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Arts & Communication Photography and museums for senior students

We propose drifting for museum visits to students, as MHV), as well as some heritage spaces (l’Almoina, Ciutat
conceived by Guy Debord, as an act of subversion, very de les Arts i les Ciències, La Nau, San Nicolás, El Patriarca,
political, linked to the action of walking through varied Centre del Carme, Las Naves, Center d’Artesania, Palau de
environments with a playful-constructive behavior. les Arts, Grau Cemetery). The participants took thousands
Francesco Careri emphasizes his theory of walkscapes or of photographs, using their smartphones, or using
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esthetic walks. Walking a territory with no other previous their digital SLR cameras. Each student must choose a
plan than following those impulses, stimulus, and given photograph (only one) of all those taken in each museum.
conditions prompts us with the first triggered experiences The most intense and rewarding part of the process is
of an arts-based work method named after the late 60s choosing a single photograph, forcing students to question
situationist practice of the derive. This type of derive is raised many aspects of their own creations. Selecting a photograph
with awareness of the psychogeographic effects it generates, (only one) means making a decision, which has an impact
effects that the activity has on the person who performs on the importance that the image acquires, thus recalling
it, and therefore with notions different from those of the the concept of punctum developed by Roland Barthes.
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trip or walk. Numerous artistic collectives have practiced The number of photographs uploaded (17 per museum)
drifting since the beginning of the 20 century, such as the allows for an explanation in the classroom, with enough
th
Dadaists, later in the wanderings of the Surrealists, similar time to analyze each image, encouraging the teacher
to the urban explorations of Walter Benjamin, or in the to initiate debate among the students, and promoting
psychogeography of Letrist and Situationist artists, as well interdisciplinarity in training practices. It is from their
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as in the “wanderings” of Land Art, or the experimental images that we address formal issues, content, semiotics,
practices of groups like the Italian Stalkers in the 1990s. and symbol. For example, in the case of the images of
The city is the perfect place to practice drifting. Arcadi Cotolí (Figure 1), the importance of geometry in
Urban environments are full of spaces that stimulate the the creations of this mathematics teacher was commented.
development of learning experiences, thus becoming In addition, we take advantage of some elements of each
places where each artist acts as an archeologist of the city photograph to talk about artists who use photography as a
itself to investigate elements extracted from urban life means of expression.
with an artistic perspective. In this way, we break certain The art teacher María José Tamarit uses an expressive
prejudices that we have regarding places where we can resource for her photograph of a detail from the Calatrava’s
express ourselves without coercion, since these students building in the Valencian City of the Arts and Sciences
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are not familiar with art production. Museums are urban (Figure 2), accentuating the intensity. This decision allows
spaces suitable for drifting, especially when the students us to reflect in class on the use of filters and effects in
leave the classroom and walk to the indicated site in a photography. This analysis is based on demonstrating the
group, although each participant can establish his/her own pedagogical capacity that this type of research practice has
particular itinerary, with complete freedom and autonomy, in students in the construction of their personal identity,
occupying their own space of power to transform the
educational experience. Based on artistic experiences,
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it is essential to define new methods that can be used to
develop innovative research approaches, from broad and
diverse conceptual frameworks.
3. Results and discussion
The drifting (derive) and photography are the two
artistic discourses that methodologically frame the
educational experience that was investigated, leading
to the formulation of a teaching approach intended for
promoting creativity in image generation. Both written
documents and records of the students’ opinions, along
with images created by the students, constitute the results
of this study. During the course, the group visited different
museums in Valencia (Museum of Fine Arts, IVAM,
MuVIM, Casa Museo Benlliure, Ceramics Museum,
Fallero Museum, Silk Museum, Museu de Prehistòria, Figure 1. Photograph of the Valencia Ceramic Museum. Author: Arcadi
L’Etno, Museu de l’Arròs, Museu de les Ciències, L’Íber, Cotolí Melià.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1740