6/3/14
Assignment:
Read:
“Rescuing Art from 'Visual Culture Studies” by Michelle Marder Kamhi
“Seven Principles for Visual Culture Education” by Paul Duncum
Facilitating Investigations into Historical, Cultural and Social Context in Better Practice in Visual Arts Educationby Carroll, K. & Tucker, J. (2007). Find an article to discuss about the next topic. *Write topic reflection on blog.
“Rescuing Art from 'Visual Culture Studies” by Michelle Marder Kamhi
“Seven Principles for Visual Culture Education” by Paul Duncum
Facilitating Investigations into Historical, Cultural and Social Context in Better Practice in Visual Arts Educationby Carroll, K. & Tucker, J. (2007). Find an article to discuss about the next topic. *Write topic reflection on blog.
Read & React:
The article "Rescuing Art" proposes a very limited view of what art can or cannot be. The author Kamhi proposes that the current trend in art education of including various sources of visual imagery (our collective visual culture) as valid forms of art is in fact detrimental to the field. Kamhi argues that art is purely that which represents reality (painting or sculpture as noted.) And, in point of fact, its subject must be recognizable as well as "concretize ideas and values in an emotionally compelling form." Duncum's article "Seven Principles", on the other hand, proposes seven principles for exploration of the visual culture that is a part of our "frantic everyday life that is saturated by imagery." These seven principles (power, ideology, representation, seduction, gaze, intertextuality, & multimodality) offer a way to consider the world in which we live, in way that takes into account the thoughts and values recorded in images around us. Duncum argues that visual culture studies are important principles for the current contemporary society in which we now live.
I was very intrigued by the first article. Correction, I was kind of pissed off by it. By limiting the scope of what we define as art, (as Kamhi does) we are doing a great disservice to our students and to society at large. I do not believe as Kamhi states that art educators are blatantly disregarding the essential differences between works of art and other cultural artifacts. If an art educator is doing his or her job well, the differences are in fact being distinguished and discussed. Many times students have asked why an abstract work of art is any good, or why it would be in a museum, questioning its value and its place in history. Kamhi goes so far as to include a list of acceptable artworks -- I'm sorry, exemplary art works that stops in the middle of the 19th century. Is Kamhi seriously suggesting that all good artwork stopped being made almost one hundred and fifty years ago? That nothing in the last century fit into her limited definition of art?
I greatly enjoyed reading the Duncum article again following this perspective because it gave rise to why exploring visual imagery that bombards us is indeed so important. Art was not made throughout the centuries in order to merely capture a representation of reality and make ideas and values more concrete. Art has been a way, of cultures for centuries, for people to explore their understanding of the world that surrounds them and their role in it. To exclude pieces that do not fit Kahmi's mold is to dismiss the soulful search for what makes us human. Through imagery we explore our place, our very existence, and what connects us through time and space to others. By excluding pieces such as Fountain by Duchamp, or Campbell's Soup Cans by Warhol, one can dismiss the entire evolution of thought in the world of art and how culture came to be represented and recoded in images. Artists like Mark Rothko and John Baldesari and their personal struggles, recorded in their artworks, are universal explorations put on display for others to learn through the experiences of the artist. (The dismissal of these types of artwork are to me, like dismissing these artists as people and making a statement on their worth in human society.) If we are not connecting to other people, interacting in various ways, what good is it to be a part of a community, a culture, a civilization? Art, in its various forms, is one of the most universal ways of communicating. Kamhi would argue against the sophistication, the development of this form of communication? Against educating people in being more fluent? To shy away from the challenge of understanding? I would agree that at times it is nice to not have to work at understanding when looking at an image, to stay in the shallow end of the pool or to simply enjoy an image for its appearance alone. But other times it is the work that goes into the understanding, that time spent in cognitive dissonance where I am questioning my understanding in what I see before me in a contemporary work of art that then makes the experience much more pleasurable and memorable. That in the creation of this type of work the artist is making a truly deeper mark on the world and carving out a place in history. I compare my thoughts on this point of view to this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
I was very intrigued by the first article. Correction, I was kind of pissed off by it. By limiting the scope of what we define as art, (as Kamhi does) we are doing a great disservice to our students and to society at large. I do not believe as Kamhi states that art educators are blatantly disregarding the essential differences between works of art and other cultural artifacts. If an art educator is doing his or her job well, the differences are in fact being distinguished and discussed. Many times students have asked why an abstract work of art is any good, or why it would be in a museum, questioning its value and its place in history. Kamhi goes so far as to include a list of acceptable artworks -- I'm sorry, exemplary art works that stops in the middle of the 19th century. Is Kamhi seriously suggesting that all good artwork stopped being made almost one hundred and fifty years ago? That nothing in the last century fit into her limited definition of art?
I greatly enjoyed reading the Duncum article again following this perspective because it gave rise to why exploring visual imagery that bombards us is indeed so important. Art was not made throughout the centuries in order to merely capture a representation of reality and make ideas and values more concrete. Art has been a way, of cultures for centuries, for people to explore their understanding of the world that surrounds them and their role in it. To exclude pieces that do not fit Kahmi's mold is to dismiss the soulful search for what makes us human. Through imagery we explore our place, our very existence, and what connects us through time and space to others. By excluding pieces such as Fountain by Duchamp, or Campbell's Soup Cans by Warhol, one can dismiss the entire evolution of thought in the world of art and how culture came to be represented and recoded in images. Artists like Mark Rothko and John Baldesari and their personal struggles, recorded in their artworks, are universal explorations put on display for others to learn through the experiences of the artist. (The dismissal of these types of artwork are to me, like dismissing these artists as people and making a statement on their worth in human society.) If we are not connecting to other people, interacting in various ways, what good is it to be a part of a community, a culture, a civilization? Art, in its various forms, is one of the most universal ways of communicating. Kamhi would argue against the sophistication, the development of this form of communication? Against educating people in being more fluent? To shy away from the challenge of understanding? I would agree that at times it is nice to not have to work at understanding when looking at an image, to stay in the shallow end of the pool or to simply enjoy an image for its appearance alone. But other times it is the work that goes into the understanding, that time spent in cognitive dissonance where I am questioning my understanding in what I see before me in a contemporary work of art that then makes the experience much more pleasurable and memorable. That in the creation of this type of work the artist is making a truly deeper mark on the world and carving out a place in history. I compare my thoughts on this point of view to this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
Topic Reflection: Facilitating Investigations into Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts
Studying Objects and Material Culture
Reading this article I am made to see some parallels to Kahmi's argument. She is disturbed by the blending of the field of Art into the field of Art History and also into an even less related field of social science, Anthropology. Perhaps it is because I have always been somewhat fascinated by this field, that I see the natural marriage of these two areas. I am reminded of how limited only teaching certain types of painting or sculpture would be. Ignoring the various forms of artworks present in today's world would leave art class either completly skill based, more akin to apprenticeship, and/or superficial relegating art to a hobby or past time. By examining everyday objects in a way that reveals more about a society, group, or individual and exploring how students as individuals, or members of a group or society might create objects, creates a more thoughtful and meaningful space in history and in that student's life. Reflection is a powerful and transformative tool, accessed through this more meaningful method of practice in art education.
Reading this article I am made to see some parallels to Kahmi's argument. She is disturbed by the blending of the field of Art into the field of Art History and also into an even less related field of social science, Anthropology. Perhaps it is because I have always been somewhat fascinated by this field, that I see the natural marriage of these two areas. I am reminded of how limited only teaching certain types of painting or sculpture would be. Ignoring the various forms of artworks present in today's world would leave art class either completly skill based, more akin to apprenticeship, and/or superficial relegating art to a hobby or past time. By examining everyday objects in a way that reveals more about a society, group, or individual and exploring how students as individuals, or members of a group or society might create objects, creates a more thoughtful and meaningful space in history and in that student's life. Reflection is a powerful and transformative tool, accessed through this more meaningful method of practice in art education.
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