Explorations in intuition : breaking boundaries and reclaiming voice through A/r/tographic process

• Main Author: Toth, Michael
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/32360

For me, the path is now clear—release the deep intuitive feeling first and then reflect and respond through intelligence and internal aesthetics. This thesis of creative scholarship is about process, permission, and original voice. I have used intuitive music, poetry, and narrative to create a multi-faceted tapestry that exposes my life roles, my feelings, my values, and the grayer, in- between areas of knowing, teaching, and learning. This process of rediscovery and reclamation of voice has been one of artistically giving myself permission to break through my personal masks and roles as well as transcend cultural paradigms to locate myself. The methodology of A/r/tography (Springgay, S., Irwin, R.L., Wilson Kind, S. 2005) was chosen as a path to make sense of multi-storied archetypes and multilayered avenues of artistic expression. This process is rendered through concepts of excess, metaphor, openings, contiguity, metonymy, living inquiry, and reverberations. Renderings enable artists, teachers and researchers to interrogate the interstitial spaces between things, for example image and work, text and audience, researching, pedagogy and artmaking (Springgay, S., Irwin, R.L., Wilson Kind, S. 2005). The artistic explorations and consequent renderings of revelation and reflection of this ontological exploration can be loosely grouped into seven major themes: Personal Context and Context formation Heroes Regrets Issues with the prevailing culture New beginnings (The importance of) Artistic/Transcendent/Arational spaces Reflections and intimate looks into the form and function of educational landscape. The writing and music were then analyzed in light of who I am and what I know. Results consisted of a number of conceptual strides forward in both my artistic vision and my teaching. Overall, a/r/tography enabled me to gain deeper autobiographical understandings about issues that have shaped my view of the world. From music, poetic and narrative renderings, I learned valuable insights about the real me. I discovered a multilayered individual inside who became reenergized and revitalized about finding my inner voice. From a/r/tographic renderings, I analyzed and reflected on what I learned and unlearned. Though there were resolutions, there were also new directions as I explored intuition, broke boundaries and reclaimed voice. I sculpted and embraced stories behind stories about myself. The notion of hero surfaced while regrets brought new narratives. Who am I? I am artist, teacher, guitar player, and a/r/tographer. === Education, Faculty of === Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of === Graduate