Prophet, Jane (1994) Taste, teaching and the Utah teapot : creative, gender, aesthetic and pedagogical issues surrounding the use of electronic media in art and design education : with particular reference to hypertext applications. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This investigation charts a number of complementary explorations at the site of
electronic media in art practice and design and media education. Artists are
increasingly using video and computer technology in the production of their
work, and these shifts are reflected in the way design and media courses are
taught in Higher Education. This study seeks to relate a number of often
contentious issues, but complex questions are central to any debate about the use
of electronic imaging technologies by artists and the implications for teaching and
learning. In this respect, the thesis is informed by my dual role as an artist using
electronic media and as a lecturer in video and digital imaging in the Media
Department at the University of Westminster.
The study is based on a particular model of action research, and seeks after the
manner of Glaser and Strauss (1967) to "ground" theory in the aggregate
perceptions, understandings, and artistic or pedagogical orientations of those
seeking to bring order to their own experiences in the settings.
The text is arranged in eleven chapters. It begins by introducing the boundaries of
the phenomena under study (which is necessarily ragged and untidy and
challengingly gritty, since the composite issues have yet to have attracted any
clarity of exposition, and the field is in any case characterised by imaginative
leaps and cross-fertilisation) and the methodological and idealogical stances
adopted. Methodologically the thesis is wide-ranging and eclectic, although also
contained within the kind of feminist epistomology proposed by Sandra Harding
(1992), Marnier Lazreg (1994) and others. It then moves on to examine a number
of focal points and issues related to the use to which electronic media is put by artists. These topics include my own sustained attempts to develop non-linear
computer systems for mapping associative thoughts, and a more general and more
detailed study of the principles and characteristics of these systems when they are
used for holding information about knowledge domains. Following this, there is a
chapter dedicated to the application of these principles to a particular knowledge
domain, colour theory, with the aim of designing a computer aided learning
package. The interconnections between all the topics, issues and themes studied
in the text are highlighted in the middle of the thesis before moving on to more
specific investigation of the issue of gender in both technological education and
creativity, with an emphasis on the use of imaging technologies by women artists.
The impact of these technologies in terms of shifting aesthetic values and tastes
forms the basis of the final chapter, and a conclusion seeks to offer both a
tentative intellectual synopsis and to indicate how the exercise has influenced and
affected my work as an artist.
I am aware that to some extent this arrangement challenges both the linear quality
of conventional research reportage and academic distrust of promiscuously
interpenetrating ideas. I trust that this form of discourse, deliberately chosen, is
experienced as working within its own terms.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Digital media, Computer art, Design -- Study and teaching (Higher), Art -- Study and teaching (Higher)
Official Date:	October 1994
Dates:	Date Event October 1994 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute of Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Jenkins, David, 1934-
Sponsors:	British Academy (BA)
Description:	Some images removed for copyright reasons. See official URL for details on how to access hard copy. Please also see URL for details on how to access the accompanying video cassette.
Extent:	vii, 274 leaves
Language:	eng

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