Copyright 2006 by the National Art Education Association
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A Conceptual Structure of Visual Metaphor Daniel Serig n ColUrge ofAnr Alassachurb The study of metaphor involves numerous fields in recent history from cognitive neuroscience to linguistics. Visual metaphor research occupies an underrepresented area of inquiry. With the development of the cognitive sciences, a cognitive view of metaphoric thinking is emerging. This calls for a reconsideration of visual metaphor in the practices of artists and leads to the central research question: Is there a conceptual structure to the creation of visual metaphors by artists that closely aligns with the cognitive view of metaphoric thinking? This question is addressed in a qualitative, phenomenographic research study of a consortium of artists brought together for an exhibition. Findings highlight the cognitive, social and personal domains contributing to their creation of metaphor. The result is a conceptual structure of visual metaphor derived from the practices and exhibition of the artists. The article concludes with implications of the conceptual structure of visual metaphor for art education.
Theories of cognition have undergone radical change in the last few decades. No longer seen as an independent process, the contemporary view places the mental functions associated with cognition as one element within a complex network. Within this network, cognition does not exist without the environment, social connections, feelings, and emotions. Rare is the cognitive scientist or cognitive psychologist who does not profess to be an interactionist or connectionist (Thelen & Bates, 2003). Studying metaphor has equally undergone radical change, although there is a lack of consensus of a theory of metaphor. The study of metaphor involves numerous fields in recent history from cognitive neuroscience to linguistics. Visual metaphor research occupies an underrepresented area of inquiry. With the development of the cognitive sciences, a cognitive view of metaphoric thinking is emerging. This calls for a reconsideration of visual metaphor in the practices of artists and leads to my central research question: Is there a conceptual structure to the creation of visual metaphors by artists that closely aligns with the cognitive view of metaphoric thinking?
Correspondence regarding this article may be sent to the author at Massachusetts College of Art, Art
Education Department, 621 Huntington Avenue. Boston, MA 02115. E-mail:
[email protected]
This article derives from the author's dissertation research undertaken at Teachers College, Columbia University, under the sponsorship of Professor Gracme Sullivan.
The Cognitive View of Thinking Metaphorically The basis for the process of metaphorical thinking is argued to come from the senses (Arnheim, 1969; Edelman, 1995; Efland, 2002; Lakoff, 1993). Perception flows from sensory experience and includes observation, classification, and conceptual thinking. The structure of metaphoric thinking is described as conceptualblending (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002). Examples of explaining conceptual blending include frame restructuring (Sch6n, 1993), conceptual mappings (Gibbs, 1992; Lakoff, 1993; Winner, 1988), and image schemas (Efland, 2002, citing Lakoff & Johnson, 1987).
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Lakoff and Johnson (1999) describe embodied realism: Philosophically, the embodiment of reason via the sensorimotor system is of great importance. It is a crucial part of the explanation of why it is possible for our concepts to fit so well with the way we fimction in the world. They fit so well because they have evolved from our sensorimotor systems, which have in turn evolved to allow us to function well in our physical environment. The embodiment of mind thus leads us to a philosophy of embodied realism. Our concepts cannot be a direct reflection of external, objective, mind-free reality because our sensorimotor system plays a crucial role in shaping them. On the other hand, it is the involvement of the sensorimotor system in the conceptual system that keeps the conceptual system very much in touch with the world.
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Each explanation involves a codification of perceived sensory experience enabling placement within a memory system, abilities to retrieve, and abilities to reorganize. Reorganization, or blending, is the essential ingredient for thinking metaphorically regardless of whether the terms of frames, maps, schemas, or domains describe the system. Considering the journey from sensory experience to conceptual blending, thinking metaphorically represents mind-body interconnectedness. This mindbody interconnectedness leads Gibbs (1992) to suggest that long-term memories may be metaphorically structured and leads Lakoff and Johnson (1999) to develop a philosophy of embodied realism.1 The interconnectedness also destroys the dualism of a mind operating separately from the body. The conception of mind being interconnected with the body is not new, but only in recent scientific history does it gain acceptance. It replaces the uncertainty of Descartes who, while implicating a connection, never articulates one and keeps the mind as separate and surrounded in mystery (Damasio, 2003). Discovery and inventiveness through metaphor exemplify the mind-body interconnection-an interconnection strongly realized in art (Edelman, 1995). Based on evidence from the field of neuroscience, I consider the mediation of meaning-making developed through the interaction of the mind and body within an environment. Mediation may not only occur through sensorial experiences and cognitive actions upon those experiences, but through emotions and feelings aspartofthe network that enables cognition. My consideration includes the work of neuroscientists such as Antonio Damasio (1999, 2003), Gerald Edelman (1995) and Joseph LeDoux (2002). They acknowledge the integral part emotions and feelings play in the creation of mind. They also acknowledge that pure reason devoid of emotion and feeling is neither possible nor preferable. Making meaning through the interplay of emotions, reason, and context seems to describe the types of relationships existing within art practices. If the cognitive view of metaphor relies on the blending of concepts, and concepts derive from the play of the affective with the intellectual, then this appears to set art practices as an arena for the study of metaphor. Associated with the debate about the conceptual structure of visual metaphor is the context of the metaphors. The context involves the artists, artworks, viewers, the space and a number of other artistic, social, and cultural influences. A debated assumption is that there are transactive networks between the elements of the context. Transactive networks represent dynamic systems. They evidence doing, carrying on and communication-a practical transaction between elements within the network. And further, investigating these networks enables a more thorough understanding of the conceptual structure of visual metaphor. This
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stands in contrast to conceptions of visual metaphor that place the meaning entirely within the art object. Notions of Linguistic Metaphor Two prevalent theories about metaphors arising from the linguistic studies of George Lakoff and Max Black directly impact the cognitive view of metaphor and the conception of visual metaphors. Lakoff's (1993) invariance principle and Black's (1962) interaction view of metaphor provide tile image-basis for a cognitive view of visual metaphor. In brief, Lakoff describes the invariance principle as "metaphorical mappings Ipreserving) the cognitive topology (that is, the image-schema structure) of the source domain, in a way consistent with the inherent structure of the target domain" (1993, p. 215). Metaphor, in Lakoff's view, is foremost a mapping of concepts and only secondarily takes form in language, image, or other forms of human expression. The form expresses metaphor, but is not metaphor; metaphor is a thought process. Likewise, in Black's interaction view, metaphors consist of two distinct subjects with associated implications of shared commonplaces that are mapped onto each other from source to target, which requires shifts in meaning (1962). Considering "Juliet is the sun," the sun becomes the source (or vehicle) and Juliet is the target (or tenor). The commonplaces shared by the two are mapped from the sun onto Juliet. This differs from the comparison view commonly held prior to Black's interaction view in that he argues tile interactive view is intellectual and cannot be reduced to mere comparison since both subjects must be simultaneously considered. The similarity between Lakoff's invariance principle and Black's interaction view taking the form of "mappings of image-schema" and "associated implications of shared commonplaces," respectively, addresses the notion that tile interpreter of a metaphor discovers new patterns of association (Black, 1962, p. 46). Metaphors, thus, generate organization of concepts. Notions of Visual Metaphor Even though the study of metaphor derives from inquiries into rhetoric, visual metaphor is the subject of many 20th-century scholars. Some researchers include in their efforts attempts to define visual metaphor (Aldrich, 1968, 1971; Carroll, 1994; Hausman, 1989; Kennedy, 1982). Others interpret works of art as visual metaphors (Anderson, 1989; Feinstein, 1985; Green, 1985). Researchers conducting empirical studies use the term as a descriptor (Dake & Roberts, 1995; Dent, 1987; Dent & Rosenberg, 1990; Kogan, Connor, Gross & Fava, 1980; McQuarrie & Mick, 1999; Morgan & Reichert, 1999), although they employ the term in a varier)' of ways, calling into question the existence of a common definition. Almost without exception, definitions of visual metaphors stand in relation to linguistic ones. What, then, is a visual metaphor? The answers from the literature are unavoidably pluralistic and at times incongruous. However, each position
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offers points in characterizing this phenomenon. I present two polar positions along a spectrum of possibilities: At one end of the spectrum philosopher Virgil Aldrich (1968, 1971) considers all art as visual metaphor. At the other end psychologist Cathy Dent (1987; Dent & Rosenberg, 1990) places strict rules on what constitutes a visual (e.g., pictorial) metaphor. Another differentiating characteristic of their definitions is the focus: Aldrich considers both the creator and viewer of the image, while Dent focuses on the interpreter in an effort to create the pictorial rules of 'grammar' and thus an isomorphism with linguistic notions of metaphor. Aldrich (1971) considers a pencil drawing of a woman's head by Matisse. He envisions the artist at work with a material (A) in representing the subject-matter (B). But what appears to the viewer is not a sum of A and B, rather a fusion of A and B creating the content (C). In this scenario, the material and subject-matter lose their identity, to a certain extent, to the content. Whereas, the metaphoric construction of the material (A) seen as the subject-matter (B) is a purely perceptual "seeing-as" experience. In Dent's (1987; Dent & Rosenberg, 1990) studies of children's metaphoric thinking abilities, she applies a restrictive definition of pictorial metaphor: Two subject-matters must be present; one must be more prominent than the other; they must share the same space, but be in a circumstance that is not possible or believable; the interaction of the subject-matters is explicit. These rules create an isomorphism with verbal metaphor except that no words are used. Man Ray's 1924 Violin d'Yngres fits this description. I assume Dent would insist that the tenor is the woman and the vehicle is the violin since only some of the violin's properties are depicted. The equivalent linguistic metaphor would be "The woman is a violin." The definition of pictorial metaphor by Dent becomes the most restrictive. Between Aldrich's (1971) broad and Dent's narrow characterizations of visual metaphor, a continuum of possible explanations of the phenomenon exists without a consensus.
Visual Metaphors and Art Education Making metaphor essential in art education fulfills the goal of students learning to think as artists (Efland, 2002; Roukes, 1988). This view of thinking and making in art is part of the paradigm Charles Dorn
(1994) classifies as "linguistic-metaphorical" (p. 93). Dorn relates how its late 20th century philosophical roots lie in the works of Morris Weitz and Levi-Strauss, who are influenced by empiricist values. The linguistic-
metaphorical paradigm resonates within the communities of art historians, artists, and art educators. Art historians in this paradigm view art histories not as interpretations of art objects or grand narratives but as social anthropologies. As such, they use methods of critical theory. Artists such as Miriam Schapiro, Basquiat, Jonathan Borosfsky, and Susan
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Rothenberg reflect the linguistic-metaphorical paradigm in their work. In art education, Dorn (1994) recognizes several texts supporting this approach to teaching art, including the following: Chapman, L. (1978),
Approaches to Art Education; Feldman, E. (1970), Becoming Human Through Art, Eisner, E. (1972), EducatingArtistic Vision; and Kaufman, I.
(1966), Art andEducation in Contemporary Culture. In efforts to bridge an experiential, sensorial world with an abstract, conceptual world, artworks become the vehicles and the embodiment of meanings. This may call for metaphorical thinking in their creation and use. If metaphor plays an integral role in the making of meaning by artists in their practice, then understanding the conceptual structure of that process impacts how students are taught to be artists. Eisner (2002) situates the need to understand the cognitive processes of artists at work within educational aims: At a time when the development of thinking skills is particularly important, at a time when schools are expected to prepare people to work in more than a single occupation during their lifetime, the presence of a program that fosters flexibility, promotes a tolerance for ambiguity, encourages risktaking, and depends upon the exercise of judgment outside the sphere of rules is an especially valuable resource. Although the cognitive consequence of engagement in the arts has been advanced since the first quarter of the twentieth century, and despite the fact that it has ardent followers, it is a way of thinking about the aims of art education that is still trying to secure a firm foothold in the larger educational community. The arts have long been perceived as being "affective" rather than cognitive, easy not tough, soft not hard, simple not complex. (p. 35) This study aims to help gain that firmer foothold in the educational community reflecting art practices as complex, cognitive endeavors that generate meaning.
Type of Study This inquiry focused on a particular environment and a small number of artist-participants involved with a specific exhibition space, the Pearl Street Gallery, in Brooklyn, New York. The dialectics embedded in the network of my research problem, the site, and the participants led me to select phenomenography as an integral part of the approach to the study. Phenomenography blends the opportunity to develop a conceptual structure of visual metaphor with a focus on the artists' experiences of the phenomenon and my interpretations of those experiences (Marton, 1986). This study involved qualitative data collection methods from which the data were analyzed and interpreted. The forms of data collection included observations, recorded interviews, videotaping, photographing, an exhibition and artworks. Multiple sources of data allowed for triangulation.
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Also, the inclusion of multiple perspectives was viewed as a positive attribute of phenomenography, especially with the multiplicity of theoretical perspectives that informed this study of visual metaphor in art.
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Museum of American Art's 2004 biennial served as an example in which a head curator worked closely with a consortium of curators who were responsible for different regions of the country. Each in the consortium was responsible for identifying relevant artists and bringing these artists to the attention of the head curator who had final decisionmaking responsibilities.
Structure of the Study My sampling method can be described as having a principal investigator who elicits the knowledge and expertise of a core group of participants who subsequently identify other participants to form a consortium. Using a consortium of artists as a core group to pull together a broader 2 spectrum of relevant artists has a history in the art world. My study took this art world consortium practice and placed it within visual arts research. This study comprised four phases: In phase one, a consortium of four artists was identified through an opportunity sample to plan and undertake a group artist exhibition at the Pearl Street Gallery in Brooklyn. These primary artist-participants were engaged in developing the gallery into an artist-run space for exhibitions, and I knew them through previous collaborations at the gallery. The artists met to collaborate on the exhibition and explored the connections to the research question. Part of the collaboration was recruitment of other artists for the exhibition and study. In phase two, all participating artists were interviewed using a protocol at their studios prior to the exhibition. For the third phase, the artists had a month-long exhibition at the Pearl Street Gallery. During the exhibition each artist was interviewed in the gallery. This interview was semi-structured based on responses from the first interview and new questions relating to the exhibition. During the fourth phase, a third round of interviews was conducted. These were semi-structured and reflected on the experience of the exhibition and study.
Data Analysis Data analysis included two major divisions outlined by Marton (1986): first, data were selected through emerging criteria of relevance; second, data were analyzed to create conceptual categories used to frame the phenomenon. These two steps were repeated in that the categories and data resulting from the first analysis underwent a second round of data selection and conceptual category creation. The repetition clarified data and categories, as well as allowed for a checking of the first round decisions. A third round of coding enabled identification of exemplars for reporting as well as further clarification of category (e.g., domain, variable, code) definitions. These processes were organized and the information treated using NVivo qualitative data analysis software. The variables emerged directly from the language of the participants and the literature. Criteria used to identify variables were: (a) preponderance in the literature, (b) preponderance in transcribed interviews, and/or (c) preponderance in personal reflections and interpretations. The final
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variables are listed as codes in Table 1. Formulating the conceptual structure from these coding variables enabled me to describe the complexity of the phenomenon of visual metaphor in this environment. In tandem and interwoven within this treatment was the use of my own art practice as a means to understand the phenomenon of visual metaphor by this consortium: I created a painting for the exhibition after viewing the other pieces and conducting the first round of interviews; I drew and photographed impressions of the artworks during the exhibition; and I worked through abstract conceptual models in my sketchbook. These intuitive, visual approaches were an integral part of the data analysis. Results The order of presentation of families of variables in this section begins with broad domains that form the background of the artists' practices. The focus then shifts from life experiences and sociocultural influences to the art making practices. Arnvorks result from those practices and set the stage for the artists' relationships with the created works and the viewers. Last, in the discussion section, the artists' views on metaphor and their descriptions of them in the interviews provide the culminating conceptual categories that enable a presentation of the structure of visual metaphor in this consortium of artists.
Coding Variables Life to art and back Influential life experiences From experiences to concepts and art Content of art Reflexivity Art practice in the social web Other artists Community The Pearl Street Gallery exhibition Artmaking practices Idea generation Techniques Materials Relationship to the artwork and viewers Relation to artwork Relation to viewers Metaphor and the art practice Artists' views on visual metaphor Cross-domain mapping as visual metaphor Table 1. Final Coding List of Variables
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Figure 1. Sherry Mayo, A Midsummer Night's Dreamu, 2003. Courtesy of the artist. Life to Art and Back Artists use reflexivity to engage in a dynamic cycle of creating art to make meaning, to make sense of the world and their place in it. Influential life experiences are often the focus of reflexive thought because they are seen as having an impact on current artistic practices. But the art practice, while perhaps separated into specific time and location distinctions, interrelates with the life of the artist. In this way, the content of an artist's work involves these interrelationships as the artist dialogues with the self through the material. This forms the basis for metaphoric expression. One of the artists in the study, Sherry Mayo, describes the influence of her science experiences on her art practice (see Figure 1): I was interested in the sciences, and not just biology, particularly biology, but chemistry, too. There is a lot that I take out from chemistry models, molecular interactions. I talked all molecular for a while. I thought chemistry was so romantic, like exchanges of molecules. I'd guess a lot of people-I don't think they really talk about how fantastic sciences are as much as the arts. There is a lot of fantasy in there, and so I thought, you know, a lot of biology is just very romantic and after all everyone is procreating and growing, inventing new life forms, and I fell in love with the chemistry stuff like potions. (personal communication, October 1, 2004) The cycle of life to art and back involves complex thinking directed at the doing of art. Doing art for these artists necessarily involves reflexivity in which pre-visioned ideas as well as uncertain paths can co-exist as often disparate elements are thrown together in order to express and explore. In
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Figure 2. Lee Misenheimer, Curren, 2004. Courtesy of the artist.
doing so, the artists foster a continuation of the cycle as the artmaking feeds back into reflections on the meaning of the art and the meaning of
their lives. The Social Web Artists' practices exist within networks of social relationships. Closely connected to the previous section on life experiences, artists are influ-
enced by those who have come before. Other artists from history impact artistic goals and desires whether through instruction or individual curiosity. The impact of these artists also provides a shared culture of experiences that can be used to form connections to current artists and the art community at large. Community influences, however, are not constrained to the art world. Artists foster and use relationships with other types of groups to enrich their practice and expand their views. Together, the social groups of artists and non-artists create a web of social interactions that encourage divergent thinking and diverse points of view, while at the same time providing areas of comfort and challenges. This study's exhibition demonstrates the ability and desire of artists to search for opportunities to connect with other artists, challenge their practices, and solicit support. Perhaps this social web also provides an unconscious storehouse of domains that get mapped onto other concepts and issues
through metaphoric expression in the form of art objects. Artist Lee Misenheimer describes one community that is a part of his art practice (see Figure 2): There is this whole community, a design community. A lot of us are friends, especially in the heyday of the web, a lot of us became
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friends. People were sort of blowing up and everything. There are these design-the portal sites-sort of like a blog, but it's community-based. A lot of people posting different art sites, design, what different clients of the people are doing. So there are a lot of conferences. I got a lot of response. I got asked to do a lot of projects. I had, since I published, a friend of mine, Matt, I work with; he also has been involved in the community as well. We meet all of these people from other countries, it's sort of international. So we got invited to speak in Australia at an art and design conference because there were-it was great because there were tons of people there. It was not just graphic design. There were people just doing art illustration. (personal communication, September 28, 2004) Artmaking Practices Artists generate ideas in two directions: from their heads to their hands and from their hands to their heads (Anderson, 2004). Reflexive thought can lead to idea generation and metaphoric expression through crossdomain mapping. The other variables in this section, techniques and materials demonstrate the centrality of the other direction, from the hand to the head. Artists doing art are constructing ideas in the processes of making. Whether completely planned, completely unplanned, or somewhere in-between, the working styles of artists leave open the possibility for insights as they immerse themselves in materials and techniques. One of the core artists, Jason Swift, speaks of this immersion and the generation of ideas for his art (see Figure 3): There is an initial feeling that is building, evolving, changing and materials-command of the materials. I use materials to express these things, and as I work in the materials, I find better ways to express them-the more I tap into something that I might not have recognized before by using materials. Or more than that-maybe something comes up like a feeling that I say, "Well that's right, and this thing is happening, and I can understand that contributed to this feeling." And then I might go into another material that pushes me into other materials. There is no true linear progression. It is all over the place. And things radiate out in different points and then come back, stay there to clarify something that's way over to the other side-such a big giant mess of stuff that just keeps rolling like a snowball and keeps building up. And maybe at some point it'll melt down at some point. It'll slush around a little bit, and I'll realize why it's there. (personal communication, September 10, 2004) Relationship to the Artwork and Viewers Artists in this consortium express a relationship with their artwork that spans from one of detachment to attachment. One view is that the finished piece goes out into the world, existing independent of the creator to live its own life. On the other end of the spectrum, the artwork can never be
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A
Figure 3.Jason Swift, untitled,2004. Courtesy of the artist.
disassociated from the artists; there will always be a strong emotional connection. An analogy to these extremes is parenting philosophies. Some parents see their children as fully independent beings that must learn to survive in the world, while others feel forever tied to their children in an emotional and spiritual way. Of course, there are moments when parents may lean more heavily one way or the other and both offer opportunities for development. In these relationships to their created artworks, the connections can be viewed as metaphoric, as well. Artist Stephanie Krause describes her relationship to her art books (see Figure 4): I think I have told you I do not think I have completely figured out how to get rid of them [the books] yet, because they're so precious, and I almost don't want to part with them even though I know I should. (personal communication, September 17, 2004) If taken further, the parenting analog, serves the artists' descriptions of their relationships to viewers of their art, as well. Like parents with their children, the artists of this study stated they want their artwork to be
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Figure 4. Stephanie Krause, Animals on Wheels (tide and first page of accordion-fold book), 1995. Courtesy of the artist. experienced, to provide insights and opportunities for growth to others. But the interpretations and judgments of the artists' works do not affect their relationships with their art to any great extent, much as a parent feels they know their child better than anyone else. Metaphor and the Art Practice Consortium artists struggle with characterizing visual metaphor. Many attempt to create a link to linguistic metaphor incorporating rules of grammar and symbolic order, such as Jason Swift: Maybe metaphor is an inadequate word. We need a new word for what would really be a visual metaphor. And I don't know if someone asked me if I fully understand visual metaphor or recognize it yet because of that English language concept of metaphor... Maybe it's [art is] all metaphor. I am still tainted with the literature definition of metaphor. So it's still, I guess maybe subconsciously, it's kind of quicksand and wants to redirect the meaning or the definition of visual metaphor back to literary metaphor, because that's what we grow up with as a recognized label of metaphor. Whereas, perhaps all along, we always have known the visual metaphor, and we can take it out. But until then it's that other thing that kind of-I could tell you, but I don't have the words. (personal communication, September 10, 2004) Yet examples of cross-domain mapping reveal the extent to which the artists are thinking metaphorically. The final variable of cross-domain mapping may be applied to any of the variables when mapped onto another domain to make new meaning. While the artists may be influenced by the prevalence of theories of metaphor from linguistics, the cognitive view of metaphor more aptly describes their practices of reflexivity, social interactions and artmaking.
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Discussion I make a music analogy of "categories in concert" in which the variables exist as a jazz improvisation. Multiple processes occur simultaneously. Taking several snapshots of the improvisation over the course of many moments may reveal specific events or experiences existing in different domains. This depends on the relationships between the domains as the shutter clicks: which instruments are playing? What sounds are being produced? What feelings am I experiencing at that moment? How are the musicians interacting with each other? These represent a few possible processes simultaneously occurring and moving between domains. Taking snapshots of a jazz improvisation in a synesthetic mapping onto artists' practices results in a conceptual structure that retains its integrity while enabling multiple perspectives over time. The structure can then account for artists' experiences that flow through domains or multiple variables. For this study, the conceptual structure of visual metaphor represents complex flexibility occurring within the simplicity of three, twisted, interconnected ellipses (see Figure 5). The domains have also been brought into concert in a lived, three-dimensional space, a space that is also a sculpture by core artist, Boris Curatolo, The spaces created
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i•Figure 5. Boris Curatolo, Sweet Spot, 2004. Courtesy of the artist. The sculpture also represents a conceptual structure of metaphor.
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by the three large ellipses serve to house the domain families of Life to Art and Back, Art Practice in the Social Web, and Artmaking Practices. As the ellipses twist and flow into the next, the domain family of Relationship to Artwork and Viewers exists since the artmaking and social web domains flow through this category. The variable Metaphor and the Art Practice also exists in the space between ellipses as this includes and weaves through the other categories. Cross-Domain Mapping is a different matter: This variable occurs as the metaphoric thinking takes place. Boris Curatolo's description of his sculpture, Sweet Spot, deserves to be considered in light of being used as a model for the conceptual structure of visual metaphor: What amazed me is that it has space in it, and it has space around it, and it flows from the outside to the inside and then back to the outside. It seems also to be poised between being a process and being an object in a way-something that surprised me. And another way you can look at it-you can say, "Yes this is an object. It is de-limited in a certain way; it has limits; it has a form; it describes a space because it is very linear." On the other hand, the openness of it and the particular angles that those ellipses tilt, make it into a sort of an environment in a way. As the space flows in there and it is no longer wood or the line itself-it is the space that it cuts. So I did not anticipate that that would happen. And the asymmetry of it also surprised me because, you know, when I visualized it I visualized it as a balanced form. It actually has a repetition of a form three times joined in a particular way. But then again, the angle-the precise angle of the ellipses through new-and the way that you could, that you'd be able to see through it and then have it move, quote, end quote, in that way. So that is the surprise. (personal communication, October 30, 2004) Boris Curatolo's description also works in many ways for explaining the properties of the conceptual structure of visual metaphor in the practices of the artists in this study. The artists' practices involve processes and these processes create objects. Art objects can be described formally, but they can also represent the processes and domains that lead to their creation. Artwork can be described in linear terms of technical processes or they can form abstract associations to viewers' histories and experiences. This represents a flow from inside to outside. Artists' practices exist within environments-social, communal, physical-that also flow from within and without. The artists carve a space for their practice but understand that the practice undergoes constant revision through reflexivity that includes making art. Along the way, surprises seem to keep happening. Using the sculpture as a model for the conceptual structure occurred over the course of this study. During one of my extended visits at the
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exhibition, I began sketching the sculpture from various angles paying particular attention to how the negative spaces changed depending on the angle. The spaces remained in concert with each other because of the delimiting line, but also created spaces that opened to the surrounding gallery. On another gallery visit I photographed the exhibition for documentation. That process led me to take a series of photographs with the sculpture in the foreground and the other artworks in the background, appearing through the negative spaces. Only after struggling with more conventional diagrams and layered modeling using the NVivo software did I return to my sketchbooks and photographs to develop this conceptual structure. The sketches and photographs captured different, intuitive, yet highly informed impressions of the data that upon reflection enabled new perspectives and insights to be considered. I am arguing for this conceptual structure of visual metaphor based on the artists' practices of which the art objects are a part. The structure provides one way of understanding the creation of visual metaphor and metaphoric thinking through the practices of artists by recognizing the variables of tile artists' practices and the ability for them to be mapped onto each other in a spatial model. Perhaps the term visual metaphor becomes insufficient. My research with these artists' practices leads me to claim that the artists can be seen as metaphorists. The art objects become expressions of a series of cross-domain mappings that lead to new understandings. To lay the onus of metaphor or not metaphor on the art object neglects the processes (i.e., cognitive, social, emotional, physical) leading to the creation of the object and the multiple interpretations that may stem from interactions with it. An artist may think metaphorically and create personal metaphors resulting in an artwork that may or may not elicit metaphoric thinking from viewers. Likewise, an artist may not think metaphorically and create an artwork that elicits metaphoric interpretations from many viewers, or the metaphoric artist may produce a piece expressive of cross-domain mapping that leaves viewers focused only on one domain.
Implications The results of this study support the idea that visual metaphor in artists' practices connotes thinking and working processes rather than determinate objects. In certain historical views, metaphor has implied a form, an arrangement of elements that initiate a type of interpretation involving cross-domain mapping. In linguistics the form has taken a simple, defined rule of A is B. This rule influences research into visual metaphor that attempts to find a visual equivalent of the linguistic form. My conceptual structure of visual metaphor based on the practices of a consortium of artists promotes a view that dismisses simple formulae. Each of those elements of the simple form A and B stand for the interactions and inter-
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relationships of a complex network of domains. This complex network of an artist's practice resists reduction to simple forms because multiple domains intertwine, overlap, and interrelate. Also, the art objects the consortium artists create do not represent symbolic, defined, singular interpretations. My conceptual structure of visual metaphor honors the complex network of the artists' practices that involve their influential life experiences, the social web in which they operate, and the engagement of materials. The structure recognizes cognition working in concert with emotions, feelings, the environment and the senses. No single one of these exists without each of them taking part in the network. From this networked practice, consortium artists think metaphorically as they cross-map domains through immersion in phenomenon, materials and reflexivity. Art practices of the consortium reveal why artists create and the metaphoric thinking they employ. Artists make things; they think conceptually; they innovate through creation of visual metaphors; they are reflexive; and all of this happens non-linearly within a complex network of domains. In their artmaking, life experiences get interrogated and intuition is allowed to work in tandem with disciplined technique. The planned and the unplanned happen together. Practical Implications for Art Education The conceptual structure of visual metaphor suggests that doing art enables the artist to dialogue with the self through a medium, to come to know the self, and to better understand the self s relationship to the world and the relationships within the world. Acknowledging this means there are practical implications for developing art curricula, engaging students through art and teaching art. When developing a curriculum, the themes must be broad enough for students to bring their life experiences and influential events into the experience of immersion in ideas and materials. The unique properties and characteristics of materials must be thoroughly investigated. Experimentation should be encouraged and when materials are pushed beyond their limits, these results should be acknowledged and seen as points of learning. The dynamism of the domains and variables of the conceptual structure of visual metaphor can be used to structure curricula for fostering students to think and do art as artists do. A curriculum that encourages students to bring their own interests into doing art provides opportunities for deep engagement as exemplified by the consortium artists. In such engagement, the art instruction becomes dialectic rather than didactic. The art room/studio becomes a place for material and conceptual explorations, to question generation and discoveries in a planned and unplanned environment-planned in that the curriculum provides a structure, unplanned in that the structure is open to
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the unexpected. In this way the conceptual structure of visual metaphor may be an attractive form for thinking about teaching art. Teaching art is inextricably linked to reflexive and metaphoric thought because the inquiries with students take the form of dialogue and actions with students across domains. This links teacher reflexivity to social networks and to active, reflexive participation by students. Art educators should pursue teaching with the same focus on inquiry through dialogue, critique and action within a social environment. Focusing on these aspects fosters an environment where metaphoric thinking may develop. Art educators help create environments and structures to allow for student growth. The environment needs to enable the students to bring their experiences to the inquiry at hand, thus creating interest and opportunities for cross-domain mappings. Subject-matter must be of relevant interest to the students in the present to a sufficient level that engages the students with the content. The engagement must consequently become active and reflexive, creative and interpretive. Only in this type of dialogue between mind and body, body and environment does learning and teaching offer opportunities for discovery and innovation through metaphoric expression. Teachers must also exemplify the open-mindedness coupled with technical expertise necessary for the creation of new knowledge through metaphoric and artistic practices. This encourages other disciplines to be consulted and interrogated for useful, active knowledge. These traits stem from the whole-heartedness by which the teacher approaches the subjectmatter domain. However, the teacher also understands the necessity of continual use of skills, refinement of skills and development of new skills as new knowledge gets introduced to the domain and as novel questions arise. Knowledge in this setting becomes an active pursuit that puts to use habits and conscious decisions. This occurs through the senses and actions of the person within an environment that fosters metaphoric practices.
Conclusion Developing the conceptual structure of visual metaphor led me to make several claims. The consortium artists created visual metaphors generating new meaning. Their art practices denied explanation through the application of simple formulae associated with other characterizations of visual metaphor. The processes used by the artists to create visual metaphors did not contradict the cognitive claims made by other researchers, but situated those claims in the physical actions, visceral qualities, emotions, life experiences, and communities of the artists. This networked view of the artist's metaphorically expressive practice situates cognition as one element integral to but not in place of the physical relationships with materials and environment. The concept of networked cognition is not new. Theories of situated cognition, connectionism, and dynamical systems challenge the tradition
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of separating the mind from the body. In a way, what my conceptual structure of visual metaphor does is merely contribute more evidence in the already-changed landscape of cognition. Yet, this networked view of the conceptual structure of visual metaphor in the practices of artists must be recognized in a theory of visual metaphor. It must also be accounted
for in characterizing artists' practices and pedagogies of art education. During the course of this research I witnessed personal transformations
of artists. I learned of the metaphorical lives artists pursue through their practices. The consortium artists developed art practices to better under-
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