Hope in groundlessness : art’s denial as pedagogy

Abstract

Educatin’s ill-fated toing and froing between ‘progressive’ and ‘conservative’ ideologies has precluded the possibility of groundlessness from our ways of thinking, doing and making. Yet it is by force of the contingent language of groundlessness and its usage of trope, paradox and aporia that contemporary art re-articulates human thinking beyond a boxed idea of reason. The main tenor of this essay is to argue and suggest that the quandary of the contingent self is no excuse for the restoration of a ground in art and education. It is through the notion of groundlessnes that our ethical responsabilities cannot ignore the primacy of individual Choice. The pedagogy of art’s refusal emerges against such backdrop. This essay is partly offered as a dialogue on art and education by drawing some attention to the philosophies of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Vattimo; as well as the art of Francis Bacon, Marino Marini, Kiki Smith and Frank Auerbach.