The art of engagement by caroline sell

the

art of engagement ...

1

Q: “what is non-directive creative freedom for people with learning disabilities?�

2

the

art of engagement

...

An exploration by Caroline Sell, with‌

Albert Geere Charlie Stephens Eden KĂśtting John Croft Jonathan Rogers Michelle Roberts Neville Jermyn

3

…the ecology of my research… ‘‘

the universe is a communion of subjects not a collection of objects.

’’

Thomas Berry, EcoPsychologist

with who?…

4

Albert

Charlie

Eden

5

John

6

Jonathan

Michelle

Neville

7

when?…

Between October 2013 to January 2014.

Every Wednesday between 10.30am–3.30pm

why ?…

By researching within the framework of my role as support artist at Mentoring Studios I have been able to: l gain

where?…

Mentoring Studios, at Project ArtWorks, Hastings

8

a deeper understanding of the work I do.

l question

how I interact with and support each participant.

l question l adapt

what I know or think I know!

and change my thinking and approaches through a continued and evolving questioning.

action research & my context…

Critical thinking involves seeing reality as in process and transformation.

‘‘

the universe is revealed to me not as space, imposing a massive presence to which I can but adapt, but as a scope , a domain which takes shape as I act upon it.

Pierre Furter

’’

As I begin a continuing exploration of my context and beliefs – as “action without reflection and understanding is blind, just as theory without action is meaningless.”

(Hilary Bradbury) – I believe it is vitally important to have a sense of my drives, motivations and where I’m coming from.

This enables a judgement and ethical strength that could be called a PRACTICAL wisdom = doing the right thing to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive and in the right way!

I believe a responsive and adaptive approach to the needs of each individual is required; whilst noticing what dian marino calls the ‘cracks in consent’.

9

Action Research =

‘‘

not about tricking or cornering research subjects to conform to a ready made hypothesis…

David Gauntlett

’’

but, I believe… l can lead us to different ways of experiencing being together. l can provide guidance and inspiration for practice. l is participatory – as it recognises that our world is not made up of separate things but of relationships which we co-author.

It can therefore lead to an expansion of our thoughts and ideas in the company of others.

‘‘

knowledge is a living, evolving process of coming to know rooted in everyday experience.

’’

Meredith Minkler, Nina Wallerstein 10

Intensive Interaction Active listening Process Person Centred Active Support (PCAS)

Engagement

Choice

Communication Enjoyment

Play

Self Actualisation Positive Behavioural Support (PBS)

Action Research Ethics

Environment

Total Communication Autonomy 11

Q:

Engagement is key

how might non-directive creative freedom flourish?

As is enjoyment – which disrupts power structures and encourages an atmosphere of light-hearted risk taking, non-hierarchical exchanges, and an open mode of being; which are all vital for creativity.

…some things I’ve questioned & noticed along the way…

‘‘

wherever conditions are such as to prevent the act of production from being an experience in which the whole creature is alive and in which he possesses his living through enjoyment, the product will lack something of the aesthetic.

John Dewey

12

’’

Q: how to enable people to shape their Environment?

As I began a questioning of: l what

it is that makes the environment conducive to creative expression.

l established

structures and routines.

I was aware that the rituals and routines of the day have their place and need not prevent originality and courageous enquiry.

But can provide a safe space for this to happen.

‘‘

Jonathan, Eden, Caroline and Charlie in the studio

I believe it is key that the participants: l feel

safe enough to take remarkable risks.

l are

inspired to new behaviours.

l are

able to be challenged as trust is built.

l might

life goes on in an environment; not merely in it, but because of it, through interaction with it.

John Dewey

’’

come to recognise their full capabilities through an expansive approach.

l have

a sense of autonomy and ownership of their working space.

13

Person Centred Active Support

some thoughts…

Person Centred Active Support has been my primary motivation, in order to:

l when

l establish

conditions for “meaningful collaboration through a non-hierarchical and open connection between people” (Kate Adams).

l keep

each participant at the centre of a responsive practice reflecting the needs of each individual.

In a drive for equality and autonomy I believe this is the only ethical and humanistic approach.

‘‘

14

changing our nature to fit the world is the deepest form of disempowerment…it distracts us from reflecting critically on the world and deadens the impulse to social and political improvement.

Michael J. Sandel

’’

an individual’s self is taken fully as autonomous they can assume responsibility for being-in-the-world.

l I

must always be aware that every moment in the daily life of the studio is an opportunity to learn and succeed.

l I

hope to harness the participants’ behavioural and creative preferences in a constructive way.

l whilst

making sure that tasks are achievable so that people can learn by their successes.

l whilst

having high expectations of people but no expectations of outcome.

As the participants processes of working have space to organically develop, a natural relationship has room to establish itself between the personality of the individuals and the character and qualities of their work.

Choice

whilst bearing in mind that…

This is a fine balance between challenging people’s limitations and respecting choice as fundamentally valuable.

l too

much choice = overwhelming.

l too

little = no autonomy.

By sharing my knowledge of materials and processes, I hoped to enable each participant to feel supported in their choicemaking, and develop visual and physical ways of harnessing their creative potential.

Through developing deeper relationships with the participants I am further able to:

And so, when considering ‘non-directive creative freedom’ I must: l continue

to gain a deeper understanding of the role of intervention as part of an enabling process, and make sure I do this in an ethically sound way.

l be

aware of my responsibility to make participants feel supported in their choicemaking. choices in an appropriate and positive context.

l notice

their natural preferences.

l support

them in ‘starting where they want to start’.

l present

‘‘

a greater variety of choices.

artists appear in their art, voluntarily placing themselves centre-stage… they appear in repeated motifs and in their individual preferences.

Charlies Green

’’

l frame

15

Q: how to facilitate an Expansive way of working ?

Movement

‘‘

we cannot talk about experience and perception without including the body as central to these.

David Gauntlett

’’

‘Thinking with our hands’ can short-circuit the censorship of the brain, and I believe engaging the body as a whole leads to a deeper, more reflective engagement and self-expression.

Therefore how to inspire people to new behaviours whilst noticing their preferences?

16

example Eden has begun working larger.

I believe this more expansive way of painting has enabled Eden to: l have

a greater sense of her physicality

l experience

a greater presence

This hopefully affords Eden a greater sense of: l the

‘‘

an interesting and important fact is that painting and drawing improve in direct proportion to the sense of space discovered in movement.

Peter Slade

’’

environment around her

l self-actualisation l autonomy l ownership

of her space.

17

Q:

Positive Behavioural Support (PBS)

how to Communicate better?

PBS notes that: l success

So that I might facilitate the conditions for deep, open and non-hierarchical connection with those who are both verbal and non-verbal.

‘‘

a group of people who are especially vulnerable to lack of attention are people who cannot speak…it seems that few people have the clarity of mind to observe and respond to the numerous non-verbal messages which such people are throwing out.

Micheline Mason.

18

’’

is not about the outcome of a task, but is about engagement and participation.

l all

challenging behaviour can be seen as having a communicative function.

l We

must ‘fix the environment’ and not the person.

I must always bear in mind that: l words

can be a barrier to a more intuitive and equal exchange.

l information

by itself can increase resistance to engagement.

l silence

is vital when communicating.

I must allow times for quiet companionship.

Active Listening Requires properly listening, using all the senses.

‘‘

listening is an activity that goes beyond mere hearing… to listen is a permanent attitude on the part of the subject who is listening of being open to the word of the other, to the gesture of the other, to the differences of the other.

’’

Paolo Friere This is particularly important when supporting individuals who are non-verbal.

19

Intensive Interaction

‘‘

Communication runs as a rich seam through everything we do.

Dave Hewitt

’’

This is a subtle and responsive communication tool that acknowledges that people are wonderfully unique. Therefore there is not – and should not – be a blanket approach.

When supporting those with learning disabilities, I aim to: l allow l let

the activity to evolve naturalistically.

the participant lead – all the time.

Intensive interaction is not object-driven but process based.

20

Learning outcomes are emergent from the process as a result of a repetitive practice and rehearsal (of things that work).

Fundamentally, I acknowledge the notion that play is of vital importance in the creative process.

‘‘

interaction sequences should have no particular sensation of task or of striving to meet objectives.

Dave Hewitt & Melanie Nind

’’

‘‘

art serves to establish community.

It links us with others, and with the things around us, in a shared vision and effort. My concern is never art, but always what art can be used for.

Gerhard Richter

’’

21

an example of creative re-engagement…

I was aware that Neville was perhaps not as engaged as he could be. And so I suggested a new way of working – that he draw portraits of others at Project ArtWorks.

I prepared a board for Neville with drawing paper overlaid with graphite paper.

By noticing his preferences and natural aptitudes for composition and line I believed that this new way of working might help to re-engage Neville with the studio environment and his more detailed drawings.

‘‘

creativity is not rooted in the actual but the possible.

Kate Fulton

22

’’

Engagement

Environment

l this

l this

provided Neville with fast and tangible results

l these

were quickly achieved (15 mins).

l I

hoped this would establish BEHAVIOURAL MOMENTUM and therefore would motivate him to continue with his other drawings which he usually works on over a number of weeks.

Choice & Person Centred Active Support l I

tried to positively frame the choice.

l Neville l he

has a natural fluency with line.

is very confident in his mark-making.

l Neville

chose his subjects.

encouraged Neville to engage with his environment and those around him more.

l =

a greater sense of presence and autonomy.

Communication l Neville

was able to interact with several people during this process.

l he

received affirmation and praise when he showed others at Project ArtWorks his drawings = POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.

l this

process encouraged intermittent eye contact and working in close proximity with others.

23

my latest thinking… ‘‘

unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable and help to change it.

Pierre Furter

’’

I am beginning to explore a territory where arts practice, inclusivity and positive action and support meet.

I hope to develop an understanding of aesthetics and communication that can begin a dialogue that challenges mainstream and inaccessible notions around value, beauty and perfection.

I strive to continue to facilitate people’s greater social engagement within the group and so must continually find new and ever evolving ways to make this easier and more natural for all.

Q:

the question is one of human rights, as we can’t be said to have an individual human right, these must be universal in a truly ethical society:

‘‘

freedom from immediate coercion is a necessary but not sufficient condition of being a person.. Only if others do not treat us merely as a means to an end and only if we treat others not ourselves as merely a means to an end can we be a person.

Bob Brecher.

24

’’

I believe action research to be an enabling and democratic methodology as it is not programmatic, and cannot be defined by hard and fast methods.

Therefore absolute statements, presumptions and assuming a fluency in anothers language are to be avoided at all costs.

‘‘

my expertise is knowing not to be an expert.

Paolo Friere

’’

I aim to always acknowledge the mystery and unknowability of anothers experience whilst celebrating what we share.

And by gathering ‘deep’ information and perceptions I hope to avoid taken-forgranted assumptions, generalizations and usual ways of perceiving.

‘‘

disability is about social barriers and social oppression, not impairment – the priority is structural change not altering individuals to conform to social norms… Cure discourse individualises impairment which should be understood in terms of difference not deficit.

’’

Micheline Mason And rather than polarizing ideas through oppositional thinking such as process vs object, direction vs non-direction and guidance vs interference, I propose an approach of axial thinking.

Here things are seen on a continuum.

The gaps and spaces that exist between the meeting of different thoughts and ideas allows room for greater reflection and enquiry; and for the possibility for new ideas and evolved thinking to emerge, over time, in its place.

25

John Croft

‘‘

Student: Can a question also be an answer ?

’’

Socrates: Yes.

‘‘ ’’ 26

Albert Geere

Neville Jermyn

‘‘

Eden Kötting

Jonathan Rogers

instead of shooting arrows at someone else’s target, I make my own target around wherever my arrow happens to have landed. You shoot your arrow and then you paint your bulls eye around it, and therefore you have hit the target dead centre.

Brian Eno

Michelle Roberts

’’

Charlie Stephens

27

acknowledgements My research project has been made possible by the support and enthusiasm of all at Project ArtWorks, and with thanks to Andrew Kötting for his generosity and insight.

I would like to thank in particular Tony Colley, mentor, for his guidance, encouragement and receptiveness to my project; and the artists, Albert Geere, Charlie Stephens, Eden Kötting, Michelle Roberts, Neville Jermyn, John Croft and Jonathan Rogers, whose ambition, openness and humour have provided an invaluable source of inspiration and learning, both at Mentoring Studios, and for my own practice as a painter.

Caroline Sell carolinesell@hotmail.co.uk 28

www.carolinesell.co.uk

All images in this publication © Project ArtWorks