Date

1976

Author

Erzen, Jale Nejdet

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Studies in perception, anthropology, and the arts of the primitive people, have destroyed the old surrogate theories about art and aesthetics, and have helped to break the boundaries between daily life, education and art in the 20th Century. Jean Piaget's studies in child perception, Geştalt psychology, philosophers like Bergson and Whitehead, John Dewey with his revolutionary ideas on education, and Eric Havelock, scholar in preliterate Greek societies, are just a few among the many sources that prove the indispensability of the aesthetic process in learning and problem solving. Finally phenomenology, with Husserl's analysis of the perceptual field and Merleau-Ponty's elaborate descriptions of the flow and dynamism of perception, has contributed to a new understanding of aesthetics. In this light, it can be summarized that the aesthetic properties derive from the presence, vitality, and the life, force of a being, and that aesthetic perception is the awareness of such properties, and is possible only with the full empathic participation of the observer. It is, therefore, essential that in education, the student has to approach, the subject matter with such an awareness, in order to analyze it, learn from it, and find various solutions. It is not only true that an aesthetic approach is necessary for art, communication and the development of culture, but also that in order for formal education to be effective it has to be an aesthetic process, itself. In all its levels, contemporary education, with its conceptualism, abstraction from life, and defensive academic attitudes, is no longer valid for the young people of the industrialized world. These people are fully aware of the destruction of the world by materialist values, and also aware of the necessity to bring reality and education into a closer orbit, and to approach issues from multi-dimensions. Nor, is the present education beneficial for other societies, also for the fact that great technical and cultural gaps among mankind, in an age of mass communication, is bound to result in aggressive and defensive attitudes. Present formal educational systems are avoiding collapse through various ways of militarization, and safeguarding their efficiency by turning out graduates with methods that are not too dissimilar to mass production. Professional qualities and human values seem irrelevant. When cynicism, skepticism, and severe mechanization seem the point of departure for all solutions, it may sound too romantic to propose aesthetic approaches. However, even in corrupt cultural conditions, youth is always disposed towards ideals and Utopias. And, for education to be of any value it has to uphold the highest ideals. Assuming further that educational institutions are the most suitable for such attitudes, it is rational to believe that an educational process that in itself cultivates respect for life, desire to participate in the universe, and the feeling of urgency for the know-how is the only method for the realization of these attitudes. Such a process can only be rooted in aesthetic principles, facilitating close contact and unselfish give-and-take among the properties of the educational field - such as source of knowledge, subject matter, student, and teacher. This approach which defies defensive isolation and prejudices will also serve to bring society at large and educational institutions closer together. Great radical changes may not be immediately feasible for many educational disciplines where the existing high-costing material facilities do not seem obsolete as yet. However, in disciplines such as architecture where there is a great potential for an aesthetic process to be realized, such changes are indispensable. Architecture's field of study cannot be abstract, theoretical, and removed from life. As such, it necessitates active participation in the environment and a perception that goes beyond obvious practical issues. A multi-dimensional perception, a sense of identification with all living being, the courage to objectify and produce, and creativity to find new, more human, but nontheless sophisticated technical solutions necessitate an aesthetic perception and approach. Many of the endeavors to start new educational systems have sprung from disciplines such as art and architecture, which essentially cannot be divorced from life, humanity and the community. Architecture, compared to purely artistic disciplines, is lucky in having the help of science and industry, and the vital interest of the people on its side. It has the potential to serve as the pioneer towards a new world where art, education and daily living are integrated through an aesthetic essence that has its raison d'etre in the positive and progressive qualities of life.

URI

http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/1976/cilt02/sayi_2/175-185.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/51327

Collections

Department of Architecture, Article