Visualizing and deepening thoughts through art appreciation

Abstract

We studied methods to help people visualize and deepen their thoughts through art appreciation and how to apply these methods. First, we present the concept of appreciation skills as a scheme to promote thought visualization during the art appreciation process. Then, we propose a model of metacognition using appreciation skills as a theoretical framework for monitoring and controlling thoughts during art appreciation, and we offer tools to help viewers metacognize their thoughts. Additionally, we present and analyse creative approaches for appreciating art physically through multiple senses (sight, touch, sound, smell) as well as practices for visualizing and deepening thoughts through collaborative visual representations. We found that supporting metacognition during the art appreciation process from the perspective of appreciation skills can be particularly effective for novice viewers. In addition, the collaborative creation of short videos may encourage non-art major students to visualize their thoughts and have more varied interpretations of artwork.