Questions to Facilitate Arting Conversations
To support you on your Arting process, we are sharing questions that we have used in our conversations. Choose or adapt any among the following that you think will enhance your Art As Conversation process.
General thoughts and emotions:
- What does art mean to you?
- How did you become interested in it?
- What kinds of images move, attract or engage you?
- What types of art turn you off and why?
- What kinds of art do you prefer? Abstract, representative, or mixtures?
- Do you have preferred artists? What attracts you to them? Have you changed your preferences over time? If so, how come?
- What aspects of art would you like to learn about?
- Self-expression: If you would create your own images, collages or any other kind of representation, what would it be?
- What topics and/or emotions would you like to express or portray?
- What approach to discussing and learning about art would you enjoy and be fun for you?
Questions related to particular art:
- What meaning or purpose do you attribute to it?
- What do you think or sense the artist intended?
- What do you imagine the artist wanted to elicit from the viewer, if anything?
- What associations and feelings in your own life are evoked by the images and their juxtapositions within the picture?
- What connections come to mind in relation to broader situations?
- What ideas, thoughts and emotions come to mind when you consider the juxtaposition of the two images?
- Do you prefer to know the titles of a work of art or not? Especially when are titles useful or important to you to stimulate understanding and conversation?
- If you would title this art, what would you call it?
- How does a related poem enhance your visual and emotional experience?’
Questions related to comparing art:
- If particular art or combinations of art evoke stories that relate to your experience or life, what emerges?
- Does the art complement each other or do they feel at odds?
- What similarities and differences do you see and feel from the artists?
- What do the pieces of art together show you that looking at only one does not?
Considerations for Arting: Art As Conversation with others:
- Who would you like to collaborate with in choosing, juxtaposing and discussing images?
- What do you imagine your adventure in arting conversation would lead to?
- How comfortable are you having an open conversation about art and why?
- What timing and sequence in your collaboration would appeal and be viable?
- How curious are each of you about artists beyond what’s familiar to you?
- How will you deal with concerns or misunderstandings about the choices or conversations?
- What do you want to add or change to any of these possible prompts for Art As Conversation? How would you use or adapt the process for use with others?