ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the main author’s experiences of defamiliarisation in the oil painting studio. This chapter draws links between defamiliarisation in English education and/or EMI, an example of radical defamiliarisation techniques used by Greg Kerr in art teaching. The process is presented in the form of a dialogue between the two authors, a studio teacher who relies heavily on history and theory to extend his students, and one of his students. Elements of duo-ethnographic to tell our story i.e., a combination of experience and explanation, with visuals as illustration, are used to reflect on aspects of the learning process in a studio-teaching context. In the dialogue, the facilitator sets out the guiding principles of the teaching strategies and the student/participant describes the ways in which the methodology finds meaning in her own praxis. The recording of parallel or opposing narratives regarding the same ‘event’ constitute an example of duo-ethnography. The underlying philosophy of the teaching is a progression from prescription (based on theoretical, historical and practical skills – at the commencement of the year-long oil painting programme), to critical reaction to the work produced by the end of the programme, at which stage the role of the facilitator has changed from prescriber to responder through a process of creative engagement. Finally, a critical analysis is offered regarding the value and challenges of such approaches to art education. The questions raised are: Are there methods that can be imported from art teaching to language teaching? Are some of the art concepts perhaps too radical?
