APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

Applying Conceptual Age Thinking To Art Education

by Investigating Daniel Pinks Six Senses
Kenzie McKeon
University of Missouri

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

Applying Conceptual Age Thinking to Art Education

by Investigating Daniel Pinks Six Senses
In Daniel Pinks A Whole New Mind, he gives importance to right brained thinking, and
explains how todays students must develop skill sets that will allow them to thrive in a world of
material abundance, job competition, and rising technology. Understanding that everything
changes over time, it is important to recognize that we are leaving the information age of the 20th
century, and we now exist in the 21st centurys conceptual age. In this age, creators and
empathizers hold key roles in society (Pink, 49). Pink highlights six essential aptitudes that are
crucial for 21st century citizens: design, symphony, empathy, play, meaning, and story. These six
senses, therefore, should exist within todays education system in order to prepare students for
the future. Specifically, design, symphony, empathy, play, meaning, and story organically fit into
art education curriculum that reflects the postmodern world.
A 21st century art curriculum is not just about teaching students how to draw. In fact,
technical execution may even take a back seat to ideas and thought processes that go along with
making and viewing art. Curriculum today needs to encompass more. Instilling the ability in
students to learn imaginatively is essential to inside the classroom and beyond (Lui, 37). A
postmodern art class should not only teach students how to construct rich ideas and problemsolve in order to make a meaningful work of art, but it should also teach student how to apply
these skills in everyday life. By starting with big concepts, discussing essential questions, and
engaging in artistic research, students can formulate sophisticated methods of expressing an idea.
A closer look at the six senses will provide a clearer understanding of their relationship to the art
room.

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

Design is all around us. It has become more prevalent and important in todays society
than ever before. Now, consumer goods not only need to function properly, but they also need to
have an aesthetic appeal in order to stand alongside their competitors. This sense perhaps has the
most obvious connection to art. Students can develop this aptitude by first noticing design they
encounter in daily life, and then by applying skills in their own design projects. They can pay
close attention to good design versus bad design: what works and what needs improvement.
According to Pink, design is interdisciplinary (Pink, 72).
Symphony is "the ability to put together the pieces...the capacity to synthesize rather
then to analyze" (Pink, 130). Pink uses a perfect example of how symphony is used when
learning to draw. An artist must observe different lines, shapes, and values, and interpret how the
relate to each other proportionally. While working on one small area of a drawing, it is crucial to
understand how that section affects the piece as a whole (Pink, 131). Not only is this an
important skill to teach students who are learning to draw, but it is also necessary to show them
how to utilize this type thinking as they problem solve in the real world.
Empathy is an aptitude that only humans possess, and cannot be replicated by
computers. It is the ability to stand in others shoes, to see with their eyes and to feel with their
hearts (Pink, 159). It is necessary to teach students life skills in order to be happy and successful
human beings in today's world. By having conversations and modeling empathy during class
discussions, teachers are encouraging this valuable character trait. Empathy within in the art
room also enables students to learn about art in different cultures and time periods through an
open and accepting lens.
Play is an aptitude that allows for unlimited right-brained exercising. It is a carefree act
calls for outside of the box thinking and experimenting. Where art is concerned, play allows

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

students to take risks without fear. Playful art making can result in the creation of new ideas and
new usages for materials. Creating art should start with play in an effort to problem solve before
diving into the final product. Most importantly, play is joyful.
Meaning is a desire that connects humans together. Pink explains, "the search for
meaning is a drive that exists in us all" (Pink, 217). By finding meaning in the journey, we can
push through the hardships and challenges that life can bring. We can train ourselves to be happy
by adopting habits like gratitude, forgiveness, and optimism. In art, students learn how to make
their work meaningful in order to express an idea or convey an emotion. It is important to teach
students how artists visually articulate what personally meaningful to them.
Finally, there is story. Of the six, I will focus this sense in order to further advocate its
worth within art education. Pink describes the essence of story as context enriched by emotion
(Pink, 103). Before the written word, stories were the means of communicating experiences from
past to present. Stories are memorable, and they play on emotion and empathy. Companies use
story as a persuasive strategy when selling products because consumers are more likely to buy
into an idea that they feel personally connected to. In todays age, professionals like doctors and
trainers are taught to listen to a patients story before coming up with a diagnosis or treatment
(Pink, 113). Stories are also profound because everyone has them and they can be deeply
personal. The stories we choose to tell, and the way in which we tell them say something about
our identity. Artists are visual storytellers. Whether they are true or fiction, emotional or comical,
easily read or complex, stories exist in almost every work of art. Integrating story into the art
curriculum can lead to rich and meaningful results.
There are numerous ways to bring stories alive through postmodern art curriculum. For
example, Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a great tool for allowing students to make

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

connections and construct a narrative by viewing a piece of art. From a carefully selected image
rich in visual potency, the teacher facilitates the VTS discussion by specifically asking: What is
going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? and What more can we
find? (Yenawine, 25). From these guiding questions, students are able to peel back and uncover
a story within the art piece. It is necessary for art educators to choose artists work that
demonstrates the proper narrative and complexity. Photographer Gregory Crewdson is a strong
example of a postmodern artist whose photographs can elicit powerful VTS discussions. His
work straddles the emotions of uneasiness and mystery, and each frame posses all the necessary
qualities to build a great storyline.
In the art room, it is important to integrate other content areas into lessons whenever
possible. Using the idea of story to incorporate language arts into art proves to be a seamless
connection. For example, students can view an image and then write their own narrative based
on what they see. Taking the reverse approach, students can also read a passage and then respond
to it by illustrating an image that they can visualize from the text. A great resource to use in the
art room when connecting written and visual texts is the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg. Each page contains compelling and curious illustrations that are
accompanied by a sentence of suspenseful text. It is then up to the student to infer what happens
next in the story.
These are just a few examples that demonstrate story embedded in art curriculum.
Studying the stories within art history can also connect art with social studies. Students can look
to artists like Nikki Lee whose narrative photographs seek to understand different social and
cultural groups. The ability to tell and interpret stories is an old skill that is still extremely
relevant in todays society. With story, we have a sense of place. Without story, life feels like

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

chaos (Liu, 85). By incorporating this aptitude into the art room, students can view and creating
interesting and meaningful artwork that aligns with conceptual age thinking.

APPLYING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING TO ART EDUCATION

References
Allsburg,C.(1984).ThemysteriesofHarrisBurdick.Boston:HoughtonMifflin.
Liu,E.,&NoppeBrandon,S.(2009).ImaginationFirst:Unlockingthepowerofpossibility.San
Francisco,California:JosseyBass.
Pink,D.(2005).AWholeNewMind:WhyRightBrainersWillRuleTheFuture.NewYork:
RiverheadBooks.
Yenawine,P.(2013).VisualThinkingStrategies.Cambridge,Massachusetts:HarvardEducation
Press.