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This paper examines the Confucian concept of learning, or xue ([character omitted]), from the perspective of ecological humanism. Through a comparative interpretation, this paper attempts to disclose the significance of Confucian xue conceived as a practice of aesthetic appreciation and creativity, emphasizing in particular its function within an eco-centric worldview. The author reviews the relevant concepts of ecological humanism as expressed in the ideas of John Dewey and Thomas Alexander, then applies these as a theoretical framework for interpreting xue and its related concepts and practices as they appear in the Confucian text the Lunyu ([characters omitted] ). It is argued that xue is a process of developing and expressing virtuosity and artistry in the "arts of life," and that its practice was understood as a direct participation in the creative development of nature. The significance of such a concept of learning for contemporary educational philosophy is discussed in conclusion.

Thermal cameras have shown to have utility in secondary school classrooms and undergraduate courses. In this paper, the author argues for their potential in the primary school classroom and presents a range of activities that can be undertaken with thermal cameras (or supplied images). With limited access in mind, the activities in this paper have been designed to be practiced in 'demonstration mode' with only one thermal camera or even by using a bank of existing photographs made available to teachers and students. Activities can be modified for individual use or for use in small groups if students have one-to-one access to the cameras.

The composer, author, and teacher, John Cage, was exercised by our 'inability' to truly listen when approaching sound. In exploring the influences on Cage's avant-garde style, specifically the spiritual discipline found in both Zen Buddhism and Chance operations, this paper attempts to distinguish his philosophy (and use) of "silence" and "chance" as an aesthetic pedagogy. In accordance with Dewey's aesthetic theory and Shusterman's Somaesthetics, resolving the inability to listen is aesthetically conceived as somatic 'attuning' to the occurrence of chance sounds in the ambience of the world. By maintaining Cage's spiritually informed approach as a compositional framework, this paper highlights how his philosophy of silence is pedagogically illustrative of the "active" engagement we can have with the world. This approach is most apparent in Cage's "4'33"," where the 'musicalizing' of everyday sounds erodes the boundaries between art and life, creating a continuity with the world. Somewhat problematically, Cage attempted to make this possible by channelling experience into a state of immersion, unifying art and life by 'letting go' of subjectivity. But as is shown by the Fluxus artists who were inspired by Cage's teachings, the possibility for negotiating Cage's terms brings with it an opportunity to theoretically reflect on the educational processes that underpin Cage's approach to sound.

This paper seeks to introduce a meaning-making process called 'sensuous abstraction' as one approach to aesthetic experience in line with Dewey's philosophy. Dewey highlights aesthetic experience as the best form of experience that integrates emotional and intellectual qualities to foster deep learning and insights. Building on contemporary research on sensation, affect, and human brain, this paper identifies two distinct modes of human understanding: the linguistic/conceptual system and the sensuous-imaginative system. The former, often associated with abstraction and intellectual thinking, is heavily emphasized in traditional schooling, but the latter, integral to human cognition, is sadly neglected and overlooked. While situational meaning offers a way to bridge the two systems, it often falls short of leading to aesthetic experience. In response, sensuous abstraction can promote a process of meaning making that becomes more general than sensation but never as general as linguistic categories while maintaining its sensory wholeness as aesthetic experience demands. Using a classical artwork as an example, this paper concludes sensuous abstraction can be adopted as one approach for educators to create learning experiences by integrating sensory experience and generalizations and abstractions that lead to aesthetic experience.

This article presents a study on the development of art environments for young talented artists across 4 municipalities in the western part of Jutland, Denmark. Within this context and based on systems thinking, neosystems thinking and a holistic ecological approach to talent development, the researchers identify and describe three transcontextual art talent environments (Off-Track, Film, Show-up). Based on the neo-systemic concepts of symmathesy (Together-learning), the pivotal point in this study, was to identify organizational markers in the development of a strong talent infrastructure across the municipalities. This to enable and cultivate the artistic potential of young people. The research question of the study was: "Which organizational markers cultivate the development of art talent environments in the context of four Danish municipalities in the western part of Jutland?" The study is based on interviews with seven different public servants from different municipalities in the western part of Jutland and build on a prior research regarding young artists within different artistic fields and their instructors. Through a generic thematic analysis, four organizational markers were identified (organizing, strategizing, license to operate, and creative places). The paper argues that an orientation towards environments as a symmathesy and towards organizational markers can help organizations improve artistic talent environments across municipalities. Further, the role of public servants as talent stewards is discussed in the discussion.

This paper examines the interplay of creativity, education, and the expressive arts. We begin by presenting a narrative literature review focusing on the use of artistic tools to promote creativity, self-expressiveness, and meaningful aspects of emotional and social learning. This review reveals strong connections between the different components of this interplay, and a special attention is given to the use of arts to promoting creativity and meaningful learning. We then propose the Empowering Creative Education Model (ECEM), which aims to provide a practical framework for employing artistic tools in each of the model's four developmental circles: I, Us, Educational and Community. Each of the four circles includes unique aspects of personal development.

The Jessica Stockholder Papers in the Archives of American Art Journal provide a comprehensive look at the Canadian-American artist's career, featuring correspondence, notes, exhibition files, and documentation of her site-specific installations and sculptures. Spanning from the late 1970s to her retirement in 2024, the archive showcases Stockholder's creative process and includes drawings and models for unrealized projects, offering insight into her artistic evolution over four decades. Researchers can explore both Stockholder's completed works and the paths not taken, illuminating the depth and breadth of her practice. [Extracted from the article]

This paper explores children's understandings of Acknowledgement to Country practices and Aboriginal knowledges. Guided by the relational lenses of respect, responsibility and reciprocity, we conducted focus groups with children across five Australian early education centres. We found that Acknowledgement practices were evident through recitation of their Acknowledgement to Country, engaging with artefacts, and/or discussion of artworks. Secondly, children demonstrated emerging understandings about place names, the symbolic use of flags for places and people, and Australian plants and animals. Thirdly, Aboriginal cultures as living cultures were evident in temporal discussions about people and culture. Finally, imaginative play implied efforts to make sense of Aboriginal concepts and language. Across the study, children were active in experimenting with ideas in their own meaning making. Acknowledgement to Country was not a moment in the day; rather, it was embedded throughout the day through routines, storytelling, play and creative activities, all designed to foster learning.

Dealing with conflicts seems to be a great challenge in society today. But not only in society. Higher education displays an air of resoluteness with certainty and security that disguises the conflicts and the fear of conflicts in a substantial number of subjects. If not in a state of denial, higher education avoids taking up conflicts over issues, for learning. The detailed investigation of Tagore's pedagogical writings, with a focus on the importance of conflicts in education, reveals a genuine embrace of conflicts for education. Conflicts are natural and necessary for the development and change of both the individual and society and the start of a 'creative imagination' to solve the problems we face in life. Contradictions in conflicts are not incompatible incongruities that are irreconcilable and mutually exclusive, but to the contrary, in need of each other. Contradictions do not represent different worlds but are substantial parts of one world: together they form a unity. Conflicting forces are necessary to create harmony. Creativity, imagination, love, art, and critical encounters are key elements in Tagore's practical education aimed at finding similarities among people instead of emphasizing differences. Relations between people over the Identity of people. In other words, we need conflicts to become creative and imaginative human beings. The paper continues discussing conceptual and practical issues that seem necessary to get the teaching of conflicts in education off the ground. On the conceptual level, in particular our dealing with uncertainty and fear, the valuation of conflict and the need for uncertainty-researching education. On a practical level, I propose a certain teaching model, a supportive curriculum, a way of choosing genuine conflicts for education and finally, I argue for specific support and education of teachers, acknowledging the vital role teachers play in delivering the education that we need.

Brazilian writer Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977) was born in a rural community and spent most of her life in a slum. Despite this, her literary work achieved remarkable editorial success, having its value recognized by critics and academic circles. This paper analyzes Carolina Maria de Jesus's autobiographical narratives in the light of John Dewey's aesthetic theory, with the purpose of investigating the factors responsible for the development of her aesthetic sensitivity -- intellectual and emotional dispositions favorable to involvement with artistic practices. The results suggest that Carolina Maria de Jesus's literary skills, which express not only individual but also collective yearnings, resulted from the incentive she received to think about things that do not exist and from her relationship with people who favored the formation of a personality open to varied experiences. Such results are presented as requirements for a democratic and humanist education that aims at the flowering of aesthetic sensitivity and encourages educators and students to believe in their creative potential.

Learning around artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies that attends to power is an urgent and widely felt priority among the learning sciences and CS ed broadly. Popular approaches to AI education focus on technical skills, with far less theoretical and practical work around critical and justice-centered AI learning. Adding to this literature, we discuss tool design and observed interactions in Drag vs AI workshops, where participants use hands-on makeup art as a medium for fooling, subverting, and refusing facial recognition. Our broader analysis asks how participants make sense of the technical and political aspects of AI, as they interact with AI through the Drag vs AI workshops' modes of aesthetic transformation, tinkering, and resistance. In this paper, we focus on participants' embodied algorithmic tinkering with AI and affordances for justice-centered computing education. Our analysis highlights how tinkering and play modes of interaction with AI materials can promote critical and agentive learning.

The development of new approaches to digital art is based on improving a variety of technologies. The main goal of this paper is to identify the gamification of digital art through the promotion of speculative design and interactive experiences. To achieve this goal, theoretical and practical methods were used in the research. A survey determined approaches the designers used to improve their skills. Most respondents (28%) prefer reading books and watching video blogs on their own while 22% of designers took professional courses. Therefore, mechanisms that promote respondents' involvement in selecting professional courses for designers have been described. Cognitive assessment of the skills acquired after completing the course showed significant advantages compared to those observed at the start of the experiment. This was confirmed by the Cohen coefficient. The hierarchy analysis method also contributed to the identification of program elements that are most important for the development of professional skills while not relying exclusively on the data from respondents. The value of the presented work lies in the possibility to improve the skills of gamification in the field of design with the help of the developed mechanisms, the effectiveness of which has been confirmed in practice.

Given that societies across the globe are increasingly multicultural and multilingual, the notion of communicative competence grounded in constricting definitions of national cultures and languages reflects neither our instructional realities nor the sociolinguistic reality of the languages and cultures we teach. To foster students' development of second language (L2) competence grounded in an awareness of the symbolic construction of language and culture as well as "tolerance for ambiguity" (Kramsch, 2006), students must create with L2, rather than just reproduce what they have learned. After briefly outlining changing conceptions of language competency, this paper first describes how public uses of language and images through signs and graffiti make up a given place's linguistic landscape (LL), defines an evolving concept, and illustrates how it can be effectively used in L2 instruction. Then it highlights how a variety of LL-based activities help language learners become cognizant of their own sociolinguistic contexts and provides concrete examples from intermediate to advanced-level classes in two distinctly different German programs. The different approaches encourage students to combine LL-based activities with visual, literary, and film analysis to develop symbolic competencies that prepare them to negotiate unpredictable and diverse cultural norms.

This paper addresses the current debates, anxieties, and perceptions around the idea of scholarly artistic research within doctoral studies, internationally and in South Africa. A common point of contention, both in South Africa and in the international arena, is the reluctance within institutional structures and external bodies to accept artmaking as research and the creative production or artifact as a legitimate component of the research output. Creative practice is permissible at the doctoral level of study but usually research or new knowledge that emerges from such practice is evaluated and analyzed through the lens of textual research. The unwillingness to qualify practice as autonomous research is coupled with its awkward positioning in the humanities as a kind of study secondary to and distinct from that associated with scientific research methodology. This discussion engages with policies, developments, debates, and discourse around practice-based doctoral study in South African and globally, with the hope of presenting a comprehensive overview of the current state of doctoral level artistic research. Moreover, in drawing on international discourse and precedents the study proposes some guidelines, parameters and methodological approaches that can contribute to the understanding and development of doctoral artistic research in South Africa.

This paper investigates research quality criteria in the Creative Arts (CA). The CA has been introduced into the higher education and research sector over the last three decades. It is thus a relatively new research field and there is little empirical knowledge on how outputs in this field should be evaluated. Our study applies a mixed-method approach to assess the relevance of quality criteria used in performance-based research funding systems (PRFSs) in 10 countries. The results of a qualitative analysis of interviews with artists-academics (N = 67) and Joint Correspondence Analysis show that when art is evaluated in the context of academic research, both the traditional indicators of artistic quality as well as the cognitive and research-related aspects of the arts are believed to be significant. The JCA analysis also showed that the majority of our respondents found both extrinsic quality criteria (related to reputation and prestige) and intrinsic criteria (related to cognition and development) relevant.

This paper will explore the dichotomy of direction and stimulus through a reflection on arts-based methods used in a research study into post-industrial communities in South Wales and consider whether in participatory processes, a catalyst for artistic creativity could become construed as researcher-led control over the activities. Through an examination of the methods and outcomes of the project, which employed a range of qualitative methods with an artistic and creative basis, I reflect on the positives and negatives of such an approach and also consider how my positionality affected my epistemological stance. Ultimately, I conclude that the complex storying of participatory activities and the issues of power and identity involving both researcher and participants inevitably means that the research 'dance' blurs the distinction between participation and direction.

"Gendernaut. Queering the Future" is a project influenced by queer theories, transfeminist activism and science fiction. It reflects on the potential of various strategies related to accessibility, distribution, socialization and playful reinterpretation of feminist and queer archives. The creation of archives, software programming, audiovisual production, performing performances or developing games all serve as artistic strategies aimed at invigorating archives. They share a clear intent to enhance accessibility to archives that document the memories of feminist and gender and sexuality dissident communities. Through transmedia and performative experiences, we envision the archive as a living, interactive space, devoid of heteropatriarchal codes, inhabited by multiple bodies and subjectivities linking past, present and future to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study leverages visual design processes to construct a conceptual representation of domestic spaces. Drawing upon personal growth experiences, this work aims to foster reflection on family culture and elicit a fresh perspective on representations of family and home. The design manifests as a 3D installation piece, integrating geometric and organic forms in a novel synthesis of visual communication design. Mixed technique methodologies underscore the artwork's versatility, capturing the complexity and breadth of home as a concept. The creation process incorporated data from environmental conditions, relevant academic literature, and visual art influences. Analysis centered on the clarity of the theme, the symbolic form of the work, and the creative techniques employed, revealing an in-depth exploration of graphic design, interface design, and illustration principles. This study highlights housing as an elemental component of human life, serving as the nexus for sustenance, shelter, and travel. The artwork--an assembly of acrylic panels shaped into simple, uncluttered forms and decorated with paper-cut patterns--translates this concept into a tangible visual reality. It reflects the influential role of visual arts and graphic design in societal narratives. Light within the artwork, symbolizing warmth, creates a space imbued with love, joy, music, and laughter. The piece thus encapsulates a shared understanding of home, underlining the capacity of visual design to create universally resonant yet individually unique experiences. In conclusion, this work underscores the educational and societal significance of visual design, encouraging further exploration into home-themed art and its capacity to bolster societal stability and unity. It advances understanding of the aesthetics of home - its shape, color, and the interplay between Chinese paper-cut patterns and the home concept. This exploration reinforces the need for continued investigation into the potential of visual design to articulate and shape fundamental human spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a reflective account of delivering art workshops in women's prisons in England, as one method in a larger, qualitative study around the role of food in prisons. We present reflections around the role of art workshops in building relationships and community between the researcher and the participants, and the participants themselves. We found that building connection through art workshops, in a hostile and challenging environment like prison, enabled us to gather richer and deeper data during the qualitive interviews that succeeded the art workshops. We propose that attention from researchers to the 'unintended consequences' can contribute to research projects which are impactful for both the participants and researchers. This paper addresses gaps in literature around the use of visual art as method in women's prisons and the role of arts-based methods in larger qualitative research projects in secure settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a paradigm shift in work culture in the contemporary art sector due to digital transition and the introduction of AI. New ways of working with AI and digital software are embedded and normalized in everyday Chinese artistic practices. This work includes new forms of creativity and efficiency, yet, simultaneously includes new types of digital labour. This paper conceptualizes this as "digital art work," which draws attention to the often-overlooked aspects of artists' work, particularly their everyday artistic practices that increasingly include digital software and AI. What is the role and position of the artist in an environment where digital software and AI are becoming more central in artistic creation? How do artists creatively (mis)use AI? What does this paradigm shift in work culture mean for the future of the artist's role and the future of the contemporary art sector? This paper draws on 48 semi-structured interviews with visual artists and arts professionals, including painters, sculptors, mixedmedia, and internet artists as well as contemporary art gallery owners, museum project directors, curators, and culture policymakers living and working in China during 2023. The findings show how Chinese artists are mastering AI and opening up new spaces for creativity and how the contemporary art sector in China has already transitioned to a new "digital way" in artistic creation. These findings can help to create policy around AI globally and provide solutions for the sustainability of the artist profession and the future of the contemporary art sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fung Ming Chip (馮明秋, b. 1951) is a contemporary artist based in Hong Kong who practices shufa (書法, lit. "the way of writing"). Traditionally, shufa is the art of writing Chinese characters with a brush on paper or silk; it is deeply connected to the arts of poetry and painting. However, the theories of making and viewing that undergird traditional shufa, as well as the stakes of its contemporary practice, remain largely unknown to Western audiences. This essay is a response to Fung's latest solo exhibition, entitled NumberS Series. It considers how Fung Ming Chip's latest works have moved beyond traditional shufa practice and language itself to examine the relationship between art and time. Unlike previous critical works that contextualize Fung's art with respect to Euro–North American art and art history, this article uses Fung's writings and early Chinese theories of aesthetics and ontology to establish that his art works in a distinctly non-Western manner that has its own relevance and perspective for a contemporary, global audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comic inpainting is essential for language localization and adapting comics into animations, involving the removal of speech boxes, textboxes, and sound effects while maintaining artistic integrity. This paper introduces an automated approach leveraging the Manga inpainting method by Xie et al., adapted for western comics like Tex Willer. Tex Willer comics, known for their fusion of Italian art and American Western imagery, pose unique challenges due to their distinct styles. Customized Manga Restoration and Structural Line Extraction codes are employed, along with automated mask generation using deep CNN-based speech balloon detection and segmentation. Our contributions include the development of a precise model tailored to Tex Willer Comics, resulting in visually coherent inpainting results. The paper follows a structured format, covering State-of-the-Art, methodology, results, and conclusions, aiming to streamline the process of western comic inpainting for professionals in the comics and animation industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital health technologies (DHTs) at the intersection of health, medical informatics, and business aim to enhance patient care through personalised digital approaches. Ensuring the efficacy and reliability of these innovations demands rigorous clinical validation. A PubMed literature review (January 2006 to July 2023) identified 1250 papers, highlighting growing academic interest. A focused narrative review (January 2018 to July 2023) delved into challenges, highlighting issues such as diverse regulatory landscapes, adoption issues in complex healthcare systems, and a plethora of evaluation frameworks lacking pragmatic guidance. Existing frameworks often omit crucial criteria, neglect empirical evidence, and clinical effectiveness is rarely included as a criterion for DHT quality. The paper underscores the urgency of addressing challenges in accreditation, adoption, business models, and integration to safeguard the quality, efficacy, and safety of DHTs. A pivotal illustration of collaborative efforts to address these challenges is exemplified by the Digital Health Validation Center, dedicated to generating clinical evidence of innovative healthcare technologies and facilitating seamless technology transfer. In conclusion, it is necessary to harmonise evaluation approaches and frameworks, improve regulatory clarity, and commit to collaboration to integrate rigorous clinical validation and empirical evidence throughout the DHT life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of women in Nazi Germany and ways the policy and propaganda implemented and enacted both plans an policies to transform women into the mothers of the nation. The paper will focus on the ways propaganda posters were used in order to engage public opinion, using the power of visual arts into manipulating public opinion that the body of a woman should be devoted to the Reich, (re-)producing the pure-blooded German and support the creation of a new empire. The posters supported and acted as a direct reminder of the policies set by Nazi regime, and their ideology on family planning, racial purity and gender roles. The propaganda machine that produced them borrowed symbols from religious works of the Renaissance connecting the "ideal mother" to images of Holy Mary, in a twisted connection between religion and social engineering. The presentation will discuss about the ways Nazi Germany elaborated the role of women, the (ab)use of their body and the ideal depiction of it according to the regime, the distortion of iconic renaissance paintings along with the ways that religion and public policy have been weaved in order to manipulate and re-educate an entire nation will be parts of the presentation in order to highlight this interesting part of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although visual arts pedagogies are considered central within early childhood education programs, teacher self-efficacy has a direct impact on the quality and delivery of visual arts curricula. Until recently, the visual arts self-efficacy, pedagogical knowledge, and practice of in-service early childhood teachers have remained largely unexplored. The authors of this paper present a qualitative, iterative re-analysis of their three PhD studies which broadly focussed on early childhood visual arts praxis and specifically examined the visual arts beliefs and pedagogy of early childhood teachers in Australia and New Zealand. A thematic analysis of the intersecting self-efficacy findings raised in the three studies identifies the powerful influence of self-efficacy on teaching practice in the visual arts domain and offers new understandings about visual arts self-efficacy amongst early childhood teachers. The combined findings reveal several factors that restrain or enhance teachers' visual arts self-efficacy across time, including the impact of childhood experiences, pre-service training and epistemological beliefs. The paper also identifies several enabling conditions that appear to support teachers to develop and maintain positive visual arts self-efficacy beliefs, including practical engagement with materials, sustained professional learning, relational trust and intentional leadership. These enabling conditions offer practical strategies and research recommendations in service of positive visual arts self-efficacy to enhance quality visual arts teaching in early childhood contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in art school histories and the archives that support them has grown over the past decade, yet institutional recordkeeping practices and collecting, where they exist, do not tend to capture the kind of records that are most useful for research into art school pedagogies or their relationship with contemporary art discourse. This article gives an archive studies perspective on the Fine Art Critical Practice (FACP) Archive, a collaborative project to collect archival sources documenting the history of the FACP degree programme at the University of Brighton, UK, to be held at the University of Brighton Design Archives and activated through involvement of the FACP community of staff and students. It considers the records of interest to that community may lie in the context of an art school archive within an institution. It goes on to consider the example of a body of papers received from a former member of FACP staff, Mick Hartney, reflecting on some of the questions raised by this mode of collecting in terms of archival arrangement and knowledge production for the project's future phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Art forms such as music and drama are among some recognised tools used by educators. This has sparked interest in how art can be used in education, making it a fertile field for educational research. However, there is a missing connection in how drawing can be used as a tool for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students to learn about literature. Methodology - This paper will incorporate an Arts-Based Research (ABR) method to determine how visual art, particularly drawing, can be used as a tool to advance EFL students' understanding of a selected literary text, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (2015) This qualitative study, viewed through the lens of Richard Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML), involved 10 EFL participants and revealed strategies for integrating drawing that are absent in traditional approaches. Additionally, Hameed's (2022) elements of art, Yenawine's (2014) Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), and Showalter's (2003) concepts of literature learning will be included to ground the framework of the intervention. Findings - This study can be regarded as a method to liberate traditional teaching practices into contemporary approaches, serving as a tool to merge cultural knowledge while improving confidence, higher-order thinking skills, and expression. It also allows educators to be flexible and provoke more reflection and participation. The data discusses three main strategies in exploring how integrating drawing can help EFL students learn about literature: mining to trigger thoughts, engaging with the senses, and giving permission to wonder. Visual art allows individuals to create their responses by exploring new ideas and representing emotions, confirming plans, and comprehending the deeper level of literary texts. Significance - The study will offer insight and work as an alternate strategy for educators and learners alike to utilise visual art as a tool in teaching and learning literature. The findings will also ease the alarming condition where literature teaching and learning are stereotyped as daunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is highlighting the unique phenomenon of modern Ukrainian sacred art - holy icons painted on panels made of ammunition boxes brought from the war zone in Ukraine. The aim of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive study of the project "Holy Icons on Ammunition Boxes" from the point of view of art history and social culture; to understand the prerequisites for the appearance of the art project "Holy Icons on the Ammunition Boxes" and its functions as social and volunteer project; to carry out an art analysis of separate holy icons and icon painting cycles of this art project. Several interviews with the creators of the project - artists Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova - were conducted, based on which the necessary conditions for the creation of holy icons, their symbolism, iconography, and social function (which is manifested in the support of the First Voluntary Mobile Hospital named after Mykola Pirogov) were analysed. The project "Holy Icons on Ammunition Boxes" carries an important function of unification and fusion: stitching together the rear and the frontline. Its symbolism is based on the antithesis of death and life, the transformation of death into life, not only on a symbolic level, but also literally since all funds from the holy icons' sales are directed to saving the lives of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Weapons, which are originally instruments of death, acquire the opposite symbolic qualities, and become sacred artifacts. The article analyses both the artistic features of the project and its social function, which is no less important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pictorialism emerged in the last quarter of the nineteenth century as a global aesthetic movement that argued for photography's artistic status on par with other plastic arts more powerfully than ever. Archives from South Asia demonstrate the movement's thriving life in the subcontinent with Calcutta emerging as a centre and its bilingual amateur photographer-writers as major participants simultaneously engaging in globally circulating specialist discourses on pictorialism and popular discussions of their practice aimed at public pedagogy. By looking into Bangla periodical press this paper investigates how Bengali pictorialists used popular Bangla magazines in the early twentieth century to establish their distinct voice regarding what counted as artistic photography as they engaged with a non-specialist mass readership. Mass-circulated Bangla articles were not vernacular translations of knowledge and practices produced in metropolitan locations and disseminated in transregional languages like English. Vernacular was an extension of Bengali amateur photographers' participation in global photography, as they remained grounded in their historical specificity. These amateur photographers were bilingual intellectuals who wrote in English for a global public and in Bangla for a Bangla-reading publics and refraining from translating culture as they moved across languages. Indeed, articulations in vernacular didn't mean a venularization of practice; they indicate plurality of belonging and affiliation that crafted the pictorialist aesthetic of the Bengali amateurs. By unpacking this intellectual history, this paper decenters the Euro-US-centric history of pictorialism towards writing an interconnected history of the artistic movement, while also complicating the category of modern Indian art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Sport & Exercise / Türk Spor ve Egzersiz Dergisi is the property of Turkish Journal of Sport & Exercise and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Karen Sames was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. From an early age, she was surrounded by art. An experience with occupational therapy during the third grade jumpstarted her journey connecting art to occupation. Karen believes that art is a necessary part of life and credits much of her own personal success with art to her friends and family for their inspiration and to the instructors at the Eagan Art House in Minnesota. Her piece "Cherry Blossoms," a pastel on paper, is based on a photograph taken by her son, who is currently living in Japan, and graces the cover of the Spring 2024 edition of The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TEME: Casopis za Društvene Nauke is the property of TEME: Casopis za Drustvene Nauke and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of TEME: Casopis za Društvene Nauke is the property of TEME: Casopis za Drustvene Nauke and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The funeral rite, locally called oshwue-aji, is a funeral condolence outing among the Nsukka Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. It features performances, enlivened with art objects and costumes. It is imbued with remarkable social significance. This paper examines varying performances and costumes associated with the oshwue-aji rite. The condolence trip displays exquisitely crafted bracelets, pendants, clothing, and other fashion accessories worn by the bereaved – children, daughters, sons, as well as daughters' and sons’ in-laws with their spouses. Relying on Paul Horwich's use theory of meaning, this paper discusses the distinctive nature of these visual art objects to understand their symbolic and social functions. It equally presents the phenomenon of oshwue-aji, directed towards understanding the nature of sociality these incorporated artistic dimensions generate within the social space per time. Interviews and personal observations were relied on for data collection from people performing the oshwue-aji rite because they are bereaved. Being a qualitative study, the art forms and related objects that constitute the data were analyzed descriptively. Beyond serving to epitomize vivacity and gaiety, these artistic creations remain an orchestration to appreciate, publicize, and promote. The paper finds that people's engagements in funerals with creative elements and donations and/or exchange of gifts build social solidarity in traditional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of art. Drawing on the philosophy and ethics of AI, this study examines the ethical challenges that may arise in the art domain. Given the increasing use and penetration of AI in the field of art, there is a need for more careful attention to the ethical dimensions of this phenomenon by scholars of art and philosophy. To achieve the objective of the paper, concepts such as AI, some of its techniques, and the ethical issues of AI in art are explained and analyzed using the analytical-descriptive method. The findings of the study reveal that ethical issues such as privacy and surveillance, manipulation of behavior, opacity and transparency, bias in decision systems, and automation and employment can be investigated in the field of art. These ethical issues are sometimes in conflict and sometimes in direct relation with each other. This study suggests that addressing the ethical questions of AI in the field of art requires addressing the ethical questions of AI in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese painting (TCP) is an invaluable cultural heritage resource and a unique visual art style. In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the digitalization of TCP for cultural preservation and revitalization. The resulting digital copies have enabled the advancement of computational methods for a structured and systematic understanding of TCP. To explore this topic, we conduct an in-depth analysis of 94 pieces of literature. We examine the current use of computer technologies on TCP from three perspectives, based on numerous conversations with specialists. First, in light of the "Six Principles of Painting" theory, we categorize the articles according to their research focus on artistic elements. Second, we create a four-stage framework to illustrate the purposes of TCP applications. Third, we summarize the popular computational techniques applied to TCP. This work also provides insights into potential applications and prospects, with professional opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intention of achieving objectives through art seemingly conflicts with Kant's tenet that judgments of taste should be devoid of conceptual determinations. According to Kant, beautiful art must be viewed as the product of genius, a rare gift of nature that operates through the work of aesthetic ideas. This prompts inquiries into the respective roles of genius and taste in the production of beautiful art. It has been proposed that genius is a mere concept, a universal capacity, or a collaborator with taste, but these accounts are found to be deficient. Drawing upon Kant's distinction between free beauty and adherent beauty, this paper demonstrates that genius is neither sufficient nor necessary to produce beautiful art. Furthermore, this paper investigates the significance of taste in artistic production, taking into consideration the autonomy and refinement of taste over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology originally defined parent–child conflict in terms of interpersonal relationships, where parent–child conflict is a process of inconsistent attitudes between parents and children that occurs in a family setting. For this end, we aims to investigate the influence of parental awareness on preschoolers' perception of parent–child conflict and the mediating role of preschoolers' self-esteem. This paper proposes a dynamic parent–child relationship discovery algorithm based on the impact of parent–child cooperation activities on preschool children's development. We applied SPSS and Mplus statistical software for data processing and analysis, and Nvivo 11.0 qualitative software for validation and analysis. The reliability of preschool children's perceived parent–child conflict and sub-dimensions were: 0.901, 0.799, 0.791, 0.811, 0.729; the total scale and the retest reliability of each dimension were: 0.914, 0.837, 0.836, 0.792, 0.711. Validated factor analysis using Mplus: RMSEA = 0.075, TLI = 0.856, CFI = 0.876, SRMR = 0.064. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transformative experiences (TEs) have been conceptualized in many ways, contexts, magnitudes, and durations, but at their heart, they entail some manner of adjustment, which contributes to changing individuals' worldviews, actions, views of others and/or their own feelings, personality, and identity. Among the many elicitors identified as being able to foster TEs, an emerging body of literature has suggested that TEs might be prevalent in aesthetics or emerged from encounters with human art. Beyond denoting ordinary moments characterizing our daily lives, art and aesthetics could occasionally represent profound changes, causing shifts in our perceptions, beliefs and understanding of the world. However, in the realm of psychological inquiry, the extent to which art and aesthetics can be considered potential catalysts for transformation remains a topic of debate. Furthermore, a comprehensive identification of the key psychological components that contribute to the process of transformation before, during, and after aesthetic engagement is still missing. Aims: This systematic review endeavors to address these gaps by synthesizing literature on aesthetic transformative experiences either from the field of psychology or explicitly delving into the psychological impact of transformative experiences within the realm of art and aesthetics. It encompasses both theoretical and empirical papers to determine key aspects and psychological components that characterize TEs. Methods: Two major electronic databases were systematically searched. The review was conducted in accordance with Liberati et al. (2009) and PRISMA guidelines. All stages of the review were conducted independently by three researchers, and the protocol was published on PROSPERO (Registration no.: CRD42022298655). Results: Although 39.440 studies were identified, only 23 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review, as most studies did not explicitly delve into the long-lasting psychological impact of art and aesthetics. Discussion: The results confirm the potential of art and aesthetics as elicitors of transformation regardless of the type of artwork and the usage context. Moreover, it also identifies some psychological components necessary for transformation in the realm of art and aesthetics, including facilitating conditions/pre-expectations, cognitive discrepancy, epiphany and insight, and several after-effects on the recipient. Conclusion: The review aids in refining and enriching the concept of transformative experience, paving the way for further research and applications in various fields, including not only psychology but also education and therapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reported an exploratory study that examined secondary school students’ understanding of collaborative discourse in a computer-supported knowledge building environment in characterizing and scaffolding their engagement in productive online discourse. The participants were thirty-eight secondary school students in a visual arts course. A designed computer-supported knowledge building environment supported by Knowledge Forum®, an online discussion platform, was applied to the class, and knowledge-building talk was integrated into the classroom. The knowledge-building talk in the classroom involved the students’ reflections on their online participation through the explicit discussion of knowledge-building principles to scaffold the students’ understanding of collaborative discourse. Quantitative analysis indicated that the students’ views and understanding of collaborative work and discourse were related to their engagement in online discourse and domain knowledge. Qualitative analysis showed how the Knowledge Forum and the classroom knowledge-building talk supported students in developing an understanding of collaborative discourse. The implications of examining students’ understanding of collaborative discourse in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on children's literature focuses on preschool children's books (children aged 3–6) and on juvenile fiction, yet is lacking in studies on toddler books (ages 0–3). In this paper, I present a definition of the genre of toddler books (often referred to as boardbooks, despite it including non-boardbooks), while focusing on the illustrational aspects, that are at least as dominant as the written texts, if not more so. I also examine the plots and themes that are presented in toddlers' books, distinguishing between concept books (lexical books with no narrative), ritual books (which engage in instilling certain habits), and narrative books (toddlers' books that depict a complex narrative and serve as preparation for prereader books). The findings of the study indicate that toddlers' books are often infants' first encounter with both narrative thought and visual art, hence their significant place in their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper catalyses the academic urgency to understand agri-food system transformation pathways. Such transformation requires new food growing imaginaries of rooted in a change of thinking and ways of engaging with more-than-human perspectives. Urban spaces are hubs of human and more-than-human interactions, and urban organic farming offers an excellent site for exploring such new food growing imaginaries. The research presented here innovates theoretical and methodological knowledge in more-than-human geography. It develops alternative food growing imaginaries through a sensory ethnography at an urban organic workers’ cooperative Organiclea and visual arts methodologies. Through that, the paper brings to the fore the marginalized more-than-human perspectives by exploring more-than-human sensory Umwelts – taste and nutrition for the soil, sound for soil denizens, smell for honeybees, tactile perception for common weeds – and understanding human experience of food growing through sight. Attuning to a more-than-human sensorium broadens our knowledge of the life stories of other biotic and abiotic critters and recognizes that human and more-than-human world-making projects are interconnected. The paper concludes that sensory engagement is critical to the development of new imaginaries for a more sustainable food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art research has long aimed to unravel the complex associations between specific attributes, such as color, complexity, and emotional expressiveness, and art judgments, including beauty, creativity, and liking. However, the fundamental distinction between attributes as inherent characteristics or features of the artwork and judgments as subjective evaluations remains an exciting topic. This paper reviews the literature of the last half century, to identify key attributes, and employs machine learning, specifically Gradient Boosted Decision Trees (GBDT), to predict 13 art judgments along 17 attributes. Ratings from 78 art novice participants were collected for 54 Western artworks. Our GBDT models successfully predicted 13 judgments significantly. Notably, judged creativity and disturbing/irritating judgments showed the highest predictability, with the models explaining 31% and 32% of the variance, respectively. The attributes emotional expressiveness, valence, symbolism, as well as complexity emerged as consistent and significant contributors to the models' performance. Content-representational attributes played a more prominent role than formal-perceptual attributes. Moreover, we found in some cases non-linear relationships between attributes and judgments with sudden inclines or declines around medium levels of the rating scales. By uncovering these underlying patterns and dynamics in art judgment behavior, our research provides valuable insights to advance the understanding of aesthetic experiences considering visual art, inform cultural practices, and inspire future research in the field of art appreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The rapid advancement of digital technology has necessitated a reevaluation of traditional educational methodologies, particularly in literature and visual arts. This study investigates the application of metaverse technology to integrate contemporary poetry and visual arts, aiming to enhance university-level education. The purpose is to develop a convergent teaching method that leverages the immersive and interactive capabilities of the metaverse. The research involves a joint exhibition project with students from Sangmyung University and international participants, incorporating a metaverse-based educational program. A sample of 85 students participated in the program, and their experiences were evaluated through surveys and focus group interviews (FGIs). The findings reveal significant correlations between content satisfaction and method satisfaction, underscoring the importance of engaging and interactive methods. The study also identifies technical challenges and provides insights for optimizing digital platforms for educational purposes. The implications suggest that integrating metaverse technology in arts education can significantly enhance creativity, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary skills, offering a sustainable and innovative approach to modern education. Based on these implications, this paper proposes methods for incorporating the insights gained from case analyses and implications into the design of educational programs. It is anticipated that this approach will contribute to enhancing the quality of convergence education in higher education institutions. Furthermore, it is expected that this program will serve as a starting point for the systematic implementation of integrated education and the use of digital platforms, thereby helping to reduce disparities in integrated education between countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nexus Network Journal guest editor Roberta Spallone introduces papers selected from the Nexus Conference 2023 in Turin for detailed review, expansion and development. These papers identify close links between architecture, mathematics, and specific areas of interest related to historical periods, architectural cultures, typological elements, and analysis tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016 the National Museum in Oslo launched a nationwide touring exhibition that allowed visitors for the first time to touch the sculptures of modernist Aase Texmon Rygh. The aim was to encourage visitors to experience these abstract stone works through the body before engaging with various contextualising practices for a more comprehensive process of meaning-making. Allowing members of the public to touch original sculpture in an exhibition context was new not only for the National Museum but also internationally, and the exhibition generated considerable professional and media attention. In my role as the exhibition's curator, I set out to investigate the interdisciplinary process of developing the exhibition concept and the audience response through a practice-led research project. Drawing on different theoretical perspectives, such as learning theory and interdisciplinary sensory research, and audience surveys which were conducted during the exhibition, I wanted to learn more about how audiences experienced touching the sculptures, and how touch affected their process of meaning making. In this paper, I share some of my findings and also reflect on the importance of practitioners doing research on their own practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]