The tower of experience: The integral ascent of arts knowing

Abstract

In this visual essay, I render my journey up the Tower of Experience. The tower has four levels – physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual – and each level expresses a different way of knowing and experiencing. These levels express a deep and broad interpretation of reality, and thus a way through which to understand artistic experience and inquiry. The tower illustrates perennialism’s hierarchical stages of ascent towards wholeness of Being, which inspire me to create integral and holistic arts learning experiences for my visual arts education students. The purpose of this essay was to visualize my felt-sense of the tower and connect this to my teaching concerns. In subsequent investigations, I will analyse the symbolism and phenomenological response to the tower artworks.