A preliminary investigation into the roles of interactive engagement in the visual arts

Abstract

This study investigates contemporary occurrences within the South African art and social sphere as a symptom of societal and technological manipulation. By examining the occurrences surrounding the #rhodesmustfall campaign (2015) as well as the reactions to Brett Murray’s work, The Spear (2015), the way in which ideologically based worldviews separate communities, impede dialogue, hinder the uninhibited formation of identity, create intolerance for freedom of speech and erupt in assertion violence is determined. The approaches of Brett Murray, Wim Botha, Willem Boshoff, Tracy Rose, Zanele Muholi and the #rhodesmustfall campaign are examined to determine how interactive aesthetic engagement within the visual arts can serve to restore people’s ability to communicate, tolerate and understand one another. The stimulation of dialogue and experience through interactive aesthetic engagement as a way to foster and enhance tacit knowledge in the appreciation of visual art are the primary concerns addressed in this practice-based research study. In this regard, this study draws from Cora Marshall’s (2010) research design, which includes aesthetico-action research, hermeneutical phenomenology and thematic analysis. The transformation of established standards of meaning via aesthetic engagement forms a fundamental part of the chosen methodology as well as the topic of the research. The oscillation between the written and practical components of this study is conducted with the ultimate aim of an audience understanding and eliciting an interactive aesthetic engagement with a body of work.