Figure 1. Ana Mendieta,Untitled (Body Tracks). 1974.

Lifetime color photograph10 by 8 inches. ©The Estate

of Ana Mendieta Collection.Courtesy Galerie Lelong,

New York,

Complete Engagement:Embodied Response in

Art Museum Education

BY OLGA M. HUBARD

46 ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2007

Learning from Art: RationalThought and EmbodiedExperience

Imagine a 5-year-old girl mesmer-ized in front of a video. The videoshows artist Ana Mendieta slidingher blood-covered hands

downward against a wall (see Figure I).Emulating the artist, the child lifts herarms up and slowly glides down untilher body reaches the floor. Now envisiona 15-year-old boy looking at a scroll ofChinese calligraphy. Without noticing,the young viewer begins to make soundeffects—sivis^, swash, swoosh—as, hefollows the direction of the differentbrushstrokes with fluid arm movements.Think, now, of the 30-year-old womanwho looks at a Baroque crucifixion. Asher eyes fall on the depiction of open(lesh, she recognizes the pain thewounds suggest and instantly flinches,"Ouch!"

Observant museum educators are familiarwilh these kinds of spontaneous soundeffects, body gestures, and emotional reac-tions in visitors. But, what is the place ofsuch physical and emotional responses ineducation? Arc they passing, trivial mani-Icstations? Or, do these embodied responsesentail learning?

From a Cartesian perspective, the answerto the last question is likely to be no. In theCartesian model, which derives from iheideas of 17th-century philosopher ReneDescartes, logical reasoning is considered theone path to true knowledge. A separation ofintellect and body and a mistrust ofphysicality and emotions characterize tbisschool of thought (Kerka, 2002). Descarteswrote:

Can I affirm that I possess any of allthose attributes ... belonging to tbenature of ihe body? After attentivelyconsidering them in my own mind, IIind none of them that can properlybe said to belong to myself .,, I amtherefore, precisely speaking, only athinking tbing, tbat is, a mind, under-standing, or reason. (Descartes,19{) 1/1641. as cited in DairAlha&Barnacle, 2005, p. 723)

The investigation of embodied learning is particularly

relevant in art education. Unlike the contents of written texts,

artworks present themselves as physical (or virtual) entities

that exist in the same space as we do.

Tbe idea tbat bumans can only gainknowledge through the intellect hasdominated Western culture since Descartes'time. From tbe 20th century on, however,many scholars have pointed out thelimitations of the Cartesian schema andreconsidered tbe status of the hody in theconstruction of knowledge (Arnheim, t969;Dall'Alba & Barnacle. 2005; Hanna, 1985;Lakofr& lohnson, 1980. 1999; Merleau-Ponty, 1964; Tbomas. 2003). Discoveries incognitive science bave confirmed tbatconcepts and reason are rooted on theexperiences of the body (Damasio, 1994,1999; Freedberg, 2002; Varela. Tbompson. &Rosch, 1991}. In tbe words of l.akoff &Jobnson, 'bur sense of what is real beginswith and depends crucially upon our bodies"(1999, p. 17); moreover, "tbe mind is notmerely corporeal but also passionate,desiring, social" (p. 565). Nevertbeless,education today continues to be driven byCartesian views: 'The logical and themeasurable predominate, and pbysicality andemotions arc regarded as sometbing tbatmust be "tamed or controlled to achievecognitive performance" (Kerka, 2002, 5 2).Tbus. the Cartesian schema "bas led todevaluing tbe significance of emotions andsensations in the process of becomingeducated" (Anttila, 2004, 5 2).

A number of tbeorists bave recognized tberelevance of body-mind integration inschools. These authors bave contended thatfar from being only "mind" or "reason," asDescartes suggested, learners are wholebeings, creatures tbat make sense of tbeworld through bodily sensations and feelingsas well as through rational processes (Anttila,2004; Bresler, 2004; Brodkey & Fine, 1988;lobnson. 1983; Kerka, 2002; McLaren, 1991;Stinson, 1995).'

Tbe investigation of embodied learning isparticularly relevant in art education, tjnliketbe contents of written texts, artworkspresent tbemselves as pbysical (or virtual)

entities tbat exist in tbe same space as we do.Works of visual art are embodied in imagesthat the eyes perceive and in things tbat canpotentially be touched (Merleau-Ponty,1964). Therefore, there is a sense of imme-diacy in the way viewers begin to apprehendan artwork: a pbysical, sensorial, and oitenemotional, engagement that precedes theconceptual (Hooper-Greenbill, 1999; Langer,1953;Sontag, 1982).'

Tbis is not to say tbat art speaks exclusivelyto people's bodies and emotions; intriguingartworks can also provoke viewers to forminterpretations through rational thoughtprocesses (Barrett, 2003; Hooper-Greenhill,1999; Housen, 2002; McKay St Monteverde,2003; Tishman. 2000). 'liius. experienceswitb works of art can be simultaneouslyconceptual and embodied; tbey can set inmotion at once a person's reason, senses,emotions, and motor channels ot response.^

Tbe integration of different ways ofknowing is, according to many, a definingcharacteristic of tbe aestbetic experience(Burton. 1997; Csikszentmihalyi &Robinson. 1990; Custodero, Neumann,Hansen, & Kerdeman. 2005; Hubard, 2003;Yenawine, 2002). this fusion of the wholebeing contributes to making tbe aestbetic a"refined and intensified form of experience,"(Dewey. 1980, p. 3)—an experience capableof throwing oH tbe covers bred by routineand making people wide awake to themselvesand tbe world in which tbey live.

Teacbers wbo want students lo lookbeyond the conventions tbat surround them,those who want young people to he lullyawake to tbemselves and lo the world, willrecognize tbat "art pedagogy bas its greatestpower and meaning in its inherent possibilityto combine different modes of knowing"(Anttila. 2004, ^ 7). Certainly, this kind ofpedagogy includes embodied responsesto art.

NOVEMBER 2007 / ART EDUCATION 47

Facilitating EmbodiedResponses to Artworks

Discursive Approach. Embodiedresponses can, and often do, happenspontaneously as viewers encounter anartwork. Teachers attuned to their students'facial expressions, body gestures, and specialsounds are in a good position to acknowl-edge physical and emotional reactions and toincorporate them into the art program.

Educators can also deliberately help elicitand deepen embodied responses to works ofart. One way to do so is through discursivelanguage. For example, a teacher might askstudents to imagine what it might feel like tobe inside a given image: What sounds niightthey hear? What kinds of scents might theysmell? What would the objects around themteel like to the touch? What would thetemperature be? Using language, studentscan then share and reflect about theresponses that these questions set in motion.

This said, there are limits to how discur-sive language—distinct from poeticlanguage-can represent embodied experi-ences. Upon seeing an image, "The mindoperates by apprehending the products offreely interacting field forces" (Arnheim,1969, p. 246). Much of this complexapprehension occurs under the threshold ofrational consciousness (Arnheim, 19690;Langer, 1933). Discursive language, however,is "a one-dimensional string of words... usedby [conscious] intellectual thinking to labelsequences of concepts" (Arnheim, 1069, p.246).̂ Therefore, as EUiot Eisner wrote,"What we come to know through ... the artsis not reducible to the literal" (n.d., 5 8).

So while discourse—the medium of artcritics, art historians, and aestheticians—canhelp students engage in intellectual processesin response to artworks, symbols other thanwords are generally closer to the immediateexperiences that are germane to art (Stinson,1995).

Non-discursive Approach. Eor years artmuseum educators engaged viewers with artthrough movement, sound, poetry, drawing,and other non-discursive means (Durant,1996; Rice, 1995; Zelier, 1987). Educatorsand museum visitors enjoy these activitiesbecause they can help break the ice betweenparticipants, change the rhythm anddynamics ofa session, and make the learningexperience more enjoyable. But aside frommaking visits more dynamic and fun, non-discursive activities make unique contribu-tions to museum learning. They help visitorsengage their bodies and emotions inresponse to an object, they grant viewersaccess to those aspects ofa work that mayelude discourse, and they enable people toexpress their responses through processesother than rational thought. In short, non-discursive activities can help activate, inparticularly direct ways, the embodied waysof knowing that are so essential to aestheticexperience."'

Should experiences in the visual artsremain visual? Does the introduction ofsound, or movement, or poetry, to anencounter with an artwork pollute theexperience?

The prevalence of lectures, conversations,and written texts about art indicate thatpeople readily accept the mediation of visualexperiences through discursive language. Yet,discursive language is no more neutral than

Aside from making visits more dynamic and fun, non-discursive

activities make unique contributions to museum learning. They

help visitors engage their bodies and emotions in response to an

object, they grant viewers access to those aspects ofa work that

may elude discourse, and they enable people to express their

responses through processes other than rational thought.

sound or movement or poetry, nor is it abetter fit to visual expression (Baxandall,1985; Stinson, 1995). And although it is truethat the marriage of art and discourse haslong been one in the West, it is not only artcritics and art historians and philosophersthat publicly respond to art and help us makesense of it. Think of Octavio Paz writingpoetry to Manuel Alvarez Bravo's photo-graphs; think of Martha Graham adjustingher choreography inspired by IsamuNoguchis sculptural sets; think of ModestMussorgsky composing music stirred by hisfriend Victor Hartmann's paintings.

The truth is that no one form of aestheticmediation can "replicate ... the qualities that[an artwork possesses] because clearly nosuch replication is possible" (Eisner, n.d., 513). Yet, different facilitative approaches canbring people closer to one or another qualityofa work and activate in viewers one oranother way of knowing.

Five Instances of EmbodiedEngagement

There are potentially as many non-discursive museum activities as there areartworks and educators. And although mostnon discursive strategies share the goal offostering embodied engagement, everyactivity does this in a particular way. In thefollowing section, 1 describe five instances oi'embodied engagements with works of art.My purpose is to illu.strate how differentnon-discursive teaching strategies canactivate different physical and emotionalways of knowing in viewers. Through theseexamples, 1 will also show how certainactivities bring to the surface aspects ofawork that may not appear as prominent inother activities.

1 selected the tive strategies here out ofmany that I and other teachers have used.Though these examples typify different formsof embodied engagement, they do not comeclose to exhausting the sorts of physical andemotional interactions that students can havewith works of art. Likewise, these instancesare not meant to represent all, or even themost effective, non-discursive activities.Rather, they are intended to give teachers anidea of what various sorts of embodiedengagements might look like and to inspirethem to envision strategies of their own.

48 ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2007

Instance I: Responding with Poetry. Agroup of graduate students sit in front of anabstract painting by Clyfford Still (see Figure2). "Hie teacher invites them to look in silenceat the painting and to write the first wordthat comes to their mind. "Sun," "Rough,""Falling," "Opposing," and "Joints" appear onthe index cards that students hold. Tlieviewers then combine their words fo form apoetic respon.se to Still's work:

Rough gorge falling

Viermal opposing. Wicked isolation

Sun

Sharp ice

Joints, jigsaw, geological

iiarrcn

When people write or speak the first wordthat comes to mind, they tap into theirimmediate response to the object. Much likedetectives' hunches, immediate responses areinformed by things that viewers apprehendeven before they can examine their impres-sions rationally. Immediate responses canthus be closely aligned with physical andemotional experiences: sharp, tailing,isolation. Moreover, immediate reactionsoften highlight es.sential aspects of anartwork in particularly poignant and directways, as the poem in response to Still'spainting illustrates.

Instance 2: Becoming the Work. A groupof middle school students pay close attentionto a series of models created by a Japanesearchitect—concert halls, museums, bridges,and public buildings. As they observe aparticularly complex one, the teacher asksthem to hreak into small groups and"become" that structure with their bodies.One student stands on her toes reaching hightowards the sky, balancing her body slightlyforward. She is a tall, tilted huilding.Opposite her, another student crouches onthe floor, curving his back and wrapping hisarms around his head to become a short,rounded edifice. A third student reaches herarms and legs out towards the oppositedirections where her peers are, curving hertorso to emulate a dynamic bridge tbat joinsthe two buildings.

Figure 2. Clyfford Still, Urititled. 1946-1947.The Metropolitan Museum of Art,Gift cf Mrs. Clyfford Still, 1986. Photograph by Lynton Gardiner.Photograph © 1987 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

NOVEMBER 2007 / ART EDUCATION 49

When students use their bodies to"become" a building they gain an intimatesense of the makeup of the structure. As theytest their balance, challenge gravity, andphysically connect with each other, fheyrespond to the building's configurationbeyond a clinical, formal analysis: Theirembodied response allows them to under-stand the building in relation to humanexperiences of reaching, balancing, bridging,and being physically grounded.

Instance 3: Creating a Soundtrack. Agroup of high school students pays closeattention to a painting by Mexican MuralistDavid Alfaro Siqueiros (see Figure 3). Thepicture depicts

an abandoned infant [who] sits amid thedetritus of industrial civilization. Cladonly in a red cloth draped over oneshoulder, he wails in unmitigated pain... The ... child .., sits atop a carefullycomposed landscape of rubble, trianglesformed by wires and the cylinders ofscrappIumbing...At the right are[industrial] tanks [and a[ ballooningcloud at left. (Mexico: Splendors of ThirtyCenturies, 1990, p. 645).

The teacher encourages the young viewersto imagine the sounds they might hear ifthey were to walk into this scene. She offers aseries of everyday objects—scissors, pencils,a clipboard, paper—and invites them tocollectively create an acoustic response to thework. After a brief conference, a couple ofstudents begin to sing an even hum thatalludes to ongoing industrial activity.Another student joins in, emulating a cryingchild. Tliere is metal clinking, on and ofi.The crying becomes increasingly intense asanother sfudent, and fhen another, join inwifh high-pitched wails. Tlie humming of thedistant factories continues and a long, mutedbang suggests an explosion in the distance.Then, all is quiet, all except for the monoto-nous crying ofa single child.

In this example, viewers deliberatelyactivate a sense other than sight as fheyapprehend the picture. In doing so, theyenter an alternative world imaginatively and

Figure 3. Echo ofa Scream, 1937, Siqueiros. David Alfaro (1896-1974) ©ARS, NY. Enamel on wood,48x36", Gift of Edward M. M.Warburg. (633.1939) Tbe Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY,USA. Digital Image ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY.

pay heed to different dimensions within it.For example, when students generate soundsreminiscent of metal and blasting smoke,they connect with the qualities of thematerials that make up the landscape. Whenstudents offset escalating wailing againstempty silence, they pay heed to the picturesnarrative (an abandoned child who survivesindustrial destruction) and relate to itsemotional tone. In contrast to immediateresponses, imagining the sounds (or textures,or temperatures, or smells) in a work calls forengagements that are slower, longer, andmore nuanced.

Instance 4: Drawing Details. A cluster of4th graders look inteiitly at a woodensculpture ofa human arm created in theMarquesas Islands. Holding a sketchpad inone hand and a pencil in the other, theyobserve the intricate carved design thatcovers the sculpture's surface. The students'eyes and hands move slowly as they followthe direction ofa given line—now right, nowdown, now curving up again; now thicker,now thinner, now shaped like a heart.Gradually, a section of the sculpture'scomplicated design begins fo take shape oneach student's sketchpad.

50 ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2007

In contrast to immediate responses, imagining the sounds

(or textures, or temperatures, or smells) in a work calls for

engagements that are slowen longer, and more nuanced.

When people slow down to draw, detailsand nuances that may not be immediatelyobvious reveal themselves. Drawing calls forthe integrated work of visual perception andarm movement. Therefore, by following thecarved lines on the sculpture's surface,viewers go beyond labeling the design asintricate and the lines as delicate: Theyexperience, through the motion of their armsand the varying pressure exerted by theirhands, the intricacy of the design in all itscomplexity and the delicacy of the line in allits gentleness. Again, this emhodied responsehelps charge what could be a cold formalanalysis with significant experience.

Moreover, as students draw, their handlollows the same path the carver's handtrailed when be created the object. Studentsihus connect witb the physical actionsundertaken by another person in anotherlime and place to create a meaningful work.Appreciation for the artist's skill is gained inthis way. Furthermore, drawing a carvingprompts students to reflect about thequalities ot different art materials andprocesses—making a drawing of an indenteddesign makes it evident that pencil and papercannot do what chisel and wood can.

Instance 5: Transforming Paper. A groupol college students look carefully at aNepalese mandala from the late 14th century."I be teacher asks them to use their hands totransform a piece of paper in response to theimage. Ihe young viewers begin to tear,bend, fold, crunch, and join, looking up atthe mandala now and again until eachcompletes a distinct paper sculpture.

In .some of the students" works, concentricareas enclose a central space: They embodythe experience of centeredness. Othersculptures feature a number of rounded,overlapping shapes reminiscent of petals:'Ihey capture the fragility of flowers andspeak to the power of repetition. Yet otherpaper sculptures include stylized bodyparts—arms, legs, torsos, hands—positionedin interesting ways: They highlight thespecificity of the body postures depicted inthe image.

These paper responses bring to the surfaceimportant aspects of the mandala such assalient shapes, spatial relationships, and theorganization of space. In a mandala, though,a concentric composition, stylized flowers,and body postures are not merely formaldevices meant to please the eye. Rather, eachof these aspects is also imbued withmeanings that are iundamental to theBuddhist spirituality. Specifically, theconcentric organization characterizes thestructure of the meditation temples thatmandalas represent. 'Ihe remarkable bodygestures refer to particular modes ofmeditation. Ihe simplified petals allude tothe lotus flower, Buddhist symbol ofspontaneous generation and hence of divinebirth. Thus, after making their papersculptures, students stand on an idealplatform from which to reflect about theplace of essential human experiences (ofcenteredness of simplification, and ofexperiencing the transcendental in one'sbody) across different cultures.

Summaryfb recap, there are a variety of non-

discursive activities thaf can fecilitateembodied responses to works of art. Butthese activities are not all tbe same: Somehelp viewers experience the structure ofawork, others highlight the feel of itsmaterials, and yet others facilitate connec-tions to the artists' process. Moreover, certainnon-discursive activities give viewers accessto the narrative a work suggests, whereasothers help viewers empathize with itsemotional tone or its cultural significance.*

Aside from bringing people closer foparticular facets ofa work, however, thevarious non-discursive strategies also activateparticular modes of response in viewers:Some tap into direct, immediate reactions;others call for extended, nuanced looking.Thus, if is key for teachers to select anactivity that aligns well with the character ofthe particular work and with their educa-tional goals.

Conclusion: Is There Learningin Embodied Response?

1 began this article by highlighting a viewof cognition that goes beyond the rationaland the measurable, one where perception,physical sensations, and emotions allconstitute valuable ways of knowing. I alsosuggested that artworks, by tbeir very nature,call for responses that integrate the differentdimensions of the self Embodied responsesare an important piece in tbis equation.Without them, there is no completeengagement.

Do emhodied experiences entail learning,then? Embodied experiences do not onlyaid in tbe construction of knowledge; theyalso help make this knowledge meaningful.As the examples presented earlier showed,it is the body and the emotions that enahlepeople to empathize (Kerka, 2002; Lakolf& Johnson, 1999), to lend their lives to awork of art, (Greene, 1996), humanizingtheir aesthetic encounters. If students arelucky enough to experience art through theditferent dimensions that together makethem human, the works they see will entertheir lives in more significant and memo-rable ways.

Olga M. Hubard is Assistant Professorof Art Education at Teachers CollegeColumbia University, New York City.E-mail: hubard@tc.edu

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ENDNOTES'For more critiques of the Cartesian schema seeBachelard (1964), Derrida (1978). Gadamer(2000), Iriganiy (1991), Kiemola (2004). Lyolarcf(1984), Matthews (1998), and Merleau-Pomy(1962/1945, 1998/1964). Formort-on the role ofthe body in education see Burnard & Best (2005).Cheville (200t), Dall'Alba & Barnacle (2005),McDade (1987), Noddings (1992), Sellers-Young(1998), and Taylor (1991).

^Text-based contemporary artworks thai blur llifboundaries bclwceii immediitle apprehension andconceptual underslandiiig include those by JennyHol/.er, Barbara Kruger, and Young Hae t^hangHeavy Industries.

' Faced with the insidious undervaluing ot art ineducation, art educators have felt a responsibilityto lei the public know thai, tar from beingmindless, artmaking and viewing involvessignificant cognitive work. These important elfortshave, however, been accompanied by a loss asmany educators have disconnected iheir praclkcfrom the body (Stinson. 1995).

•*Non-discursive museum activitifs are mil lo tieconfused with activities that change the dynamicsofa group tour without a focus on embodiedresponse. For example, effective strategies such asasking viewers to discuss an artwork with apartner, or asking students to describe an object tosomeone who is not looking are still grounded ondiscursive modes of communication.

52 ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2007

^ In spite of the importance of emotions in aestheticresponse, engaging students with a work by asking,"What does it make you feel?" is not necessarily anflfcctive strategy. In my experience, this question canciintuse students and often leaves them at a loss forwords. I believe this happens because, in art viewing,emotions play out in complex ways. For instance, evenwben students recognize, say. the sadness or the anger ina given work, they may not automatically feel sad orangry themselves. Alternatively, students may feel excitedby the discoveries they are making in a work, even whilethey empathize with tbe depressing mood the objectsuggests, tor example. Moreover, a work that is hard tounderstand or that challenges accepted ideas might makeviewers angry, even though the object ilselt may no!evoke any one mood in particular. Pointed questionssuch as "What might tbe character in the picture befeeling?" or "How would you describe the mood of thiswork?" can therefore lead to more productive explora-tions (assuming that the particular work indeed suggests.1 certain mood),

AUTHOR'S NOTEI am grateful to all the educators who have shared theirideas for non-discursive activities witb me over the years.In particular, I am indebted to my colleagues from TheMuseum of Modern Art and the Noguchi Museum inNew York Cily and to my teachers, Judith Burton andRika Burnham.

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,111 elective and work wilh ii laLilitatiir

.ind peers in the studio. On-campu.s housing,

meals and siiuid.ird materials are provided.

Application inilirmation is available in

January and due in March. '

If your students .irt' up !or iht- th.illcnge. tell

them about KCAI's Pre-Collcge ArtLab, A

nvn-ind-a-half-wcck resideiiL-y program that

itiimerse high schoolers in college life.

ore information, call 816-8O2-.l'iO5 or

I so kii rv@kcai.edu.

KANSAS CITY MlKIMSTITUTEA (t'lii-ycjr cnllcgc of

CORCORANliALIERVDI-ARl -

The Corcoran Announces a new scholarship for fall 2008:

John Renna Arts ScholarshipsRecognizing both talent and need

In an effort to provide greater access to a Corcoran education in the

arts, the Corcoran is proud to partner with the National Endowment for

the Arts to award half and full tuition scholarships for fall 2008 full titne

freshman enrollment in our Bachelor of Fine Arts Program; Fine Art,

Graphic Design, Digital Media Design, Photography, Photojournalism,

and Art Education. Scholarship and Admission Applications due

February 15, 2008.

For an Application

or more information:

Corcoran College oi Art + Design

Office of Admission

500 Seventeenth Street NW

Washington, DC 20006

(202) 639-1814

admissions@corcoran.org

www.corcoran.edu

This award has been made possible by the National Endowment

for the Arts as part of NEA John Renna Arts Scholarship Initiative.N A T I O N A LENDOWMENTFOR THE ARTS

NOVEMBER 2007 / ART EDUCATION 53