In Light of Visual Arts A knowledge transfer partnership project as experiential learning

The ‘In Light of Visual Arts’ project was initiated by two academic units within the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU): the Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) and the Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO). These academic units partnered with MEGAMAN® Hong Kong, a light manufacturer, on this project. The three parties had a shared mission: to engage a wider audience for eco-friendly lights and to create awareness of their uses, so that the targeted audience, both visual arts students and the general public, would come to appreciate the importance of lighting effects to the visual arts sector and other creative industries. How the three parties were connected in this knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) project is examined below.

To echo KTO advocacy, AVA and KTO, the two academic units within HKBU, worked with MEGAMAN® Hong Kong to develop the 'eco-philosophy of light', a pilot scheme emphasising a participant-and-audience-oriented experience.Visual Arts Axis, the community art branch of AVA, was responsible for the project's execution, which aimed at reaching a general audience, including the communities near the two campuses of AVA in East Kowloon, as well as its local secondary school network.The three parties' involvement was as follows: Academy of Visual Arts of HKBU (academic partner); MEGAMAN® Hong Kong (external partner); Knowledge Transfer Office of HKBU (KT associate) -see Figure 1.
The 'In Light of Visual Arts' project was more than a simple transfer of technological knowledge of eco-lighting from MEGAMAN® Hong Kong to AVA students; it also aimed to make this knowledge available to a wider audience, for instance, by holding an exhibition and educating people about different applications of eco-lighting and the associated technology.Smith (2012) points out that disciplines within academic institutions tend to have a specific or, in negative terms, 'narrow' field of study and that, through knowledge transfer, academics from different departments would be able to break through their established knowledge boundaries to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as communicating and cooperating with industry.As Ozga and Jones 2006 (p.7) note, '… recent academic The 'In Light of Visual Arts' project aimed to examine how knowledge transfer could be integrated with Informal Learning approaches and visual arts elements, in addition to scientific and technical knowledge, which most people would associate with lighting.'Indeed, [d]evelopments in understanding knowledge support a shift from traditional linear models of knowledge production and subsequent dissemination to an interactive, iterative, problem-focused, trans-disciplinary model.' (Ozga & Jones 2006, p. 9).Knowledge transfer should not be limited to the knowledge related to technical development, it should also '… include knowledge that can promote critical political and social awareness and understanding' (Ozga & Jones, 2006, p. 9).There seems on the surface to be little scope for knowledge transfer for the arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines, yet these disciplines may actually be able to contribute to the creation of meaning and value beyond economic outcomes.Thus, knowledge transfer from these disciplines could provide other perspectives for visual arts students, such as on environmental issues, which may not be included in their studies.In addition to the integration and application of different concepts, the project aimed to consolidate the KT process with actual creative experiences.John Dewey, the renowned educator and philosopher, proposed theories emphasising the relationship between experiences and creativity.Dewey believed that knowledge should be obtained through different experiential or creative experiences, and that experiences were the interactions between people and the environment.'Learning by doing', according to Dewey, was an important way of learning and ensured that students were able to make good use of their knowledge in daily experiences.Dewey (1916) suggested that students, also as learners, should be allowed to participate in various learning activities to acquire a variety of knowledge, which supports the aim of 'In Light of Visual Arts' to bring the visual arts and the use of lighting closer together.Sustainable lighting is a significant development in modern societies, although generally it appears to be detached from the art-making process and mostly seen as a separate professional domain.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND THE ARTS
Lacking the inclusion of lighting knowledge in visual arts education partly explains the difficulties participating students encountered in the course of its trial.Dewey pointed out that, when learners are required to inquire into a process they have gone through where they have encountered problems or obstacles to learning, reflection could lead them to come up with solutions, and the final solution itself would often signify the formation of new knowledge.When student participants in the project were required to assess if their artistic ideas were feasible, having made their own artworks with resources that may have been quite unfamiliar to them, they had to understand and differentiate between various lighting products (or theories) before refining their work.Lighting products became part of the art materials or essential elements of their artwork, although they may have overlooked or taken them for granted previously.
During the process of exploration, even though the students received advice and suggestions from different parties, such as representatives from MEGAMAN® Hong Kong or AVA lecturers, they sometimes still had questions or problems when engaging in the art-making process.In addition to the problems during the production process, mentioned previously, such as choice of lighting product colour, once preparing for the exhibition the students faced other kinds of challenges related to, for example, assembling their artworks in a limited exhibition space, which had an impact on how their original ideas could be viewed.Students then had to make adjustments or amendments to their artworks, while retaining the original concepts as much as possible.Davies (2008) further investigated experiential learning and came to believe that it could be categorised as a form of Informal Learning (Figure 5).He pointed out that this kind of learning was Feedback from student participants.
Student participants revealed that they got a taste of what it was like applying visual arts in the commercial world.For example, one of the students came up with an original idea for creating a light with adjustable brightness; however, the participant was compelled to compromise his creative ideal due to his limited technical knowledge.As a result, he modified his product to be a conventional lamp with an ordinary switch.This example illustrates the imperative role technical support plays in helping students solve problems encountered in the creative process.Due to such problems with implementation, some students have suggested incorporating workshops on basic electrics in forthcoming KT projects, especially those that relate closely to art and design.
Other students suggested inviting professional artists who were familiar with light as a creative medium to be consultants.
These suggestions reinforce the importance of technical knowledge.Even a basic knowledge of lighting made it possible for participants in the project to enhance their creative process by enabling them to utilise their knowledge of light more flexibly, more thoroughly, and to greater success.

Second Stage of Knowledge Transfer Process
With the integration of the Informal Learning approach, the AVA students managed to consolidate the knowledge transferred from MEGAMAN® Hong Kong to create 11 artworks incorporating

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Overview of the three parties' collaboration The participants in the 'In Light of Visual Arts' project were students of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Visual Arts, an undergraduate program offered by AVA.According to the program requirements, students must take some compulsory courses, which include Introduction to Visual Arts, Introduction to Western Art and Introduction to Chinese Art.Apart from the introductory courses, the students have to choose at least three clusters, each comprising four to five courses, from three divisions.available clusters, only 3 cover knowledge and use of lighting: Lens-based Media, Experimental Imaging, and Objects and Environment.The use of lighting has only a supportive role in the art media.For example, 'Looking Through the Lens', a course within the cluster Lens-based Media, covers lighting and optical theories and is an accessory to photography, investigating how light affects the photo-taking process.'Sustainable Design', a course within the cluster Objects and Environment, covers sustainability in design by utilising recyclable or biodegradable materials.The course structure therefore inspired

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: Clusters available for visual arts students

Figure
Figure 4: Krathwohl's revised Bloom's Taxonomy affected by a number of elements, apart from observation and conceptualisation, including formal knowledge, past experiences and expectations.Hayton, Boyes and Preston (2010) point out that creative knowledge transfer should not be limited to others who are involved in the creative process.Creative knowledge transfer is an iterative process and provides lots of opportunities for all learners to reflect on the experience and knowledge gained during of Visual Arts' adopted the Informal Learning approach.Not only did students 'receive' the lighting being transferred to them from MEGAMAN® Hong Kong, they were also able to construct new knowledge by taking part in the project.The learning experience was enhanced by acquiring new knowledge, incorporating the new knowledge into the art-making process and subsequently disseminating the artworks to a wider audience, both art lovers and the general public.

Figure
Figure 5: Overview of the elements involved in Informal Learning