Title: Learning 'walking' by 'walking'. Duration: 15 minutes approx.
At the University of Granada we have carried out this action as one of the obligatory activities in the course 'Art Education' in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
The activity took place on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, following the next scheme:
1. 'Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Place/land/geography
Action in Granada: Classroom number T3 in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
2. 'Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Sensorial-affective inquiry
Action in Granada: All students and professor walk in a circle and read a text. Each person has photocopied on a sheet of paper the text.
3. Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Embodiment & trans materialization
Action in Granada: To reinforce the embodiment of each person in the action we did NOT walk on the floor but on the tables and chairs of the class, including the teacher's table.
In order to cross from the tables of one part of the class to the other part without going down to the floor, we had to walk on the chairs, which gave more dynamism to the photos and the video we have recorded.
4. Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Rhythm-movement
Action in Granada: We have walked in a circle, as the prisoners around the courtyard.
5. Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Symbolic object
Action in Granada: For this first action in which we begin to learn 'walking' we have chosen the first book that was published with images for primary school.
Author: COMENIUS, Johann Amos.
Book: Orbis Sensualium Pictus. [Comenius’s Visible World]. Or, A Picture and Nomenclature of all the chief Things that are in the World; and of Men’s Employments therein ... most suitable to Children's capacities] ... & translated into English by Charles Hoole. London: Printed for J Kirton, 1664.
[Retrieved from https://ia802307.us.archive.org/35/items/johamoscommeniio00come/johamoscommeniio00come.pdf]
This book was published bilingually, in Latin (because it was the cultured language of the time) and in many European languages: English, French, German, Italian, etc.
The chapter number 82 of the Comenius book, pages 100-101, is devoted to 'The Traveler-walker /Viator’ (in latin)'.
In our 'walking' action, the book was placed on a chair in the center of the classroom, around which we all walked in a circle.
7. Walking Meth.’ / Key Concepts: Theme / Text / Speech
Action in Granada: All the participants have read aloud a paragraph from chapter 82 of the Comenius book, which is devoted to 'The Traveler- walker / Viator (in Latin)'.
At the beginning of the action, the teacher is the one who reads the first paragraph of the book, the person who walks behind the teacher reads the next paragraph and so on until everyone has read a paragraph.
At the end, by indication of the teacher, all the people have read aloud at the same time.
Image 1.- Ricardo Marin-Viadel (2018) Visual summary of ‘Andante’ action n.1. Photo essay composed by, left, a visual quotation (Comenio, 2017 [1658], p. 182-183) and right, a series of the author (2018) Andantes 1, composed with six digital photographs.