I am in Toledo Ohio. My apartment is near the school (Center for the Visual Art at University of Toledo) and the Toledo Art Museum, but it is safe neighborhood. When I heard some fire cracking sound from outside, I always thought it was fireworks. I ran to the window and looked for beauty. Recently, I learned that it was not fireworks, was a gun shot. I hear the sound often. I stay inside, having a cabin fever. The view from my window is not like a city view, but the sunset is absolutely stunning. It takes my breath away each time.
As for the race that Chris was mentioning, some of my students are trying to be innovative, but most of them are still interested in examining dinosaurs and trying to ride on them. So, I am in the position where I can ride a huge dinosaur comfortably and people are eager to ride with me or pat on me, though I feel guilt (which I will try to explain later). There is a holiday sale at school in a week. I am painting roses for it. I do enjoy. I really enjoy looking at beautiful thing like roses and sunset. When I see a beautiful things, the desire to capture them emerge strongly from inside of me. Racing in a fast car in this society seems to me that we are trying to do what other people told us to do. One of the most important things in art is to find yourself and express it beyond what other people tell you.
I don't want to say that we should ignore the society and look into yourself is the only way. However, we should all know that we do out best when our passion and devotion meet together.
At my school, I am the only painter painter. The student who are exposed to painting through me get my perspectives on painting. This is why I feel guilt sometimes, because I know that there are many other ways to look at this medium. I justify my position by letting students know that they are getting my perspective and that they should be open to other opinions at their stage. Some people might say that teachers should give over all perspective on the medium, but at the college level, we can be bias. In the politics, extreme left and right groups create the middle at the end. Art is not democracy.
In this fast changing society, various medium for artistic expression have been appearing. But how much have we as human beings changed? Do we have two hearts? Do we inject food from a needle instead of eating by mouth? We still cry and laugh. We still sleep.
Nishiki!!! First off, I apologize because I have been waaaaaaayyy late in getting back to you. But, what a nice post! I am glad you are holding down the painter's painter fort. I think it is important for schools as a whole to provide all viewpoints for each discipline, but there's nothing wrong with you being the painter painter and someone else being the non-painting painter. As long as students are exposed to all possibilities, that's one way a department can be strongest.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I appreciate you jumping in so fast! I hope others will join in. (Of course I believe that we all should bother, but I thought I would stoke the fire a bit to hear some good defenses. Anders also makes great points in the comment after my post.
Hang in there, and have a happy Thanksgiving!