Abstract

In this thesis I developed a conversation exercise that explored the convergence between talking and making, which have traditionally been differentiated in visual arts curricula, enabling diverse interpretative and creative possibilities in relation to images. This exercise was revised and adjusted throughout three workshops: two with a group of students from the Art Education department at Concordia University and a third one with a different group from the same program. In this exercise, talking was understood as a creative activity where students could reshape their conversations and explore their relation to certain images. More than discussing what a picture represented, I proposed a mapping/talking exercise where we looked at the connections between images and between interpretations. Since the understandings found through conversation are interdependent –they are built in the interactions among the group– talking could enable meanings that individuals would not have been able to achieve on their own. This resulted in a sense of commonality where others’ opinions were not just valid but were also part of a collective creation of meaning and an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning.