The materiality of making as a flow of apprehensions

If we accept that art objects are not knowledge artefacts [Scrivener, S. The art object does not embody a form of knowledge. Working Papers in Art and Design 2 (2002)] then what types of knowledge are generated through making and how is this knowledge shared without the art object being rendered as a by-product of a knowledge generation process?

Addressing the problem from the standpoint of fine art education as a process of self-discovery, and as an artist who makes, writes and teaches, I propose to discuss the materiality of making as three distinct but entangled apprehensions.

Matter: Alertness to material choice. Being in the moment, attentive to the fabric and impression of the conditions and environment.

Action: Understanding material through tacit engagement. Enabling the evolution of an idea through responding to matter. Being aware of what happens during the making process – finding a flow.

Meaning: Acquiring experience from reflection. Finding a context. Using other fields to inform and situate work.

Making involves learning from a variety of different materials and fields of research. Making should open up perceptions of what is going on in our world so we can respond to it not just describe or represent it. This requires an understanding of an intermingling of the three apprehensions which are crucial to polymorphous nature of the environment of production: a sense of who, how, where, when and why, of undergoing not just doing.

Fine art education has been predicated on a form of articulated detectivism for too long – how might the understanding of the materiality of making as an itinerant, generative flow empower a different approach?