There and back again: A carver’s tale of losing and regaining sense of space due to a brain tumour | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 12, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2040-4689
  • E-ISSN: 2040-4697

Abstract

Sense of space is a core cognitive ability necessary for imagining future three-dimensional forms, rotating them mentally, as well as for abstract thinking. It is a core ability in craft activities, enabling the maker to ideate and envision their ideas. This autoethnographic narrative inquiry presents my experience of woodworking whilst a brain tumour impeded my sense of space. The narrative describes my experience of losing and regaining this ability and the actions I took to continue carving anyway. The article’s evocative narrative exemplifies how the core identity of being a carver and the carving process itself function as coping mechanisms in the face of terminal cancer. The article’s main purpose is to generate knowledge on the role of spatial skills in carving and their elusive nature. Theoretically positioned in the field of embodied cognition, the article explains how our sense of space develops in interaction with materials and our surroundings. It also suggests how future education can be changed by purposefully incorporating targeted craft practices to better support the development of a sense of space.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/crre_00043_1
2021-03-01
2024-05-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/crre/12/1/crre.12.1.127.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1386/crre_00043_1&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Crollen, V., and Noël, M.-P.. ( 2015;), ‘ Spatial and numerical processing in children with high and low visuospatial abilities. ’, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 132, April, pp. 8498.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Denzin, N. K.. ( 2014), Interpretive Autoethnography, , 2nd ed.., London:: Sage Publications;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Donoghue, G. M., and Horvath, J. C.. ( 2016;), ‘ Translating neuroscience, psychology and education: An abstracted conceptual framework for the learning sciences. ’, Cogent Education, 3:1, pp. 110.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Ellis, C., and Bochner, A. P.. ( 2000;), ‘ Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as a subject. ’, in K. N. Denzin, and Y. S. Lincoln. (eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research, , 2nd ed.., Thousand Oaks, CA:: Sage Publications;, pp. 73368.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Goodman, S. G.,, Seymour, T. L., and Anderson, B. R.. ( 2016;), ‘ Achieving the performance benefits of hands-on experience when using digital devices: A representational approach. ’, Computers in Human Behavior, 59, June, pp. 5866.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Groh, J. M.. ( 2014), Making Space: How the Brain Knows Where Things Are, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Groth, C.,, Mäkelä, M., and Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P.. ( 2015;), ‘ Tactile augmentation: A multimethod for capturing experiential knowledge. ’, Craft Research, 6:1, pp. 120.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Gulliksen, M.. ( 1997;), ‘Det skapende møtet – En teoretisk og en praktisk estetisk studie av personens møte med materialet i den skapende prosessen’. , masters’ thesis, Notodden:: Høgskolen i Telemark;.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Gulliksen, M. S.. ( 2017;), ‘ Making matters? Unpacking the role of practical aesthetic making activities in the general education through the theoretical lens of embodied learning. ’, Cogent Education, 4:1, p. 1415108.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Gulliksen, M. S.. ( 2018;), ‘ Purkinje Series 2015–2019. ’, Estetiske fag USN, https://estetiskefagene.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/purkinje-series-2015-2019/. Accessed 2 October 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Gulliksen, M. S.. ( 2020;), ‘ Underlying the carver’s experience: Sensorimotor modulation in the cerebellum when carving wood. ’, FORMakademisk, 13:3, pp. 115.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Harpaintner, M.,, Sim, E.-J.,, Trumpp, N. M.,, Ulrich, M., and Kiefer, M.. ( 2020;), ‘ The grounding of abstract concepts in the motor and visual system: An fMRI study. ’, Cortex, 124, March, pp. 122.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Kiefer, M., and Trumpp, N. M.. ( 2012;), ‘ Embodiment theory and education: The foundations of cognition in perception and action. ’, Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 1:1, pp. 1520.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Laamanen, T.-K.. ( 2016;), ‘ Generating and transforming representations in design ideation. ’, Ph.D. thesis, Helsinki:: University of Helsinki, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Department of Teacher Education, Craft Studies and Craft Teacher Education;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Maia, T. V.. ( 2009;), ‘ Reinforcement learning, conditioning, and the brain: Successes and challenges. ’, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, December, pp. 34364.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Mason, P.. ( 2011), Medical Neurobiology, Oxford, NY:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Merleau-Ponty, M.. ( 1962), Phenomenology of Perception, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Miller, L. E.,, Montroni, L.,, Koun, E.,, Salemme, R.,, Hayward, V., and Farnè, A.. ( 2018;), ‘ Sensing with tools extends somatosensory processing beyond the body. ’, Nature, 561:7722, pp. 23942.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Nassar, D., and Barbour, M. M.. ( 2019;), ‘ Rooted: What can an embodied history of trees teach us about life?. ’, Aeon, 16 October, https://aeon.co/essays/what-can-an-embodied-history-of-trees-teach-us-about-life?sfns=mo. Accessed 1 October 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Nelson, D.. ( 2011;), ‘ Paganini: How the greatest violinist was helped by a rare medical condition. ’, In Mozart’s Footsteps, 6 January, http://inmozartsfootsteps.com/1032/paganini-violinist-helped-by-marfan-syndrome. Accessed 1 October 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Paschke, K.,, Jordan, K.,, Wüstenberg, T.,, Baudewig, J., and Leo Müller, J.. ( 2012;), ‘ Mirrored or identical – Is the role of visual perception underestimated in the mental rotation process of 3D-objects? A combined fMRI-eye tracking-study. ’, Neuropsychologia, 50:8, pp. 184451.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Polanyi, M.. ( 1966), The Tacit Dimension, London:: Routledge and Kegan Paul;.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Ramón y Cajal, S.. ( 1899), Drawing of Purkinje Cells and Granule Cells from Pigeon Cerebellum, Madrid:: Instituto Santiago Ramón y Cajal;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Schilhab, T.. ( 2017), Derived Embodiment in Abstract Language, Cambridge:: Springer;.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Schilhab, T.,, Balling, G., and Kuzmičová, A.. ( 2018;), ‘ Decreasing materiality from print to screen reading. ’, First Monday, 23:10, https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i10.9435.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Shapiro, L.. ( 2014), The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Gulliksen, Marte Sørebø. ( 2021;), ‘ There and back again: A carver's tale of losing and regaining sense of space due to a brain tumour. ’, Craft Research, 12:1, pp. 127152, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/crre_00043_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/crre_00043_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/crre_00043_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error