Art-based education research method on the meaning and symbols of iconographic visuals: A/r/tography

Within the framework of personal artistic research, the "meaning and symbols of iconographic visuals" in Cappadocia churches, which contain visual cultural codes, were examined using A/r/tography method, which is an application-oriented, art-based education research method. With the A/r/tography method, which includes art education applications, a study was created on the participant's interpretation of images within the scope of the subject of the thesis by employing different disciplines. The meaning and symbols of the iconographic visuals in the Cappadocian churches are interpreted in the "Quotation design" section with the method of semiotic analysis. The obtained data and the reseach process for the data are reflected in the design process in the section "Design of the Unseen" with deconstructive readings. Afterwards, the influences and orientations towards the meaning and symbols of iconographic visuals were made meaningful in the "Understanding" section with living reseach. In accordance with the purpose of the research, it is thought that the contributions of the artist, researcher and teacher/learner (teacher) identities of the A/r/tography method in the study are expressed in the subheadings of the comprehension section. In this study, in which the experience of being both a participant and a researcher of the research was conveyed, the design processes were put to work together both when designing with artistic inquiries and while doing research, with the intertwining of the identified identities in the process. In this respect, the findings of the research were found to be an instructive process within the framework of art education by questioning the visuals that contain visual codes.