absorb more information.”Or as Yale neuroscientist Daeyeol Lee put it to Quartz “Perhaps the most important insight from our study is that the function of the brain as well as the nature of learning is not ‘fixed’ but adapts according to the stability of the environment… When you enter a more novel and volatile environment, this might enhance the tendency for the brain to absorb more information.”

How should we humans put this insight to use?

There are, as I noted above, some occasions when a tapering off of learning is fine. But it’s all too easy to get into a rut that leaves your brain idling. Avoiding that outcome if you’re everyday reality isn’t inherently changeable and challenging

Try Consciously building variety, uncertainty and newness into your life. The goal should be to inject unpredictability into your life to keep your brain learning. Stability can be restful, but science shows it will teach you pretty much nothing.

The above article twice mentions that stability kills learning. I think that you can learn to appreciate stability! If you’re learning to move outside of your comfort zone then you need a secure base from which to start, so I think that stability, and recognising it’s potential as an anchoring influence, is an important part of the learning journey.

The article below also details that changes in the brain occur when a person learns. Whilst not referencing the comfort zone, it does talk about brain plasticity which occurs through learning.

It is intriguing that changes associated with learning occur mostly at the level of the connections between neurons and as new connections are formed the internal structures of the existing synapses change. A result of this phenomenon is that when a person becomes an ‘expert’ in a specific domain, the areas of the brain that deal with the types of skill involved will grow remarkably.

Some of the amazing evidence of brain plasticity comes from studies of London Black Cab drivers. To become a black cab driver in London you need to study for between two and four years and at the end of that time take a test called The Knowledge. To pass The Knowledge you must memorize over 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks in Central London. Scientists found that after this complex spatial training the hippocampus of the taxi drivers had grown significantly. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that specializes in acquiring and using complex spatial information. When drivers retire, many years later, the hippocampus shrinks back down again.

The quote above is taken from this article: https://www.youcubed.org/evidence/anyone-can-learn-high-levels/Van-Praag, H., Christie, B.R., Sejnowski, T.J. & Gage, F.H. (1999, November). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 96, 13427-13431

My SIP research question as it stands: How do artists apply the concept of ‘the comfort zone’ to their making and learning process?

I intend to conduct an exploratory study of an artist’s relationship with their comfort zone during their making process and when learning a new skill. I would also like to ask what is helpful and not helpful in a learning context in order to support participant’s exploration of this relationship. I would like know if artists learn to use their comfort zone as a tool, which is how I percieve it for myself.

The article quoted below is taken from: International Journal of Environmental & Science Education
Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2012, 71-81 – https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ972445.pdf

Finally, it does appear that the nature of the material being learned and the intensity of learning activity parallel resulting brain plasticity. Thus extensive learning of abstract information can trigger plastic changes in the brain (Draganski et al 2006). They imaged the brains of German medical students three months prior to their medical exam and immediately after the exam comparing them to the brains of students who were not studying for exam at the time. Medical students’ brains showed learning-induced changes in regions of the parietal cortex as well as in the posterior hippocampus. These regions of the brain are known to be involved in memory retrieval and learning.

This obviously applies to medical students, so not entirely relevant but it relates to the value of brain plasticity which occurs when challenges arise, in this case ‘extensive learning of abstract information’. I would argue that this could be mirrored by an artist challenging themselves to take their subject matter beyond what is familiar/safe. The comfort zone is an abstract concept which is unique to each individual but the principles of going from a safe place to something unfamiliar is universal. Also, one person’s extreme challenge, is another’s familiar territory, for example making performance art or talking in front of large groups of people. I am interested to ask participants their views on these issues.

I’m aiming to talk to my target group this week. I’m in two minds about whether to show them an example diagram/map of the comfort zone from off the web as inspiration or to simply ask them to draw what they think theirs looks like. I’ve spent a fair bit of time looking at the ones on the web trying to decide if seeing these would help or hinder participants. I also re-read the article which summarises scientific evidence of unpredictable outcomes having an impact on learning ability and I’d like to include this in my questionnaire. I also want to find out how to support learning in the comfort-zone or outside of it so I’ve added an extra section which asks participants how they like to acquire new skills:

• Video guide
• Written manual
• One-to-one training with an expert (in person)
• One-to-one training with an expert (virtual,eg video link)
• Sharing expertise with peers, eg: fellow students.
• Online courses eg: LInkedin Learning
• Internet generally – Youtube and web research.

I’m also now thinking that I’d like to interview students of varied ages to give a broader study of how much experience comes in to play with knowing how to use your comfort zone.