The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. Kieran Mahon and Judy Willcocks.. (2023)
I chose this article owing to its focus on Colonialism to Climate Crisis during the 2020-21 pandemic. The sheer scale of running a collaborative project with 250 BA design students participating online is impressive. I was curious how the digital archive was used in relation to colonisation, as I work with an archive at West Dean College. The nuanced potentiality of the “objects” (18-19th C botanical drawings from the CSM Museum & Study Collection) is abstract in the sense the experiential nature of colonisation is disembodied through distancing, which is what made the power of this online study even more impressive. Distance and disconnection were used as a strength rather than a problem. I was fascinated by how considerations of ontological interconnectivity between land and being were established through a comparison between the Colonial desire to map (and exploit) the land (botanical drawings) and the origins of the botanical plant now under climate threat. The activity also shifts an understanding of the passive role botanical drawings play.
The article introduced me to Gillian Rose’s Visual Methodologies. I was curious about the 4 analytic questions focused on, 1) the site of production (who, where, how), 2) the site of the image (image contents and composition), 3) the site of circulation (where and how the image travelled), 4) site of audience (user and spectator encounters). While these had been used to structure research methods in the article they also seemed like questions to structure a crit on, which I was keen to experiment with during 2nd year studio presentations. This worked well however seemed a little prescriptive and adjustments were. made to incorporate how the student viewed their work as original and their imaginative thinking towards the desired outcome.
I found the final analysis in the article helpful, which advises when exploring learning tools online to define your content before exploring platforms for delivery.
References
Mahon. K and Willcocks. J (2023), The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education art, design & communication in higher education, Volume 22 Number 2
Rose, G. (2012), Visual Methodolgies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials, 3rd ed., London: Sage