Master of Education in Art & Design

Denise Coll

The extent to which creating a response to an artwork through performance, generates appreciation for performance art, in second level education

This research study was designed to examine the extent to which students gain an understanding of performance art through the making. The influence for this work stems from my background in performance art and socially engaged practice. As an artist and educator, my aim was to bring my skills in these art practices into the classroom and introduce performance art to Junior Cycle students and the wider school community. The research challenges the exclusion of performance art from the curriculum and looks at the methodologies that could potentially be used to conduct a project of this essence in school. The project was linked with TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, Galway. In this, the students visited the festival and used their responses to the work as the basis to form a concept for their performance. The findings of this research show that students developed an understanding of performance art through the making of a collaborative performance piece. While the work was documented for evidence and assessment purposes, the research suggests that, students also gained valuable skills in film studies. This project has shown that there is space in the curriculum for students to engage with performance art. It has also shown that the skills learned within this practice are strongly linked with the eight key skills laid out in the Junior-Cycle framework. I hope Irish educators will embrace contemporary art practices by considering to introduce performance art into their curriculum.

denisecoll22@gmail.com

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