Awakening the aesthetic sense, not ‘teaching’ art

An enquiry in to the biological basis for beauty

Aesthetics and CultureA community's aesthetics makes its’ culture. When a community loses its’ aesthetic sense it loses its’ cultural identity.

Modern schooling has removed all traces of the sense of aesthetics from us.

A pre-determined theoretical version of aesthetics takes place in higher education through the subjects like art, architecture and design.

Awakened sense is the basis for all art forms.

Rather than teaching skills to sing, paint, draw etc

what needs to be done is to awaken the sense

to see, to hear, to observe, to feel, to touch, to move…

Sensitizing the senses

In a way it is absurd to ‘sensitize’ the senses.Awakened senses are the natural quality of all living

beings.But schooling replaces the natural cognitive process.The autonomous sense making capacity in human

beings is replaced with ‘knowledge’ of ‘experts’.

The only solution left for the ‘educated, textualised, distorted ‘ mind is to deliberately re engage with the world, with

awakened senses, with out intellectualising , erasing all theories and concepts like starting all over again- fresh

Just like a child gaping at the world, full of wonder and awe,Allowing knowing to happen as and when the puzzles come together on its own, remaining in doubt with out forcing an

intellectual answer.

Senses are our doors to the outer world

And

the outer world, the source for the awakening of

our senses / our inner world.

The work shop on sensing nature is for providing space to come together to listen, to see, to taste, to touch, feel, to make etc.

There is no teaching.

Around 60 children gather near my house around 9 am and all of them sit in silence listening to what ever is around.

Silence/ Listening

After this the older children, 13 to 16 year olds work with the younger ones on various activities that will enable attention,

seeing, doing etc.

Some of the activities are looking at objects and drawing, collecting leaves with various colour, making various things

with that, making pookalam with mud, stitching, making things with sand, clay modelling.

All activities are children directed.

No teaching nor interference from adults.

Children in the process of engaging

with the world

awakens their senses

and makes sense of the world.

Colour in Nature

Colour scale

Children mix and make the matched colour from the 6 poster colours- white, black, red, Green, Blue and yellow.

It is obvious that children are not using the regular reason oriented adult mind to come to the solution nor it is mere trial and error.

I suspect they use what could be called as spontaneous reasoning.

Left side is original leaves and right the painting of itSunil 13 years

Reproducing colorful leaves

Colourful leaves are collected and painted as it is.

Children mix and make the matched colour from the 6 poster colours- white, black, red, Green, Blue and yellow.

Scenary with dry and colourful leaves

Leaves with various shades, stages of drying are

collected and sceneries are made with it.

Scenery with old magazines

Old colorful magazines are collected and children make sceneries with that.

Observed Drawing

Drawing is the best tool that enables observation and also helps to convert 3D in to 2D

Lines and shapes in NatureChildren collect different types of leaves and draw

then in detail.

Children are also given twisted leaves.

Looking at various objects does drawing.

This includes simple objects like brush, chair etc. portraits, posture, and also the village scenes,

houses etc.

Free Hand Drawing

Drawing is the best tool that enables observation

and also helps to convert 3D in to 2D

Using stones and soil, sand children make pookalam

Pookalam is done during the onam celebrations using flowers. We improvised the idea and

children made several new types of pookalamsusing stone, mud, ash etc

children making the village in clay

Children observes the village activities and make

their village in clay.

stitching

The act of threading demands attention and concentration and children needs to take care while stitching which would in turn

awaken the quality of ‘care’ in them.

Made from ‘waste’

BibliographyThe paper is based on my research and the following researchers

have also come to similar conclusions regarding the biological foundations of aesthetic sense.

Semir Zeki , professor of Neuroesthetics at University College London.

Ellen Dissanayake, Affiliate Professor,School of Music, University of Washington

Vilayanur Ramachandran Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, Professor in the Psychology Department and

Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological

Studies.