National Art Education Association

Believing in Artistic Making and Thinking

Author(s): Lee Emery
Source: Studies in Art Education, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Summer, 1989), pp. 237-248
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1320260
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STUDIES in Art Education Copyright by the
A Journal of Issues and Research National Art Education Association
1989, 30 (4) 237-248

Believing in Artistic Makin

Lee Emery

University of Melbourne, Victo

A case-study approach was used to observe the arti

12 year old children. Ten children of equal gender
tion within a class of 35. The initial purpose of the
thinking processes used by the children when eng
drama, dance, music, and writing craft. The cross-
resulted in the formulation of a basic descriptio
children encountered when presented with artistic ta
artistic .making and thinking was described as inv
children seek a reconciliation between three main
transformation, and representation. An unexpect
lief, however, seemed pivotal to artistic thinkin
driving force which compelled the child to work in t
the presence of an unresolved problem, searching f
ulating forms and images, and arriving at an expr
As this artistic search process has been outlined
the intention in this paper is to explore the notion
the artistic making and thinking process.

Over a period of several years beginning

University in Melbourne set out to probe
making and thinking. Coordinated by Dr W
focussed on children's artistic making and
drama, dance, music, and writing craft. An i
Bath,' was developed to immerse (not drown!
arts program which would form a basis fo
provided the data collection base from which
class of 35 primary (elementary) school child
an extended arts program in the art forms l
Several specialist teachers were employed
programs. A team of eight post-graduate
complex range of data collection procedu
Ten of the children in the class became
Inspiration for the use of case-study method
of literature which surfaced in the late seventies. Robert Stake's notion of
'portrayal' (1975), Elliot Eisner's use of 'thick description' (1977), and Ham
ton and Parlett's work on 'illuminative evaluation' (1977), provided impetus
the use of predominantly qualitative methods. The pre-test/post-test agricultu
al botany method of measurement was deemed inappropriate from the out
The arts classes were dynamic settings in which unpredictable outcomes w
desired and encouraged. Case-study observation made allowance for the sub
unexpected, and complex forces which are intrinsic to the artistic making
thinking process:
An agricultural-botany evaluator is rather like a critic who reviews a
production on the basis of the script and applause-meter ratings, having
missed the performance. (Hamilton and Parlett, 1977, p. 22)

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238 LEE EMERY

Case-study procedure had many advantages over more trad

It enabled observation of the children working over time in
different tasks, in contrast to psycho-measurement techniques
the performance of many children to single tasks. Secondly it
gation of making and thinking in all modes of artistic respond
visual, verbal, tactile, and gestural. Thirdly and most significan
arts classes to function in a relatively normal way. The pre
and video recording equipment etc. became an integral part
situation and did not appear to unduly change the behaviou
involved.
In order to 'triangulate' observations of the children while they were engaged
in artistic tasks, a range of data gathering techniques were used. These included
direct observation and diary notes, videotaping of all sessions (used for analysis
of performing arts sessions in particular), interviews with children, collection of
arts products, photography of children at work, student preference rating
scales, teacher and fellow observer ratings of students, and teachers' comments
on student performance. The conclusion of the 12 month data-gathering period
saw the accumulation of an extensive volume of information! The process over
the next two years became one of progressive refinement and analysis of the
observations. This synthesizing process involved sorting and categorizing to find
patterns in the data collected. The case-studies of the ten children were initially
written in narrative form using a diary format. Issues were then extracted for
analysis and discussion, drawing upon the collected data. Emergent patterns
were gradually extracted showing progressively clearer trends and recurring
observations. The conclusion of this process saw the emergence of social inter-
action, representation, and transformation which appeared to form the crux of
the artistic making and thinking process in all art forms.
The model in Figure 1 illustrates these three dimensions in the outer circles.
It seemed that in order to enter, pursue and complete artistic tasks, the child
needed to consider all three areas. Although the purpose of this paper is to
focus on the catalytic dimension of 'belief' which forms the centre core of the
model, the three outer dimensions will be briefly summarized to form a context
for the discussion.
Basically, it seemed that when children engaged in artistic tasks they had
three main decisions to make. How will I make something that my peers and
teachers will accept? How can I construct this work of art? What will it repre-
sent?
The first question related to the observation that Social Interaction in th
classroom influenced all artistic making and thinking. The persuasive power of

Figure 1. Artistic Making and Thinking as a Search for Reconciliation Among Three Areas

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 MAKING AND THINKING 239

a strong peer group structure within the class served to filter all arti
tasks. This was the most unexpected outcome from the research
suggested that outer forces played a critical determining role in
making and thinking of each child. It also meant that the case-stu
could not be conceived as operating individually but rather as ani
ters, each modifying and influencing the behaviour of the other.
The second question related to the choices that needed to be m
construction of the art product. The label Transformation, was given
that all artistic making involved the changing of form. Whether the
make sound patterns, shape clay, construct a dramatic improvization,
a series of dance movements, the basic transforming process involved
of cognitive and sensory processes in order to compose, shape, or
Cognitive functioning drew upon both logical and divergent modes wh
ry responding could activate a vast range of feeling states. Levels of t
tion could range from simple to complex and from literal to meta
pending upon the developmental level of the child but also dependent
child's willingness to fully utilize cognitive and sensory function
seemed that the artistic maturity of many children varied significantly
art form to another and that children who seemed capable of achievin
sophisticated art products sometimes simply chose not to.
The label Representation, described the notion of 'equivalence.' T
were generally asked to make an art product which suggested, d
portrayed some object, phenomena, or experience. Although some
were less literal, perhaps relying on pure patterning, most tasks r
the product evoke some idea or feeling. This involved the child in
visual, aural, kinetic, gestural, or verbal imagery which suggested the
The capacity of the children to move from literal to abstract or
forms of representation seemed dependent upon three areas; the
of the child, the attained mobility of viewpoint of the child, and
stylistic qualities.
In brief, artistic making and thinking was described as a process of
ing and representing within a socially interactive setting. To return n
purpose of this paper, the following discussion shall explore the ro
as the dimension which activated the child to search for an appr
between the other three dimensions.
Belief
The term belief derived from the use of the word in drama where it has been
said that the actor must suspend disbelief in order to take on a role. Dorothy
Heathcote's film Building Belief shows her working with children to build belief
in a role-play situation. Through carefully chosen questions she challenges the
children to take risks with her and to believe in the role-play situation which
they are going to create together. As Heathcote states:
The important differences between life and this make believe life is that in
the latter there is the opportunity for one problem to be faced at a time
with consequent selectivity being possible and of course for different
permutations of response to be tried. (Heathcote, 1971, p. 52)
The arts are not the 'lived world' but are reflections of experience in the 'lived
world.' Drama situations allow children to experiment with life's issues in a
situation removed from life. In order to enter the drama process the children
made a contract with Heathcote to work with her and believe in the situations

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240 LEE EMERY

that they created. Cynics and skeptics will not survive in H

they simply cannot accept the world of make-believe.
Make-believe, however, does not only belong in the drama clas
of drawing, the child believes that the marks she makes o
worlds, even though she knows they are not. Believing in art im
that marks on paper or shapes in clay can represent very real id
become symbols which express the child's responses to the
pressive symbols may be aural, verbal, visual, tactile, or kin
children are presented with making tasks in art, craft, music,
they are involved in using non-verbal forms of communication.
to use sounds, marks, movements, and gestures to express id
According to Cassirer (1946) symbol systems enable us to rep
and to give meaning to human life by giving form to subje
Langer (1976) wrote of the 'virtual' nature of art, meaning that
but is a semblance of it. In creating a semblance of something t
something apart from the familiar and real world:
The semblance of a thing ... is its direct aesthetic quality
making of a rarified element that serves, in its turn, for
something else - the imaginal art work itself. And this form
discursive but articulate symbol of feeling. (p. 50)
In Langer's terms the artist does not recreate reality but a
The art work is separate from reality and recognized as an
right. Artists are therefore concerned with the world as it seem
therefore are concerned with sensate life; the art work is believ
of this sensate life. When children make art works, they co
make-believe symbols.
Goodman's theory of symbols (1968) offers a useful analysi
which we believe in symbols. In Goodman's view the symbo
expressive form which may be representative, descriptive, d
tive. The symbol may exemplify intrinsic properties and also po
able and understood qualities. The meaning of a symbol how
at literal and metaphoric levels and may not necessarily functio
fixed quality. The prolific writings emanating from Harva
(Goodman et al, 1972) have provided significant evidence tha
and thinking require a great deal more than simply divine i
Overemphasis on creativity, emotion, immediacy has nour
that art is a matter of pure inspiration, that a work blooms su
artist's consciousness and needs only to be embodied. Rathe
that inspiration . . . welcome and exciting when it occur
sporadic and partial; and realisation, whether in physics o
medicine or music, is normally an arduous process, strain
pertinacity. The romantic identification of art with inspir
ages serious examination of what is involved in production or
ing of the arts.
Belief is not simply divine inspiration. The term belief is
intensity of involvement in the artistic search process. Belief is
as the catalyst which drives the individual to want to engage in
tive and sensate processes. It is difficult to imagine making art
for without belief, art becomes sterile, mechanical, and ofte
needs to be present in order to activate other forms of cogn

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 MAKING AND THINKING 241

responding.
During the 'Arts Bath' study it became apparent that belief played a critical
role in the artistic making and thinking process. This was particularly apparent
in the responses of the dominant peer group of boys toward the dance program.
Dance had not been part of the school program for these children prior to the
Arts Bath project. The boys were clearly skeptical of dance and were obviously
conditioned to believe that dance was a feminine activity. Although the dance
teacher worked hard to make dance appealing to them, this group of boys could
not put social pressures aside long enough to allow themselves to believe in the
expressive potential of dance. Their responses in dance remained at a imitative
and literal level of performance and rarely became expressive in any sense.
In all art forms observers noted that abstract and metaphoric forms of artistic
expression could only be achieved if the child was prepared to believe implicitly
in the evocative capacity of the art medium. The very process of formulating a
simplified abstracted design or a subtle musical composition demanded con-
centrated focus. On the other hand literal copying of stereotyped ideas required
less focus for most children. It seemed that the capacity to persist with tasks,
and even to display pleasure for artistic making and thinking, related to a
general capacity to believe in arts making as satisfying work. This could be
described as a form of empathy for artistic making. It was also the capacity to
derive some kind of personal meaning and ownership from the making process
and the emerging product. The term belief was adopted to suggest a willingness
to step inside the artistic process. Those children who did not show this willing-
ness appeared suspicious of artistic making and thinking and performed tasks in
a perfunctory fashion.
The role of belief in the artistic search process will be discussed under four
headings. The first concerns the need for the child to believe that there is some
unresolved problem or that there is something which should be stated, shown,
or made evident. The second area refers to the process which involves the child
making a commitment to define the problem and establish intentionality for
artistic making. The third area refers to the manner of engaging in the artistic
search process. The fourth area refers to expressiveness in artistic making and
thinking.
1. Recognition of an Unresolved Problem
The motivational forces which appear to spur artists to engage in artistic
making have been described in various ways. Piaget (1952) referred to disequi-
librium as providing a force for thinking, while G.M. Mead (1934) referred to
impulse as a disturbance of equilibrium. Ross (1978) referred to this as 'The
antagonistic principle' (1978) and stated:
The creative individual enters into a contest which involves some pain. (p.
12)
Ross also wrote about the artist as seeking to resolve 'some felt disturbance.'
The artistic process was seen by Ross as involving risk and difficulty. Dewey had
earlier also recognised the artistic process as a form of enquiry beginning with a
'felt difficulty' (1910, p. 72). Dewey also stated:
The artist has his problems and thinks as he works. (p. 16)
Donald Graves (1983) labelled the internal force which propels the writer to
write as the 'voice':
The writing process has a driving force called voice. Technically, voice is
not a process component or a step in the journey from choice-rehearsal to

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242 LEE EMERY

final revision. Rather, it underlies every part of the proc

voice is to present the process as a lifeless, mechanical act
imprint of ourselves on our writing. It is that part of the se
the writing ahead, the dynamo in the process. (p. 227)
Voiceless writing, Graves contended, was dead writing; artless w
spirit and life.
In observing the ten case-study children throughout the
seemed that this was the core element which teachers hop
would come to recognize. It was never the intention of any art
child should produce an instantaneous solution. Rather, it se
ers wished the children to see the task as problematic in
desirable that the artistic process be interpreted as work; not s
but as a working process from which personal satisfaction m
Belief in artistic making and thinking involved a willingness
pretence or imaginings of the making process. It involved
accept that artistic works are always a little removed from
commonplace, and the conventional. Children who were un
into artistic making and thinking as a game which involved bel
and the imaginative possibilities which the rules allowed, fa
that artistic products could not be made according to prescr
proven recipes. In artistic making and thinking the task was to
not to follow one.
One of the case-subjects provided the clearest example of a child who recog-
nized the problematic nature of the artistic search process. This was particular-
ly observable in art/craft sessions where she engaged in tasks in an experiment
way by trying possibilities, re-ordering and continually exploring new ways of
approach, often at an abstract or metaphoric level. Children who did not persist
in this way resorted to imitative and more literal ways of making and thinking
2. Establishing a Search for Intentionality
In all arts making sessions, the teacher established a broad parameter i
which the children had to consider possibilities. At the commencement of t
sessions the children could not exactly imagine or describe what they wou
make by the end of the session. The children could only have a vague notion of
their eventual art product, as the product could not be known or realized befor
it was made. Langer contended that the true artist does not set out with t
resolve 'I want to write a lyric,' but instead begins by saying, 'I have an idea for
lyric' (1976, p. 389). The artist therefore, Langer says, cannot know what sh
can express, before she expresses it. The child who enters the artistic tas
embarks on a discovery trail in which one clue leads to another so that t
direction eventually becomes clear.
Harrison (1978) also contended that intentionality is most often activated
the process of constructing and not before it. He argued that the maker does n
impose knowledge upon the medium but works to make images and medium fit
together. Harrison contended that all artistic making has its own grammar
logic of thought. Knowing the artistic medium with all its limitations and poten
tials, however, will not ensure the ability to make an artistic product. Knowing
all about wood is no indication of one's capacity to create a work of art in wood
for not only must one know and sense the qualities of the wood but one mu
know what the wood can do. That is, the maker must be able to imaginative
project a range of possibilities in the wood. Understanding in artistic makin

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 MAKING AND THINKING 243

comes not from learning about, but from trying to do; from testin
within the given medium. The maker must find a suitable marr
form, idea, and medium by discovering and testing, combining,
stracting, altering, etc. The process is one of finding a satisfyin
inner understanding and outer form; working at making an approp
between intention and form. One cannot be imposed on the other. I
of working at the two to find an idea and a form which fit together
ing and transforming the material and the idea, the rightness
determined by the individual's personal satisfaction (meaning)
communicated shared meaning for others within the given cont
son's terms:
The problems of making are not concerned with the maker's knowledge
but with the nature of his thought in what he is doing. (1978, p. 51)
In artistic making, there is always some element of discovery as the maker
attends to the process of construction. It is because of this that the artist can
never know exactly what she will make before she makes it. That is, the problem
cannot be solved before it is posed. The artistic product emerges from a think-
ing, working, constructing, adapting, changing, building process. Harrison
claims that, at most, the artist can say that she is working towards a product.
Intentionality can be no more precise than this.
In observing the making and thinking of the ten children, it was seen that the
ability to delay intentionality assisted the child in several ways. It firstly meant
that the child did not plan ideas which could not be made in the media provided.
Secondly, it allowed time for the child to discover the potential of the medium
used so that ideas could emerge from the developing forms. Thirdly, the child
could allow for possibilities to be included as making progressed. This discovery
process required the child to be open to new ideas and to be accepting of other
alternatives. By delaying intentionality the child showed some flexibility of
approach and a willingness to entertain several ideas. By way of contrast a fixed,
determined attitude closed off possibilities and often resulted in a child trying
unsuccessfully to contrive the medium to fit a fixed previsioned idea. In this
respect Bamberger (1983) has described music making as involving 'conversa-
tion with materials.' Bamberger called this 'conversational learning,' a process
of searching or looking for something which was not as yet known. Like Dorothy
Heathcote (1980) in the area of drama, and Donald Graves (1983) in the area of
writing, Bamberger describes music making as a building process; a process of
searching for coherence among the many possibilities which may be enter-
tained. She explains:
They [tune-builders] are building a unique coherence. Unexpected in-
sight evolves in the work of making, but makers tend only to see it when,
through the evolutionary process of the making itself, they can recognize
it. (p. 73)
If Bamberger's theory may be taken to a final conclusion, it may be seen that
intentionality in the maker's understanding may only be fully realized at the end
of the artistic process, when the maker finally sees what she has made and can
then truly realize the product as being what was sought. In this sense, belief
involved faith that artistic purpose is something to be worked towards, rather
than something that is necessarily present at the beginning of the making
process.
3. Play: Its Role in the Artistic Search Process

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244 LEE EMERY

In the learning and practising of artistic skills there is often lit

individual response since repetition of certain processes in dan
ramics, drama, and crafts are the means by which skills are es
basic vocabulary for making. However, the making process o
study implies the need for more leeway in which the individual c
the artistic testing and discovery necessary in the search for arti
In over-prescriptive frameworks, the individual does not have suf
oeuverability to test and discover possibilities. A certain playf
quired so that limitations do not unduly impinge upon or restrict
possible making options. In his book entitled 'play,' Jerome
wrote:

We unashamedly confess to entertaining the plausible hypothesis that t

evolution of play might be a major precurser to the emergence of langu
and symbolic behaviour in higher primates and man. (p. 21)
Belief in the value of artistic play may be a key factor enabling the ind
to bring cognitive, affective, and physical elements together. Without a p
approach to thinking, it would seem that imaginative thought, requiring
lation and conjecturing about possibilities, may not be possible.
Play may also serve as a factor in the development of less-literal fo
thinking. In studying the learning of mathematics in young children
(1963) observed the significant function of play in the formation of
thought processes. Play, Dienes proposed, may be either:
(a) Exploratory-manipulative play in which the child shows curiosity tow
materials.
(b) Play which involves searching for regularities involving the formulation
of a rule structure which is a closure that ties up all the loose ends of part
experience. Rules give security and when mastered become a source of
manipulation.
Imaginative manipulation, Dienes claimed, is at the heart of mathematical
learning. Abstraction, in Dienes' view, evolves from a process which begins with
manipulation of the elements. Manipulation (which Dienes likens to play)
involves the testing and inventing of rules and the finding of regularities, com-
munalities, and links between the elements. Once patterns have emerged these
may be represented using visual signs, diagrams, notation, and formulas. These
become an invented language which may be used to describe the relationship
between the elements. This is a process of formalization in which a system is
invented to describe mathematical relationships. It becomes a theory of the
system. In a similar vein, artistic making may be seen as the result of interplay
between images arising in the mind and representations possible within the
medium. In artistic making the artist searches for a system for translating the
intangible images of mind into tangible and visible forms within the medium.
The artistic statement is a formalized system or theory which manifests the
artistic thinking process.
Play then is a dynamic term which suggests that individuals have the capacity
to manipulate phenomena and change 'realities.' Bruner (1976) suggests that
the facility to role-play is an essential aspect not only of childhood but for much
of adult life, contending that it is frequently difficult to decide firmly between
reality and make-believe in adult life. Sporting contests, public ceremonies, and
politics may be serious adult activities. Yet all involve pretending, abiding by
the rules, and playing roles. In order to engage in these activities adults must

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 MAKING AND THINKING 245

believe in the rules and codes of conduct which the activity dem
cannot play the game of golf properly if they believe that chasin
around the landscape is a ridiculous thing for human beings to
playing, selection, and role-performance may be both fact and fi
life, as they are in childhood. Thus Erikson (1976) suggests tha
never more human than when they play.
Play acting, make believe, and representational role-play are contin
long functions, by which the individual meaningfully condenses inn
realities. Is is through belief in the forms of ceremony, ritual, role-
and artistic construction that the artist constructs 'realities' which stand for
human experience of and in the world. Erikson referred to these construct
realities as actualities:
For if reality is the structure of facts consensually agreed upon in a given
stage of knowledge, actuality is the leeway created by new forms of inter-
play. Without actuality, reality becomes a prison of stereotyping while
actuality always must retest reality to remain truly playful. To fully under-
stand this we must study for each stage of life the interpretation of the
cognitive and the affective as well as the moral and instinctual. We may
then realise that in adulthood an individual gains leeway for himself, as he
creates it for others: here is the soul of adult play. (p. 703)
The significance of Erikson's view for this study, lies in the focus upo
flexibility of belief and viewpoint. Play, for the individual, is not the fix
determination to play out a part to the bitter end, nor is it total playfulness fre
of responsibility, rather the individual must be receptive to new forms of inte
play where the fanciful and the fact may merge in constructed actualities
realms of belief). The child artistic maker must be receptive to new forms
interplay, as changing elements within the spheres of interaction, transforma-
tion, and representation continually call for newly constructed actualities.
Observations of the ten case-subjects throughout the research period indicat-
ed that even though some children showed capacity to work with abstract
metaphoric notions, without belief in the task their art products were mo
literal or imitative. The few children who displayed strong belief in the expres
sive potential of a medium seemed able to absorb ideas and generate ideas from
their own experimentation. Conceived in this way the artistic search proc
could be described as a cyclic outside/in, inside/out process; a continual cycle of
impression and expression. It was the presence of belief which provided th
catalytic quality that ensured the momentum of the cyclic process. Thus when
child showed belief in artistic making and thinking, she was receptive to input
the form of stimuli (perceptions) yet also possessed an urge to give express
outward form to her interpretations of these perceptions, via the artistic med
um. Without belief, children bipassed this process and resorted to borrow
imitative ideas.
4. Expression in Artistic Making and Thinking
It would seem that the quality of expression within a work of art may lie
anywhere along a continuum which is at one end a direct and literal depiction of
something, to the other end where the quality of expression may be intangible,
abstract, and metaphoric in reference. The quality of expressiveness, however,
is usually not to be found when rigid rules dictate the way in which something
should be represented. There is little room for expression when solving a
mathematical sum of addition. It is when the solution is not so fixed and

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246 LEE EMERY

determined that the individual may have more opportunity to i

as she sees fit. Expression therefore involves the particular
chooses to engage in artistic making and thinking. Express
which Graves (1983) says provides the dynamic life to the w
Expression, Goodman contended (1968) is a complex functi
least some kind of metaphoric transfer. All art works, Goodman
to, typify, exemplify, or show forth certain properties which a
whatever is being expressed. Art works which are seen to
qualities then, also possess some quality which is similar to th
feeling being denoted. By way of contrast, a symbol may not ne
these qualities. The symbol of a flag which may symbolize natio
not be expressive in actual execution. Interpretation of a sym
dependent upon culturally understood meanings, rather tha
qualities shown in the configuration. A work of art may only b
sive if it contains some quality which the artist sees as being als
some other object, idea or feeling.
The quality of expressiveness, however, is not to be found
qualities possessed by the artistic form. The quality of expre
within the artist's interpretation of experience. Langer submitt
work of art shows more than the qualities which objects and
possess. Langer contended that an art work, such as a painting,
is possessed or is, but rather how things seem or appear in th
ence of it. In representing how things seem, Langer holds that it
intuition which enables the artist to apprehend how experie
intuitive aspect may be similar to the quality which Polanyi (196
knowing;' a form of knowing which involves feeling, impression
tion, yet may not involve conscious definition which could
labelled in verbal form. Expression in Langer's terms involves th
ing or intuiting about experience, so that the art product is a m
the way things seem to the artist, a semblance of experience
While Langer's view of expression may hold true for the matu
not hold true for the developing child. For the young child the
and the realm of subjective experience are more closely interwo
not aware of alternative ways of viewing experience, outside he
the child's eyes the way things seem is the way things are.
however, is more aware of the difference between scientific
artistic interpretation. Yet despite this, Gardner claimed th
works may still be seen to contain expressive qualities. The f
expressiveness in a child's work, Gardner says is when the child
with lively qualities which show emotion such as happy or
indication is when the child shows a quality of repleteness,
exploit or manipulate the properties of a medium for purposes
sis. These indications show that the child's products are function
works (Gardner, 1980, p. 133).
Expressiveness, in the observational period of this study, was
to define. However, the lack of expressive elements in the child
usually led teachers to describe the works as mechanical, w
boring, dull, stereotyped, cliched, or trite. On the other hand,
be found in certain feeling qualities and in imaginative inte
implied that something appeared to be this way in imaginati

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 MAKING AND THINKING 247

was thought to be working expressively, she was not content to use

cliches. The child seemed to want something more personal; som
was uniquely her own. Expression involved searching for qu
showed how experience is lived, felt, and understood by the ar
expressing, the maker searches for a personal view, so that the obje
of experience is brought within the realm of lived experience. I
artistic making and thinking that the child can express or give out
received in the form of impressions. An example of the use of
representation was provided by one of the case-subjects when
witch in drama. This normally reserved student took on a new
pressive gesture was evidenced in the sinister movements, cackli
menacing facial contortions. This expressive portrayal made the
ters appear lifeless, by comparison.
Observations of the ten case-subject children as they engaged i
ties over a 12 month period led to the formulation of a typology wh
rized belief patterns of the children. (See fig. 2) The notion of p
artistic typologies may be aligned to the 'typologies of man' a
Eduard Spranger (1928) or to the 'psychological types' as defin
(1971). The ten children were grouped into five artistic types acc
degree of commitment or empathy which they displayed toward ar
The typology does not suggest that children stayed within the o
Children showed contrasting levels of belief toward different a
toward different activities within art forms. The typology is a gen
tern. The overall view advanced in the typology is that identific
patterns in children may be as significant as identification of cogni
or visual stages of development (Lowenfeld). Observations of the
in this study have suggested that the capacity to believe in artistic
thinking is a more critical determinant than is the capacity to enga
operations of a 'formal' kind.
Conclusion
Belief was observed to be a central catalytic ingredient for artistic makin
thinking. When belief was present, the child showed such qualities as curios
interest, and a commitment to search for forms and to arouse associati
ARTISTIC TYPE CASE-SUBJECTS
A-E GIRLS
F-J BOYS.

ARTISTIC BELIEVERS: Socially independent E,D,

children who displayed commitnient to the artistic B (in Perf. Arts.)
search process. These children attained social, cog- J (Art & Writing)
nitive and sensory mobility.

INTUITIVE TYPES: Children who elnoyed artis- A (Art, Music,

tic makirig in a direct perceptual way without cog- H (Art, Music)
nitive reflection or social inhibition.

ARTISTIC NON-BELIEVERS: Socially depen- B (Art, Writing)

dent children who needed acceptance by peers. J (Perf. Arts)
Personal values mitigated by peers.
LITERAL CONVERGERS: Adhered to literal H,G,I,C,A.
and familiar values which were conventional soci-
etal norms (rather than immediate peer group val-
ues or personal feelings).
ARTISTIC DEVIANTS: Displayed rebellious and F
bizarre artistic responses. Slavishly followed popu-
lar culture. Open defiance of social norms and loss
of ego identity.

Figure 2. A Suggested Typology of Pre-adolescent Artistic Making and Thinking

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248 LEE EMERY

which could be used expressively. When the child showed belief

process, she also focussed on the task and attended closely to the w
It is in attending to the search for a resolution between soci
transformation, and representation that the child becomes em
tuned to the artistic process. When a child's total attention is
working process, the child believes in the process and thus th
personal value. Langer (1959) contended that when the artist work
with the artistic process, the 'very fibres of the body are affe
comes a catalyst in the interplay between socially interactive, tran
and representational elements. Without belief which engages feeli
ing, artistic making is potentially routine, mechanical, and in
commitment and belief the maker views artistic making as w
applicability of the term 'workmanship.' If the product and pr
meaningfully communicated and significant within the given cult
room and family etc.), belief becomes a shared experience. Th
cannot be the result of mere self-indulgent action, but becomes a
and meaningful process within a given context. Belief is thu
shared. It is for this reason that the child shows her work to
teacher for approval; for approval is a stamp of shared belief
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