This week’s readings brought up interesting points about how art education needs to change in the 21st century. As time goes by, the definition of “art” broadens, but you wouldn’t really know it from K-12 art classes. In “Postmodern Principles,” I was fascinated by the Clement Greenberg idea of cold and warm modernism, and how hot modernists (artists like the Dadaists) aren’t really covered in school. Even though the text says he came up with this idea in 1971, I think it still applies today.
It reminded me of an Intro to Art class that I took my freshman year of high school. We had an assignment where each student was assigned a different artist to study. One girl was assigned Marcel Duchamp and gave a five-minute presentation to the class. That was the first and last time Duchamp was ever mentioned to me in high school art. Many people have a lot of animosity towards modern and contemporary art, but is this because it’s all pretentious or because it isn’t taught in schools? Everyone has seen Jasper Johns’ American flags, but how many people really stop to question what he’s saying? We need to discuss where art is today; otherwise we instill the idea that “real” art ends with Picasso.
The Art21 artist I chose was Louise Bourgeois from the Identity episode. Considering she’s the founder of confessional art, I can’t think of a better theme to describe her work than this one. If I had to develop an art lesson concerning Bourgeois and identity, I would first mention that to fully understand her work, you have to know certain events in her life since she incorporates these events into her work; however, this information isn’t always necessary to be moved by her art. In fact, the episode and educator’s guide both point out that Bourgeois states, “A work doesn’t have to be explained. If it doesn’t touch you, I have failed.” Then, I would probably make a project in which the students take an event from their life and put it into their art. Once finished, everyone would go around and reveal as much as they want about how the piece connects to the event that it describes.
I agree with you and Bourgeois that "“A work doesn’t have to be explained. If it doesn’t touch you, I have failed.” Then, I would probably make a project in which the students take an event from their life and put it into their art. I like your idea of choosing a significant event ( kind of like our postcards) and develop a metaphor for the meaning of the moment. I also agree with your comment "We need to discuss where art is today; otherwise we instill the idea that “real” art ends with Picasso." We definitely need to talk with our students about art that is being created today, in their own lifetime.
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