Aesthetic experience in constructivist museums

Journal of Aesthetic Education

Volumn 36, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 140-153

  Lankford, E Louis ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI ST LOUIS   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 61149613427     PISSN: 00218510     EISSN: 15437809     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3333763     Document Type: Article

References (18)

1. No disrespect is intended toward these classic aesthetic theories. Rather, these were highlighted because so much current thinking seems antithetical. Bullough's "Psychical Distance" has been replaced with a preference for active cognitive engagement, and Bell's notion of "Significant Form" as a characteristic of works of art has been overshadowed by the belief that viewers' individually determine significance in art. Edward Bullough, "Psychical Distance as a Factor in Art and as an Aesthetic Principle" and Clive Bell, "Art as Significant Form," both in Aesthetics: A Critical Anthology, ed. George Dickie, Richard Sclafani, and Ronald Roblin (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989), 320-33, 73-83.
2. Susan Myers, "A Content Analysis of the Written Information in the Permanent Collection Galleries of Six Ohio Art Museums," M. A. thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1990.
3. A fine summary of DBAE is presented by Stephen Mark Dobbs, Learning in and Through Art: A Guide to Discipline-Based Art Education (Los Angeles: The Getty Education Institute for the Arts, 1998).
4. For a presentation of the practice of aesthetic inquiry in art education, see E. Louis Lankford, Aesthetics: Issues and Inquiry (Reston, Va. : National Art Education Association, 1992).
5. See George E. Hein, Learning in the Museum (London: Routledge, 1998).
6. For an interesting and clear case study account of the new social dynamics occurring in museums, see Lisa Roberts, From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum (Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997).
7. Hein, Learning in the Museum;
8. Ann Bay, "The Constructivist Museum," Museum News (Jan.-Feb. 2000): 27-28, 63;
9. and John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking, eds. , Public Institutions for Personal Learning (Washington, D. C. : American Association of Museums, 1995).
10. Kodi R. Jeffery, "Constuctivism in Museums: How Museums Create Meaningful Learning Environments," in Transforming Practice, ed. Joanne S, Hirsch and Lois H. Silverman (Washington, D. C. : Museum Education Roundtable, 2000), 212-21.
11. American Association of Museums Task Force on Museum Education, Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums (Washington, D. C. : American Association of Museums, 1992).
12. George E. Hein and Mary Alexander, Museums, Places of Learning (Washington, D. C. : American Association of Museums Education Committee, 1998).
13. Patterson B. Williams, "Object Contemplation: Theory into Practice," in Patterns in Practice (Washington, D. C. : Museum Education Roundtable, 1992), 118-22.
14. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Notes on Art Museum Experiences," in Readings in Discipline-Based Art Education: A Literature of Educational Reform, ed. Ralph A. Smith, (Reston, Va. : National Art Education Association, 2000), 396-404. This article will be cited as AME in the text for all subsequent references.
15. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Kim Hermanson, "Intrinsic Motivation in Museums: What Makes Visitors Want to Learn?" Museum News (May/June, 1995): 34-37, 59-61.
16. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York: Harper and Row, 1990).
17. See, for example, Albert William Levi and Ralph A. Smith, Art Education: A Critical Necessity (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991).
18. Ralph A. Smith, "Building a Sense of Art in Today's World," Studies in Art Education 33, 2 (Winter 1992): 71-85.