Thinking with Atonal Music in Visual Arts Education: A/r/tographic Collaboration to Bring Out Cognitive Skills and Sensory Awareness via Schönberg'in String Quartet No.4 Op. 37

Abstract

This study has been based on the researcher’s requestioning the results of the a/r/tographic autobiography study with students on Arnold Schönberg and his works, which was carried out between 2017-2021. In the research the aim was to observe the effects of thinking through atonal music and its reflections on visual arts education as well as the cognitive skills and sensual awareness of the participants. The requestioning of the autobiographic outputs of the researcher with her students within an a/r/tographic perspective was considered important in terms of creating new meanings and actions in visual arts education. The study was carried out with the researcher and 16 undergraduate and 1 graduate student from Kırıkkale University Faculty of Fine Arts in the academic year 2021-2022 Spring semester over a work from Schönberg. There were 6 applications in total, each application lasted 4 hours. The data of the study consist of video and voice recordings, photographs, art works, poems, student opinions, observation notes, student diaries, performance activities, personal communications, Schönberg's String Quartet No. 4 Op. 37 composition and the 39 paintings that the researcher made for this composition. The data was interpreted through a/r/tographic inquiry. At the end of the study it was observed that the application of musical thinking with atonality acts to visual arts applications brought forth skills such as making deep interpretations, developing theories, solving problems, thinking critically, self inquiry, and the use of senses in a intuitive perspective within personal experiences.