Expressive Arts and Culture Week 1

This was the first input of the Expressive Arts and Culture module. I decided to choose this module because I have always shown an interest in the arts throughout my life. Although, I carried music through to secondary school and studied it at National 5 level, I did not continue to study art. I was interested in having a little more of an insight into the expressive arts and looking more in depth at art in particular. I have participated in dance and drama since my early childhood and still love it today. I was very excited to see what this module had to offer and hopefully it would allow me to experience the expressive arts more closely.

As an introduction to the Expressive Arts and Culture module we were all asked to come to the first input with an object that was significant to us for a specific reason. This is also known as an evocative object. We started off the workshop with an introduction to the module and an explanation of the assessment and expectations of the module. We followed on from this by reading “What makes an object evocative?” as a class. From reading this, it was now clear to me what an evocative object is and how objects that are important to us can bring out different feelings and emotions that we have. Although, a particular object is of significance to you, someone else does not portray it in the same way. Thus, highlighting how special a particular object can be. “The meaning of even such objects shifts with time, place, and differences among individuals.” (Turkle, 2007, p.307).” This explains that the object can be of more significance if a relative passes or a tragic life event occurs for example.

After reading the document as a class, we went around the room in a circle to allow everyone to explain the object that they had chosen and explained why they felt it was evocative to them. My object is a Vivienne Westwood necklace that was kindly gifted to me on my 18th birthday by my mum and dad. This necklace is extremely important to me and I wear it almost everyday. My necklace is very important to me as it was a gift from people that I am extremely close to. When I wear it, I feel that my parents are always with me even though I am so fortunate to still have them around me most of the time. While I was explaining my evocative object to the rest of the class, I felt a lot of different emotions which highlights how an object that is important to you can bring out your personal feelings. It was also clear that majority of the class were also feeling similar emotions while explaining their own object. I can see how an activity similar to this could be used in a classroom setting and I will be sure to try a similar activity throughout my teaching practice.

References

Turkle, S. (2007) Evocative objects: things we think with. Mit Press.

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