EMPATHY IN ACTION: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF EMPATHY IN ART, DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE PRACTICE AND PEDAGOGY?

 

                            PRESENTATION OF PROJECT AT PECKHAM LEVELS, LONDON  (Video by Timna Krenn) JULY 2023

EXPLORING EMPATHY has been set up by Dr Lee Campbell as a space to discuss ideas around empathy in Art, Design and Performance practice within a university context and beyond, encompassing the lived experience that each individual brings into their work. So far, there have been two iterations of the project in 2022 and 2023, both kindly supported through a CCW Teaching and Learning Fund Award.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND 

In the last 10 years, I have designed and delivered a cluster of activity, including publication of my two-part book volume Leap into Action (2020) aiming to embed compassionate pedagogies within art and design education in my teaching work at the University of the Arts London as Senior Lecturer in Academic Support at Wimbledon College of Arts and also in my socially engaged practice as an artist, performance poet and filmmaker (for more information on the below Polari writing workshops, click on this link) : https://lcampbellprojects.blogspot.com/p/b.html

EXPLORING EMPATHY IN PRACTICE (PROJECT 1. 2022)  

Engaging with the work of UAL Academic Enhancement’s Vikki Hill and Liz Bunting in relation to compassionate pedagogies and relating their ideas to my own artistic and pedagogic interests, I have found a gap in their work to think further about compassionate relationships: the term ‘empathy’. Critically reflecting upon how empathy might be related to and also different to compassionate pedagogy and also widening ‘relationships’ to include not just include relationships we have with other people but relationships with materials, objects etc., my 2022 project Exploring Empathy in Practice generated a space for invited postgraduate students from across CCW  (Camberwell Chelsea Wimbledon) University of the Arts London, lecturers from across CCW Academic Support including artists and designers Henrietta Simson and Victoria Ahrens and Omolara Obanishola and invited guest speakers comprising artists, curators and thinkers including Mel Jordan, Stefan Moos and Daniel & Clara to discuss ideas around empathy in Art, Design and Performance practice within a university context and beyond and share their ideas to the questions: What does the term 'empathy' mean to you? How could the term empathy be applied to how you work with materials in your practice? and 'How has empathy changed your perspective on collaboration? Discussions were themed under three broad headings:

1.

 Dissonance, action, politics and public participation

2.

 Teaching, learning, relating and the everyday

3.

 Materials, the environment and the imagination

As part of Dissonance, action, politics and public participation,  presenters explored 'How can we use empathy to navigate difficult conversations, sites of disruption and contestation? and 'How does it help us to move beyond binaries?' 

Artist Mel Jordan provoked the audience to think about empathy in connection with a range of ideas including its relation to social conviviality, dissent and protest. You can watch Mel's presentation here: https://vimeo.com/696595486/76c8e02256 

Stefan Moos explored the complexities surrounding empathy and identity and discussed solidarity across minority groups, integration, othering and crossing boundaries.

Linking empathy to my performative artistic and pedagogical practice, I asked the audience to contemplate discomfort in empathy, citing humour as 'cruel empathy’.

 Whilst recognising the contested elements of empathy, I also spoke about creating solidarity using humour and referred to my recent livestream Zoom performance practice as generating 'techno-empathy' amongst viewers. 

This presentation exploring 'techno-empathy' was then published in UAL's SPARK Learning and Teaching Journal as ''Digital Pedagogies Open Studio': disruptions, interventions and techno-empathy'

Referring to the shift to online teaching forms as generating a space of empathy between tutors and students during lockdown, the article refers to an iteration of the studio where members of the UAL LGBTQI+ student network were invited to experience a piece of live immersive storytelling via Zoom. You can read the paper by clicking here:

 https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/167/265

You can also read about these Zoom performances as part of my TECHNOPARTICIPATION project by clicking here: 

https://lcampbellprojects.blogspot.com/p/latest-news-scroll-down-for-project.html

As part of Teaching, learning, relating and the everyday, presenters explored 'Can we envision the perfect conditions to teach empathetically in person and online, and what are the limitations?

Omolara Obanishola gave insight into her pedagogic, creative and research practice to find points where empathy operates within this. 

As part of Materials, the environment and the imagination, presenters explored How can an empathic connection with materiality deepen our understanding of ourselves and our environment? and Can we envision the perfect conditions to teach empathetically in person and online, and what are the limitations?  

Daniel & Clara got us thinking about empathy in relation to the landscape.

Victoria Ahrens took us on a journey, showing us how empathy in her practice acts as a way in to reveal the hidden stories of the materials she uses.

 

Henrietta SImson moved us to contemplate how an empathetic connection to art could lead us to think about embodiment and landscape.

The project produced a carefully curated repository of resources currently showcased on UAL’s Academic Support Online (ASO):

 https://academicsupportonline.arts.ac.uk/learning-resources/49251

(link only available to UAL staff and students). Two of the postgraduate students taking part, Tien-Tzu and Qi-Qi contributed their reflections of taking part in the project. Read Tien-Tzu's here: 

https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/postgraduate-study/postgraduate-community/stories/exploring-empathy-project,-by-tien-tzu-lin

The response from those taking part was excellent.

One of the students, Bernadette commented’ ‘Sessions have been creatively rich in getting me thinking about how and what I make and how that sits in a space’. These responses demonstrated proof of concept in terms of wanting to further investigate empathy. 

 

EMPATHY IN ACTION (PROJECT 2. 2023) 

This year I designed and delivered a second iteration of the project ‘Empathy in Action’ initially billed as ‘How To Practice Empathy’. This second project prioritized the student voice to heighten their engagement, confidence and agency within the project. Applying  Hill and Bunting’s work further, I worked with Natasha  Sabatini and four invited CCW postgrad students (3 current and 1 alumni, Tien-Tzu who took part in the project last year) to produce an online selection of zines (welded together to create a superzine) exploring the contested elements of the term ‘empathy’

Being inspired by the students work, I created my own zine for my poetry film Camp that relates to dark empathy and the issues that I have with LGBT allyship. Here is a section from the film:

We also held two one-hour podcast sessions discussing empathy.

 Initially, we sought to create a handbook on ‘how to practice empathy’. Throughout our discussions, we became more and more aware of the contested nature of ‘empathy’ and just how complex it is. Thus, we moved away from the idea of creating a handbook as we did not want to appear prescriptive and risk presenting the term in a reductive / simplistic manner. We replaced ‘How to Practice Empathy’ with ‘Empathy in Action'. Some of the ways that students taking part have benefited from the project, based on their feedback responses, include:

·    Gaining heightened critical thinking skills

·    Challenging their perceptions

·    Building empathy with others when at times they may disagree with another’s opinions

·   Presenting their work in a professional manner

·   Engaging in in-depth discussion with peers to further understanding of empathy and make students feel more connected as practitioners

·   Sophisticating their collaboration skills.

    Tien-Tzu, reflecting on the project commented, ‘Collaboration emerged as a central theme, embodying the practice of empathy. Collaboration allows us to acknowledge boundaries while fostering equality and understanding of the other side. The project has reminded me of the fundamental principles that we generated through our podcast recording sessions: to feel, to comprehend, to respect, to collaborate, and to remain honest and patient. As a visual communicator, it reinforces my understanding of empathy and its importance in delivering meaningful messages to the world’

Martin another student taking part in the project:

'When I first embarked on this adventure, I had a surface-level idea of the word “empathy”. After listening to Lee Campbell’s past projects and his recent research,I was very intrigued about where this could lead to. The podcast recording sessions were very enriching for me. I had the pleasure of sharing them with Lee, Timna, Tien-Tzu and Mishma. On our first recording, we were a bit nervous but that became the perfect scenario to talk about a topic that neither of us really knew about. The fact that it was being recorded established a healthy pressure on us: we ended up discussing empathy towards oneself, different ways to practice empathy, how to incorporate empathy in your practice, toxic empathy, etc. I was especially interested in this last term, “toxic empathy”. I had always wondered why musicians would constantly find ways to write “relatable” lyrics instead of just honestly talking about their realities or fantasies. Or how some celebrities constantly preach about being empathetic with less privileged people without real involvement or impact. We all started grasping how powerful and dangerous this term is. In conclusion, empathy is a word that we often hear in our daily lives but we never question what it really is or can be. Sitting down and discussing our different perceptions and disseminating its different possibilities has been wildly enlightening. Especially in a world when things happen so fast and words become codes instead of meanings, it’s crucial to stop and think about certain words, especially if we use them frequently. I’m certain I will keep doing this, not only personally but professionally.' 

Timna Krenn, another participating student, produced the Empathy Game. She invites game players to create their own instructions  

 

 

PRESENTATION OF PROJECT AT PECKHAM LEVELS, LONDON (JULY 2023) 

 

As part of a celebration of CCW Teaching and Learning Fund Award recipients 2023, I presented aspects of Project 2.

 One of the audience members remarked:

 

'I very much enjoyed your presentation, and spent quite a bit of time yesterday thinking about one of my friends who often displays what I can only describe as 'fake empathy'. She is a person that is often the most empathetic in the room, however I always have a feeling that the empathic displays are often hollow. Worth stating that she is a great person despite this shortcoming within her character! However, I don’t think I had ever taken the time to think about this, until you made me question the different types of empathy. Very enjoyable and thought provoking. I particularly enjoyed the illustrated heart shaped pamphlet and will enjoy revisiting this art work.'