Abstract
This paper is a preliminary study for "Reading-Oriented Art Appreciation" that regards consideration, interpretation, investigation and even getting knowledge as important. This paper has two principal objects. One is to examine the range of the educational effectiveness of "Interactive Talk in Art Appreciation," which Amelia Arenas has been performing by her excellent skill in organizing dialogue. (Koichi Ueno has been taking the initiative in theorizing on this method and making efforts to popularize it in Japan.) The other is to propose Reading-Oriented Art Appreciation as a different instructive approach to cover the limitation of Interactive Talk in Art Appreciation. At first, the author takes up the beneficial views of Yoshie Okamoto (a participant in the Arenas' 1993 seminar at MoMA), who improved visual thinking methodology in the "Museum Adventure Program" at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. Then he confirms the two developmental theories on aesthetic experience by Abigail Housen and Michael J. Parsons. After that, he points out a structural resemblance between these theories, both of which consist of five developmental stages, and art criticism as four sequential (step-by-step) progresses (description, analysis, interpretation and judgment), as devised by Edmund B. Feldman. In conclusion, Interactive Talk in Art Appreciation characterized by a net-spiral-like formation is just fit for elementary school students who easily have the animated creation of narrative imageries inspired by artworks. In contrast, Reading-Oriented Art Appreciation, which could be formed from Feldman's proposal, is suitable for secondary school students, who are generally reflective, often feel difficulty in talking and communication, and who need enhance their language competence including the ability to practically use information.
