A long, tough week

[hughferriss]

I've posted page 5 on my project blog. I hope this doesn't come across as self-promotional spam or anything. It just helps me stay focused if I imagine there are people out there who will frown when I dawdle. You are all my imaginary spotters.

I stayed up late last night talking with Jiyoung about art critics. The whole thing was triggered by this

Comments

[blchandler]

Vermeer is incredible. Vermeer, Rembrandt, Rothko and Joseph Cornell-if I ever had to pick artists I had to be restricted to viewing for the rest of my life, it'd be those four. (If I could get 5, maybe I'd go left-field and pick Doug Henderson.)

And, coïncidentally, I have the same birthday as Marcel Duchamp. It's true, the average viewer is not going to understand what Duchamp's urinal is doing in an art museum. I almost even think of that piece as a performance, not a product. Like the urinal itself is the artifact of something he did. That's an interesting piece to bring up. Because with Warhol you can at least talk about color or the cultural implications of a hundred Monroe faces on a wall. And there are clear meanings beyond that when you know about Warhol and Pop Art, &c. But, good call on the Duchamp and this line: Whether it's good that you need that background is another question entirely.

(Another thing I hate is when people look at an abstract expressionist piece and say, "Well, I could do that." Well, you know what? You didn't. Am I ranting again? I never knew I was such an art school poseur!)

In my opinion, teaching art has a lot to do with letting children explore something or say something in a way not using exclusively words or numbers. It's all about process. I don't care about the product as long as the kid is trying and having a good time. (Which is easy to do with the younger kids.) Teaching older students, like the ones you have, is different. I go into my art classes at work hoping to make the kids excited and curious about art. I don't think more than a small percentage will grow up to be artists, but I do know that all of them at some point in time will have to decide what to put on the wall and I'd hope they could pick something they love beyond the thought that, "It's pretty."

Older kids, like the ones you taught, that's a different story, esp since it seems all they want is product. I wonder how I would teach that class. (I'm sure I'd have fun.) Cripes, I've been in so many bad crits, all I'd have to do is not teach like those bad professors. (To start...) I always hated the critique where I'd present some artwork, explain what emotional themes I was playing with and ask how I could strengthen the message I was trying to get across. Then have my prof suggest I play with ideas that had nothing to do with what I was trying to accomplish. I was like, "Didn't you hear me? I don't need new ideas, I need help on strengthening the ideas I do have and WANT to work on." Oh, art school, I love you.