The Aesthetics of Steps: Place, Art, and Education

Abstract

If life is akin to walking, as the folk poet As & imath;k Veysel suggests, walking can arguably be a useful tool for making sense of life-art practices. The present study examines the relationship between the setting in which a daily practice takes place (as a physical environment within a social context), and the subject and process behind the aesthetic experience, in the context of the boundary between art and education. What separates walking as an art form from walking as a daily life experience? Exploring the intersection between the act of walking on the one hand, and pedagogy and art on the other, the study encouraged participants to make sense of aesthetic experiences in art education through various art-based practices. The findings of a thematic analysis are presented. The participants moved away from the accepted meaning of walking and, in doing so, were able to develop various conceptual and affective perspectives. They were able to form connections between life, art, and pedagogy as prospective teachers, creating diverse meanings and discovering forms of subjectification while developing an awareness of their experiences.