university of oklahoma graduate college disgust as a conceptual foundation for art appreciation in

232 Pages·2017·5.67 MB·English

by  Catherine M Johnston

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

GRADUATE COLLEGE

DISGUST AS A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR ART APPRECIATION IN
THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT IN PRACTICE

A DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

By

CATHERINE JOHNSTON
Norman, Oklahoma
2018
DISGUST AS A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR ART APPRECIATION IN
THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT IN PRACTICE

A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES

BY

Dr. Susan Laird, Co-Chair

Dr. Juanita Vargas, Co-Chair

______________________________
Dr. Joan Smith

______________________________
Dr. Amy Bradshaw

______________________________
Dr. Kristen Hextrum
© Copyright by CATHERINE JOHNSTON 2018
All Rights Reserved.
DEDICATION
To Cam. Always, Always.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my husband, Cam, who has loved and supported me on this long
academic journey. I want to thank my children, Becca, Stephen, Keifer, Greg, James,
and Andrew; as well as my daughter-in-law, McKensey, and my grandsons, Rhett and
Rowdy, for keeping me grounded and reminding me what really matters. I also wish to
thank my mother, father, and siblings, for among their gifts to me was Alice. I want to
express my appreciation for the support of my aunt and extended families.
I am so grateful to have my sisters of the heart, Julie, Kendra, and Diane. Words
cannot adequately express to my sisters how much I love, value, and appreciate their
humor, encouragement, feedback, and commiseration. I want to thank my friend,
Darby, who has always believed in me, provided her expert “Darbyvision,” and has
supported me even when I wavered. I am thankful for my friends, Lisa, Pia, Sharon,
Janet, Alexa, and Deby, who were always there with words of encouragement.
I am fortunate to have a great committee. I have had the tremendous support of
my co-chairs, Dr. Susan Laird (Educational Studies) and Dr. Juanita Vargas (Adult and
Higher Education), who have taught, advised, supported, and guided my dialogue with
aesthetic disgust and the re-visioning of art appreciation. In addition, Dr. Joan Smith
(Educational Studies) and Dr. Amy Bradshaw (Instructional Psychology and
Technology), who were insightful teachers and mentors. Finally, Dr. Kristen Hextrum
(Adult and Higher Education), although invited late, was willing to go through the
looking glass with me.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................... V
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................. VIII
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................. IX
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS & WHAT [I] FOUND
THERE—CARROLL ................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................. 6
Into the Garden of Live Flowers: The Evolution of the Metacognition of an
Artist/Educator in a Community College ..................................................................... 6
First Day .......................................................................................................................... 7
Learning Teaching Theory .......................................................................................... 18
Understanding Context ................................................................................................ 26
A Single Road with Two Finger Posts, One Destination ........................................... 30
Disgust Not Beauty As A Central Theme For A Dissertation .................................. 37
CHAPTER 2 ...............................................................................................43
Wool and Water: Beauty and Art Appreciation in Context ..................................... 43
Art Appreciation: Denotation and Connotations ...................................................... 44
The Denotation of Art ................................................................................................... 44
Appreciation as Aesthetic Beauty, Delight, and Disgust ........................................... 45
Connotations of Art Appreciation .............................................................................. 47
Art Appreciation Serves Higher Purposes .................................................................. 47
Art Appreciation Serves a Practical Purpose ............................................................. 48
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Art Appreciation Serves Silent Partners ..................................................................... 49
Art as Language ............................................................................................................ 51
Purposeful Looking and Seeing ................................................................................... 55
Community Colleges: A Brief History ........................................................................ 64
Community College: Challenges in Navigating the Terms and Terrain ................. 67
CHAPTER 3 ...............................................................................................72
Feathers and Crabs: Critical Aesthetic Pedagogy-Disgust, Engagement, and
Community, The Re-Visioning of Art Appreciation ................................................. 72
Looking Glass: Looking In .......................................................................................... 73
Looking Glass: Gazing Back ....................................................................................... 75
Mitigated Looking Within an Art Encounter ............................................................ 82
Art Encounters: Seeing Is Not Enough ...................................................................... 85
Looking Glass: Easing the Divides .............................................................................. 89
Building Trusting Encounters ..................................................................................... 93
Looking to Blooms ........................................................................................................ 95
Contrariwise: Disgust, Not Beauty, As Central Theme .......................................... 100
Remaining Disinterested in the Face of Disgust ...................................................... 101
Savoring Different Kinds of Disgust ......................................................................... 104
Disgust or Difficult Beauty ........................................................................................ 111
Educating with Disgust .............................................................................................. 115
CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................................118
Time to Talk of Many Things: Critical Aesthetic Pedagogy: The Thought
Experiment .................................................................................................................. 118
Art Appreciation Terrain ........................................................................................... 119
Shoes: Course Terrain .............................................................................................. 122
Ships: Learning Experience ...................................................................................... 129
Sealing-Wax: Active Learning .................................................................................. 134
Cabbages: Student Selected Active Learning Assignment ........................................ 136
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Kings: Cooperative Learning .................................................................................... 138
Sea Is Boiling Hot: Disgust, Anger, and Critical Thinking ...................................... 141
Pigs Have Wings: Student Learning Opportunities .................................................. 143
CHAPTER 5 .............................................................................................148
Art Appreciation Re-Visioned: Who Dreamed It?: Implications for Practice,
Disgust or Difficult Beauty, and Considerations for Another Day ........................ 148
REFERENCES ........................................................................................158
APPENDIX A: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM FOR
OBSERVATIONS, INFORMATION RELEASE, AND INTERVIEWS
...................................................................................................................172
APPENDIX B: PRE-COURSE SURVEY .............................................174
APPENDIX C: COURSE SYLLABUS .................................................182
APPENDIX D: STUDENT RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT ..................196
APPENDIX E: VISUAL ANALYSIS DESCRIPTION AND
GRADING RUBRIC ...............................................................................205
APPENDIX F: EXIT-COURSE SURVEY ...........................................212

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Student Definitions of Aesthetic Beauty and Aesthetic Disgust ..................... 131

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Catherine Johnston. Flowers Teach Alice a Lesson. Digital. 2017 ................... 6
Figure 2. Catherine Johnston, Frankenbanana (2016-recreation of 1978 work). Banana,
blue dye, thread. ............................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3. Pietro Perugino Umbrian, The Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John, Saint
Jerome, and Saint Mary Magdalene [middle panel] ...................................................... 22
Figure 4. Carlo Crivelli, The Crucifixion. c. 1487, Tempera on panel. .......................... 22
Figure 5. Joan Miró, Femme, 1934 ................................................................................. 25
Figure 6. Catherine Johnston. Altered Context. Digital Image ....................................... 26
Figure 7. Photograph No. Nwdns-245-Ms-2238l (Lee Russell) ..................................... 27
Figure 8. Ken and Tyler, l985© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. .............................. 28
Figure 9. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Judith Beheading Holofernes. Oil on
canvas. ............................................................................................................................ 33
Figure 10. Artemisia Gentileschi. Judith Beheading Holofernes. Oil on Canvas .......... 34
Figure 11. Catherine Johnston. White Queen. 2017 Digital Image ................................ 43
Figure 12. Catherine Johnston. Meal Shared. 2016 Digital Image. ............................... 53
Figure 13. Catherine Johnston. Just Look at Them 2016. Digital Image ....................... 55
Figure 14. Photograph No. 111-SC- 204811 (T4c. Sam Gilbert) .................................. 56
Figure 15. Photograph No. 111-SC-203464 (Pfc. W. Chichersky) ................................. 57
Figure 16. Figure 16. Carrie Mae Weems, LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR, THE
BLACK WOMAN ASKED, "MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE
FINEST OF THEM ALL?" THE MIRROR SAYS, "SNOW WHITE, YOU BLACK
BITCH, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!" ................................................................ 61
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