Letters to and from the In-Between: An Autoethnographic Study of Becoming-With
cardstock, book, string, acrylic, laser cut words
2022
cardstock, book, string, acrylic, laser cut words
2022
In this master’s research project, I explore my practices as an artist-educator-researcher through an arts-based autoethnographic study. My research draws on new materialist thinkers Barad (2014) and Braidotti (2019), pragmatist and educational theories from John Dewey (1966), and Ingold’s (2016) Theory of Correspondence, to examine the ways my practices continue to become-with other subjects. Human, non-human, conceptual, and material subjects include the arts in medicine field, the people and disciplines within it, and collaborative learning experience design. To conduct this study, I engaged with the space between myself and these subjects through epistolary
correspondence, or letter-writing.
I sought to further my understanding of how these subjects, or correspondents, influence my practices. By offering my observations, perceptions, and questions and ultimately, I drew closer to what is known and unknown between us. I wrote to the In-Between, Memory, Self, Arts in Medicine, Artist-Educators, Narrative Medicine, Providers, and Patients. The content of these letters acts as narrative data for thematic content analysis and arts-based poetry research. Like the letters and the poetry portraits I made of them, I find that the in-between takes shape according to how we engage with the transformative potential that lives within it; beginning with whether we notice the in-between or not. Where attention, engagement, and potential meet, relational practice can occur and new meaning can be made. By engaging with the in-between and my chosen correspondents, I discovered the ongoing, multi-perspectival, co-construction of meaning through relationships and the ways the process shapes me. Designing the process and analyzing the findings continue to inform my becoming, especially in my art-making, learning experience facilitation, and research related to both.
Given that becoming is shared, this collection of letters and resulting poetry portraits include an epistolary reflective practice guide for other artist-educator-researchers out there, or anyone who chooses to explore the space between themselves and the subjects of their attention. This project also sets the stage for research into the relationship between arts-based, narrative medicine programming and co-constructed and co-created care. I propose a future study that investigates and evaluates other
potential impacts and outcomes of the arts-based programming (LED) I currently co-facilitate in local hospitals. Reflecting our constant becoming-with each other, I suggest that this study be co-designed with interdisciplinary partners within medicine.
correspondence, or letter-writing.
I sought to further my understanding of how these subjects, or correspondents, influence my practices. By offering my observations, perceptions, and questions and ultimately, I drew closer to what is known and unknown between us. I wrote to the In-Between, Memory, Self, Arts in Medicine, Artist-Educators, Narrative Medicine, Providers, and Patients. The content of these letters acts as narrative data for thematic content analysis and arts-based poetry research. Like the letters and the poetry portraits I made of them, I find that the in-between takes shape according to how we engage with the transformative potential that lives within it; beginning with whether we notice the in-between or not. Where attention, engagement, and potential meet, relational practice can occur and new meaning can be made. By engaging with the in-between and my chosen correspondents, I discovered the ongoing, multi-perspectival, co-construction of meaning through relationships and the ways the process shapes me. Designing the process and analyzing the findings continue to inform my becoming, especially in my art-making, learning experience facilitation, and research related to both.
Given that becoming is shared, this collection of letters and resulting poetry portraits include an epistolary reflective practice guide for other artist-educator-researchers out there, or anyone who chooses to explore the space between themselves and the subjects of their attention. This project also sets the stage for research into the relationship between arts-based, narrative medicine programming and co-constructed and co-created care. I propose a future study that investigates and evaluates other
potential impacts and outcomes of the arts-based programming (LED) I currently co-facilitate in local hospitals. Reflecting our constant becoming-with each other, I suggest that this study be co-designed with interdisciplinary partners within medicine.