| Peer-Reviewed

Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project

Received: 26 January 2022     Accepted: 13 February 2022     Published: 18 March 2022
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The aim of the following essay is to provide a more precise analytical insight into the development of artistic mastery and artistic identity. The professional biography of a young sculptor, told by herself, serves as the qualitative data basis. The interpretation method applied here is a variant of the so-called ‘reconstructive hermeneutics’ developed in a range of own qualitative studies. Theoretical background is Michael Polanyi’s phenomenological knowledge theory. The interpretation discovers interesting stages of the protagonist’s artistic development: hidden influences from childhood and youth, ambivalent experiences during the various studies, a surprising ‘coming out’ as an artist, a sort of ‘inauguration’ and finally a deep trust in her own artistry. The surprising result is not only a profound insight into the complex process of artistic creativity and the paradoxical becoming process of artistic identity, but also the discovery of clear limits of Polanyi’s knowledge model as it ignores the undeniable influence of biographical experience on the tacit knowing of gaining artistic mastery.

Published in International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11
Page(s) 72-83
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Professional Artistry, Artistic Mastery, Reflection-in-Action, Intuition, The Knowledge Triangle, From-to-Structure of Perception, Recognition, Biographicity of Knowledge

References
[1] Alheit, Peter (1990). Biographizität als Projekt. Der “biographische Ansatz” in der Erwachsenenbildung (Werkstattberichte des Forschungsschwerpunkts Arbeit und Bildung, Bd. 12). Bremen: University of Bremen Press.
[2] Alheit, Peter (1994). Taking the Knocks. Youth Unemployment and Biography – A Qualitative Analysis. London: Cassell.
[3] Alheit, Peter (2010). Identität oder „Biographizität“? Beiträge der neueren sozial- und erziehungswissenschaftlichen Biogra­phieforschung zu einem Konzept der Identitätsentwicklung (Reprint). In: Birgit Griese (ed.), Subjekt – Identität – Person? Reflexionen zur Biographieforschung (pp. 219-249). Wiesba-den: Springer VS.
[4] Alheit, Peter (2020). Biografizität als »mentale Grammatik« der Lebenszeit. In: Elisabeth Schilling und Maureen O’Neill (eds.): Frontiers in Time Research – Einführung in die interisziplinäre Zeitforschung (pp. 161-183). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
[5] Alheit, Peter & Dausien, Bettina (2000). Die biographische Konstruktion der Wirklichkeit. Überlegungen zur Biographizität des Sozialen. In: Erika M. Hoerning (ed.), Biographische Sozialisation (pp. 257-283). Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius.
[6] Alheit, Peter, Bast-Haider, Kerstin & Drauschke, Petra (2004). Die zögernde Ankunft im Westen. Biographien und Menta-litäten in Ostdeutschland. Frankfurt am Main, New York: Campus.
[7] Alheit, Peter et al. (1999). Gebrochene Modernisierung – Der lange Wandel proletarischer Milieus. Eine exemplarische Vergleichsstudie ost- und westdeutscher Arbeitermilieus in den 1950er Jahren. 2 Bde. Bremen: Donat.
[8] Benner, Patricia (2012). Stufen zur Pflegekompetenz. From Novice to Expert. Bern: Huber.
[9] Bourdieu, Pierre (1983). Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital. In: Reinhard Kreckel (ed.), Soziale Ungleichheiten (Soziale Welt. Sonderband 2) (pp. 183-198). Göttingen: Schwartz.
[10] Buck, Günther (1967). Lernen und Erfahrung. Zum Begriff der didaktischen Induktion. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
[11] Dausien, Bettina (2008). Lebenslanges Lernen als Leitlinie für die Bildungspraxis? Überlegungen zur pädagogischen Konstruktion von Lernen aus biographietheoretischer Sicht. In: Heidrun Herzberg (ed.), Lebenslanges Lernen. Theoretische Perspektiven und empirische Befunde im Kontext der Erwachsenenbildung (pp. 151-174). Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang.
[12] Dausien, Bettina, Rothe, Daniela & Schwendowius, Dorothee (2016). Teilhabe und Ausgrenzung als biographische Erfahrung –Einführung in eine biographiewissenschaftliche Analyseperspekti-ve. In: Bettina Dausien et al. (eds.), Bildungswege. Biographien zwischen Teilhabe und Ausgrenzung (pp. 25-67). Frankfurt am Main, New York: Campus.
[13] Habermas, Jürgen (1987). Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
[14] Habermas, Jürgen (2019). Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
[15] Herzberg, Heidrun (2022): Zur Komplementarität biographieanalytischer und phänomenologischer Zugänge zur Pflegebildung. In: Dieter Nittel, Heide von Felden & Meron Mendel (eds.), Handbuch: Erziehungswissenschaftliche Biographieforschung und Biographiearbeit. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz/Ju-venta (forthcoming).
[16] Luhmann, Niklas (112001). Soziale Systeme. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
[17] Neuweg, Georg Hans (2001). Könnerschaft und implizites Wissen. Zur lehr-lerntheoretischen Bedeutung der Erkenntnis- und Wissenstheorie Michael Polanyis. Münster: Waxmann.
[18] Neuweg, Georg Hans (2020). Etwas können. Ein Beitrag zu einer Phänomenologie der Könnerschaft. In: Rico Hermkes, Georg Hans Neuweg & Tim Bonowski (eds.), Implizites Wissen. Berufs- und wirtschaftspädagogische Annäherungen (pp. 13-35). Bielefeld: wbv.
[19] Nonaka, Ikujiro (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science. Vol. 5, 14-37.
[20] Polanyi, Michael (1966). The Tacit Dimension. New York: Doubleday.
[21] Polanyi, Michael (1967). The growth of science in society. Minerva. Vol. 5, 533-545.
[22] Polanyi, Michael (1969). Knowing and Being. Essays by Michael Polanyi. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[23] Schmidt, Siegfried J. (2003). Was wir vom Lernen zu wissen glauben. Report. Literatur- und Forschungsreport Weiterbildung, Jg. 26, 3, 40-50.
[24] Schön, Donald A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot: Ashgate.
[25] Schön, Donald A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Towards a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Fracisco: Jossey-Bass.
[26] Schütze, Fritz (1983). Biographieforschung und narratives Interview. Neue Praxis, Jg. 13 (3), 283-293.
[27] Schütze, Fritz (1984). Kognitive Figuren des autobiographischen Stegreiferzählens. In: Martin Kohli und Günther Robert (Hrsg.), Biographie und soziale Wirklichkeit. Neue Beiträge und Forschungsperspektiven (pp. 78-117). Stuttgart: Metzler.
[28] Witzel, Andreas & Reiter, Herwig (2012): The Problem-cen-tred Interview: Principles and Practice. London et al.: Sage.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Peter Alheit. (2022). Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 7(2), 72-83. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Peter Alheit. Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2022, 7(2), 72-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Peter Alheit. Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2022;7(2):72-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11,
      author = {Peter Alheit},
      title = {Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project},
      journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
      volume = {7},
      number = {2},
      pages = {72-83},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20220702.11},
      abstract = {The aim of the following essay is to provide a more precise analytical insight into the development of artistic mastery and artistic identity. The professional biography of a young sculptor, told by herself, serves as the qualitative data basis. The interpretation method applied here is a variant of the so-called ‘reconstructive hermeneutics’ developed in a range of own qualitative studies. Theoretical background is Michael Polanyi’s phenomenological knowledge theory. The interpretation discovers interesting stages of the protagonist’s artistic development: hidden influences from childhood and youth, ambivalent experiences during the various studies, a surprising ‘coming out’ as an artist, a sort of ‘inauguration’ and finally a deep trust in her own artistry. The surprising result is not only a profound insight into the complex process of artistic creativity and the paradoxical becoming process of artistic identity, but also the discovery of clear limits of Polanyi’s knowledge model as it ignores the undeniable influence of biographical experience on the tacit knowing of gaining artistic mastery.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Becoming an Artist: A Surprising Biographical Project
    AU  - Peter Alheit
    Y1  - 2022/03/18
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11
    T2  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
    JF  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
    JO  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
    SP  - 72
    EP  - 83
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3363
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220702.11
    AB  - The aim of the following essay is to provide a more precise analytical insight into the development of artistic mastery and artistic identity. The professional biography of a young sculptor, told by herself, serves as the qualitative data basis. The interpretation method applied here is a variant of the so-called ‘reconstructive hermeneutics’ developed in a range of own qualitative studies. Theoretical background is Michael Polanyi’s phenomenological knowledge theory. The interpretation discovers interesting stages of the protagonist’s artistic development: hidden influences from childhood and youth, ambivalent experiences during the various studies, a surprising ‘coming out’ as an artist, a sort of ‘inauguration’ and finally a deep trust in her own artistry. The surprising result is not only a profound insight into the complex process of artistic creativity and the paradoxical becoming process of artistic identity, but also the discovery of clear limits of Polanyi’s knowledge model as it ignores the undeniable influence of biographical experience on the tacit knowing of gaining artistic mastery.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Former Chair of General Pedagogy, Institute of Education, Georg-August-University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany

  • Sections