Nykytaide oppimisen ympäristönä – Näkemyksiä nykytaiteesta, oppimisesta ja niiden kohtaamisesta

Abstract

The starting point of the study is the observation that the present conceptions of learning and the ways of describing it have a lot of in common with contempo-rary art and the language explaining and describing it. The study is looking to answer the question of how features and procedures of contemporary art can be described and concretised in such manner that its similarity to learning is dis-played. The study demonstrates that while the terminology used in the field of education is applied when discussing art, it does not end up defining, evaluat-ing, or valuing art per the aims of education. The study argues that the features associated with learning are naturally present in contemporary art. This prop-osition is supported by naturalistic and pragmatic notions of art. From the per-spective of learning the central features of contemporary art to be emphasised are diversity, eventness and the simultaneous existence of the familiar and the odd. The study creates broad models of thinking about contemporary art as a learning environment by utilising shared expertise. From the theoretical under-standing of art and learning as well as from the models of thinking a picture of contemporary art as a learning environment is formed, which is 1) playful but challenging, 2) connecting elements and is thus potentially meaningful, 3) con-currently communal and considerate of individuality, and 4) demanding and difficult to evaluate. Despite its difficulty or because of it, contemporary art, as a kind of pedagogy of detour, offers an environment to have dialogue with the world, means to embrace it and to learn.