Artistic Vision
Art Education. Straight Up.Archive for Art
Art is Hard (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 4)
Previously, my post focused on my students’ perception on why art is boring. Today I’ll tackle what I had to say to them when they told me that art was too frustrating and difficult (compared to sports).
Art is Hard
Clearly, the main reason many students believe art is hard comes from not having been taught how to see or how to use the strategies artists employ when creating art. In general, it has become clear to me—not only from teaching art but also from having art-related conversations through the years—that people forget (or don’t understand) that the visual arts require the synthesis of auditory, visual and kinesthetic skills.
Let’s consider a simple painting example. After I verbally talk through the assignment and check for understanding by asking students to repeat what I said, I model what I am looking for via a demonstration. Students then, on their own, observe the apple on the table, process the spatial information related to relative-size, shape, color, shadow, etc., mix up appropriate colors and then put brush to canvas to record what they see.
That’s quite a bit of information to assimilate when you are first starting out. I try to remind my students that the process gets easier and parts eventually become rote, but it will take time and practice. That doesn’t allay much of their frustration once they delve into the process for themselves.
The Importance of Struggle
Though few adults relish it, struggle is anathema to my students. Filled with fear of failure and/or the embarrassment of being bad at something as “silly” as art, my students habitually teach me new ways they find to avoid doing difficult things.
Generally, I find that there are three keys that make for a successful trip through a class in the visual arts: interest, practice and time. Because my school has few electives, I inevitably deal with students who don’t want to be in my classes. Therefore, interest level is something I contend with almost daily.
I tell my students—especially my seniors—that in college (and in life) they will be required to do things they don’t enjoy. If nothing else, I encourage them to take the challenge and find one new thing to learn every class whether it be about themselves (and how much they struggle with anger when they don’t get what they want) or about the class (and how meaningless to their future they find it). Such a challenge may not make their situation a comfortable one, but developing those kinds of life strategies will help them mature.
Right behind interest level are practice and time, the two inextricably linked. You can’t cut corners in the arts because of the coordination necessary to get better. Few will be fooled if you do. Clearly some move faster along the path towards proficiency because of gifting, but even if you are gifted in an area (e.g., sports, poetry, drawing), at some point, you will plateau and you will need to push yourself to get to that next level. That’s just a fact of life born out by experience.
It is practice or lack thereof that hampers the progress of many of my students. At the beginning of the year, I begin my spiel where I pick a subject—usually a higher math—and explain to them that unless they are going into an engineering or medical field they will forget the majority of it for lack of use. However, if they put in the time and effort, they could learn a life-long hobby that benefits them mentally, physically and emotionally.
Another day I try a “sneak attack” by switching the focus to the amount of practice it took for them to become good at their favorite sport. I ask my students if they remember friends laughing or ridiculing them when they first started playing. Every one of them had such a memory. I usually tag-team this discussion with some research concerning the 10,000 hour rule which piques their interest and sparks good conversation but has yet to translate into greater study of an artistic discipline.
Whether it be a misplaced focus on digital media, weak attention spans or the never-ending expectation for college “excitement,” it didn’t take me more than six months to realize that my student’s personal time is sacred to them—and that means it’s for entertainment and friends, not school.
Therein lies the rub as I bring this article to a close. How can the arts hope to flourish when the focus of my students’ time is on entertainment, things lacking difficulty? Of similar interest would be a discussion of friends and their influence in sports vs. the arts.
Art is Boring (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 3)
My previous blog post detailed the responses I got from my students when I asked them why they believed sports was more compelling than either creating or viewing art. It was an interesting conversation, but I cannot say that their comments surprised me.
I originally was going to reflect upon each of the responses, but so many of them are rather straightforward that I thought I would give that a pass and focus on their perspectives on art. Over the next few posts, I’ll handle them one or two at a time. As always, your feedback is appreciated.
Art Is Just Plain Boring
At the heart of this statement is the false notion that art should be easy. This misperception comes from my students’ background where they have never persistently been challenged to think otherwise. Consider that most have not been to a museum (except for the Franklin Institute or The National Great Blacks in Wax) or looked at artwork other than manga, Family Guy or the shows like those on Cartoon Network. So, of course, my class should be easy because its value to them is little-to-nonexistent. They don’t know what possibilities are out there in the way of careers in the arts or even the joy of a life-long hobby that could be theirs if they were to practice developing a few skills.
In addition, our culture is focused on pop culture, not high culture. That’s where the money is: sports events/figures, celebrities and R&B. Much of the fascination with pop culture rests with our seemingly collective love of being entertained (which requires little or no thinking). Why go through the drudgery of trying to create a painting (composition, color balance, verisimilitude, etc.) when you can sit in front of the TV with no concerns except when your body tells you it’s time to snack, pee or poop.
Lastly, the art world itself has alienated kids (and many adults) to what is out there because, let’s face it, much of the contemporary art scene remains arcane or just plain weird—Duchamp’s readymades, anyone?
There is more to the whole “art is boring” concept, but I’ll leave it at these few. (Please feel free to put forth your own via comment.) But suffice it to say, art educators face a tough upstream battle convincing today’s postmodern-bred youth in seeing art as other than boring.
My Students Speak (Sports vs. The Arts, Part 2)
In my last post I wondered where the arts had gone wrong in not only attracting young people but also our culture as a whole.
My students informed me that the arts (particularly visual art which is my field of study) couldn’t hold a candle to either participating or watching sports because:
- Playing sports is an adrenaline rush
- Playing sports builds sportsmanship and character
- Playing sports stresses the importance of working with a group towards achieving a goal
- Playing sports is a great form of exercise
- Playing sports could get you a college scholarship
- Playing sports could lead to a professional career and the opportunity to make lots of money
- Watching sports is a great form of relaxation
- Watching sports provides an opportunity to follow your favorite team or player
- Watching sports builds friendship
- Watching sports is just exciting
(Numbers 1, 5 and 6 in bold were the responses most often given.)
What do you think of their list? Is it a list that should be expected from high school students? Would a list from adults be different?
Post your additions and thoughts.
Sports vs. The Arts (Part 1)
Has anyone wondered where the arts went wrong?
I sit in my classroom listening to my high school students talk passionately about sports: favorite players, beloved teams and the most recent game. I listen to their big dreams of getting scholarships to play in college and (because of their street-born skills, of course) moving on to play professionally. In light of the harsh statistics associated with the actual percentage of students who really go on to play professionally, I remain sorrowfully (and silently) skeptical of such dreams. But, you never know what the Lord has in store for anyone.
While listening in recently, I found myself questioning why sports and not art. If I merely go off what my students tell me, it’s sheer boredom. Art can’t compare to the excitement received from playing football, basketball or baseball. Nor does it compare to watching sports. But is that all there is to it?
Before I posit my thoughts, I’m wondering if this post sparks any thoughts for you?
The Importance of Attention and Practice in Creating Art
I’ve started reading Creativity for Life by Eric Maisel. During the book’s Introduction, the author touches upon the importance of attention and practice since they play are such integral pieces of living the creative life. I tell my high school students all the time that without practice they will always be frustrated in their attempts to get better at drawing what they see, mixing the colors that they want, molding the clay into the correct shape and manipulating the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. Working hand-in-glove with skills practice, the art student must learn how to be mindful of the World around him/her.
Presently, I am teaching my Intro to Painting students some simple drawing skills before we launch into still life. So, we discuss simplifying images into basic shapes before rounding out corners and adding the details. We also address relationships: how does one object relate to another? Is it taller or shorter? Is it fatter or thinner? How can we use negative space to help us record what we see? The questions go on. It is initially overwhelming for them but I want to demonstrate to them the necessary self-talk to help them achieve their goals.
Truth be told, though, I didn’t start reading the book for my students. Rather, I am reading it for myself. When Dr. Maisel talks about attention, he’s not meaning a classroom setting per se. I’ve extrapolated his meaning because I do believe it speaks equally powerfully to students in a high school setting.
In the final analysis, Dr. Maisel wants to remind ME of the many ways I’ve allowed my art to be put off because of the many facets of my so-called busy life.
If your truth is that your life is out of control and creativity is just one of the many things that you aren’t attending to, stand up and admit that to yourself, even if it means that you must change everything. Nor can you do this truth telling just once or twice: you need to do it today, tomorrow, and forever. (pg. xviii)
What I’ve read so far is just what the doctor ordered (no pun intended).
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