A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Aesthetic flux: inquiring into the sensuous dynamics of children, matter and environments with a more-than-human lens
Authors: Renlund Jenny, Kumpulainen Kristiina, Byman Jenny, Wong Chin Chin, Sintonen Sara
Publisher: Routledge, Taylor & Francis
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Environmental Education Research
Volume: 30
Issue: 7
First page : 1076
Last page: 1092
ISSN: 1350-4622
eISSN: 1469-5871
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2350675
Web address : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2024.2350675
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/404650136
Although sensuous and embodied engagement is an integral part of child–environment relationalities, the intersections of aesthetics, children and environments remain scarcely addressed. As a response, this study develops a concept of ‘aesthetic flux’ to delve into the sensuous dynamics of matter and bodies in the context of a storying workshop in a forest with first graders in a Finnish primary school. An arts-based, post-qualitative methodology guided our analysis of video recordings from the workshop, resulting in visual-sonic montages that draw attention to the intense movements and sounds of children, soap bubbles, air, a research camera and trees. Thinking through the concept of aesthetic flux, our study experiments with the abundance, indeterminacy and potentiality of sensuous dynamics where bodies (human and otherwise) become together and linger. Thus, our study reconfigures aesthetics as a creative and unpredictable force that materialises in both embodied and conceptual ways in environmental education and research with children.