TECHNIQUES

Blind Artist

Can we understand others without ‘seeing’ their experience? Try painting an image you can’t see! This is an experiential learning exercise that helps participants become aware of our biased and limited awareness as people.

Written by

Quime Williams

Edited by

Gioel Gioacchino and Ani Hao

Developed by

Researchers observe reality and abstract it. This is a really hard (and sometimes dangerous) task. This exercise is a great metaphor of the research process. Working in pairs, one participant is asked to describe a painting to the other partner. Just like a researcher tries to make sense of the reality of another person, the partner is tasked to re-paint an image they can’t see. This exercise sometimes can be very frustrating, but it is a powerful reminder that as researchers and practitioners more broadly we need to be aware of our limits and our bias.

Stepping into a community or group, there is so much that we don’t see. If a painting is so hard to describe, imagine describing a personal experience of another person! We need to be humble, listen carefully, and communicate effectively.

During Recrear retreats and get togethers we organize lots of ‘painting nights’: we hang out and paint together. Afterwards, we recycle the painting for different exercises. We adapted this exercise based on an exercise that Cuso International utilizes to train their international volunteers to be conscious of their limited perceptions of a community when working in different country.

What are we trying to understand about the community/group?

This exercise helps participants realize that we all experience reality in a very unique way, and it is hard to describe our reality to someone who is not in our shoes.

Why is it important for the community’s/group's development?

When carrying out research we need to be conscious of our own assumptions, how we perceive the world and are perceived by others, and why these dynamics exist they way they do. This exercise reminds us of the importance of being humble when working as a researcher.

At what stage(s) of the research cycle is this method used?

Great to do when you are getting the research team together or forming a group that will be working together. It allows you to explore and observe one another's positionality, bias, and assumptions before actually getting down to business.

What do I need?

paint (acrylic, water color, etc), glasses of water, paint brushes, paper, paper plates. You can also use color markers, crayons, pastels and pipe cleaners. You will also need a number of paintings/images (the number you need will depend on group size). Depending on how creative you are, there are some different variations. You can print a collection of images (some should be more abstract, i.e harder to describe than others). Alternatively, if you have done painting in former workshops you can recycle these images for this exercise.

How long does it take?

You will need about 1 hour.

Set Up

This exercise needs a bit of set up so its easiest to do this activity after a break so you have the time to arrange the room. Otherwise have your co-organizers or even participants help you arrange the space in the moment. Since we will be working with groups of 3, it will be important that you calculate how many groups of 3 you will have in total. For example, if you have 21 participants, you will create 7 stations because you will have 7 groups of 3.

Each station should have two chairs set up back-to-back next to a table with materials (paint, paintbrushes, paper, water glass or crayons, or pipe cleaners).

Invite people to take a seat in the back-to-back chair stations you have set up. There won't be enough for everyone to sit down, so ask those who remain to stand next to one pair. In this way each pair should have one person standing next to them. Make sure each station has all the material they need before beginning.

Explain that we’re going to be doing an exercise to start becoming familiar with Participatory Action Research/to develop some of the awareness and skills we need to do collaborative/participatory work.

Explain that in this game there is one person in the pair who will have a painting or structure (made out of pipe cleaners) and who will be describing this painting/structure to their partner behind them. Their partner will have to re-create the image or structure without seeing it. It is very important that those who are back-to-back don’t turn around for the duration of this exercise. Your goal is to make a replica of the picture/structure that is being described to you.

The person standing next to the station can only look at what is happening within their pair. They shouldn’t be looking at what is happening anywhere else. The observers never speak, they just observe what is happening in their pair.

Ask if this is clear?
Then hand out the original works of art (paintings or pipe cleaner structures) to one of the pairs. Remind them that this is a secret and their pair behind them cannot glimpse the image.

So for round 1: Only the describers can speak [~4 mins]

The people with the original painting/structure will have the chance to describe their art piece to their partner. It’s important that this person is not turning around to check if their partner is ‘doing it right’, they should only be looking at their original work of art.
However in this round their partner seated behind them cannot speak, ask questions, or even ask for clarifications. In other words the ones describing their images/structures are the only ones allowed to talk in this round.
The observers are paying attention to what is happening with the communication; without saying anything.

Have them pause, reminding them not to show each other what you are working on and give them the instructions for round 2.

2nd round: Open communications between the pair [~5 minutes]

Still without ever looking behind them, there can now be free-flowing communication between the pair. I.e the person who has been recreating the painting or structure can ask questions, clarifications

(at the end of the 5 minutes have them pause and insist that it’s still important that the artists do not reveal their paintings because we are about to switch roles. Ask the group to pay attention to the next instructions because some people will have to move and their roles will change)

The support facilitator(s) will collect the original paintings/structures so that they can be hidden away. Meanwhile ask the people who just painted or created a replica to hide their paintings/structures so that it remains a surprise.

SWITCHING ROLES

Ask all the describers, i.e the people who had the original works of art, to get up off their chairs and take two steps away from their chair - enough space so that someone else can come sit down in the chair they just vacated.

Ask the observers from the first round to move over three stations clockwise. When they get to their new station they should sit down in the now empty chair.

Now ask the describers who have been left standing to move over one station clockwise and stand next to their new pair.

So now the roles have switched. The ones who were painting/creating a model in the last round are now going to be describing their replica to the person seated behind them. The person seated behind them (formerly an observer) now has to paint/create a structure. And the original describers have now become observers.

Repeat the instructions for round 1 and 2 above.

Once they have finished both rounds. You can finally let them share their paintings with each other. Give them a minute as people often get to chatting, laughing right after the exercise as they see what emerged.

Invite them to all place their paintings in the middle. Have them organized by rows so we can clearly see the originals, the first replicas and the second replicas. Organize a circle around this standing or sitting to debrief the exercise.

Debrief:

Ok, so what happened? How did you experience this exercise as an observer, painter, describer? What did you notice?

What was happening with the communication? The listening? The interpretation of what was being said?

Why do you think we did this exercise? What does this have to do with why we are here?

Allows participants to explore their positions in communities/groups and what kinds of invisible factors create barriers or facilitate opportunities for learning.

If the pairs are researchers/practitioners from different communities/nationalities, there might be communication challenges. They may face difficulties in finding the right words to express themselves, or use references that are not as relevant for the other person. These obstacles are all part of the important lessons we need to take with us when stepping into communities/groups. Allow participants to experience those challenges and reflect on them later.