art ed digested

It’s been roughly two years since I taught in anything other than a school setting. This Summer, I am teaching an art camp via a United Way community center and finding it a tricky transition.

Usually classroom management is a snap- I set ground rules and boundaries, have clear consequences for inappropriate behavior and rewards for doing exemplary work. When in a naturally unstructured environment such as a small neighborhood art camp, these measures go in one ear and out the other of my students.

My current sticky widget is inspiring my students to go beyond the first few steps before they become distracted by the 30 kids playing kickball mere feet from our classroom. There are (and will always be) students who aim to please and take each art project to new heights- but those few who decide not to try at all really kill the mood. I hate to force a project on students, I prefer to “invite” them to join me as we experiment together.

The students who choose not to try seem overcome with apathy and unwilling to imagine or play- a horrible thing to witness when it comes from a 6-year-old. I’ll take these children as my personal challenge… this will take some creative problem solving.

Silliness, thou art the answer.

Matthew Barney is a singular artist in his sheer business sense and vision. After viewing his Cremaster retrospective at the Guggenheim, I was filled with ideas, the process of making art renewed. His work tends to quickly stratify his audience into those who love and “get it” or just plain hate it. Granted, these are difficult pieces to acclimate ourselves to- disturbing imagery, epic scale and lengths along with subtle, if not esoteric deeper meaning. For the strong-willed and openminded, they can completely change and challenge your philosophy of art.
Barney is changing quite a few of the boundaries that I recently thought could not be considered “art.” Pushing the boundaries of explanation and definition warrant a closer look.

I am eager to see Drawing Restraint 9, the collaboration between Barney and Bjork- one of my favorite musicians. The combination of harmonies, dissonance and artistic vision seems like an explosion of possibilities.

View the trailer for Drawing Restraint 9 here.

In my own art education, I did not experience oil painting until my senior year. Even then, I was in an advanced placement course.

One of my great loves is still oil painting, the saturation of the colors, the depth of tone, the smell, and the forgiveness the long drying time affords.

Considering that many of my future and past students may never become acquainted with the wonders of oil paint, I thought it best to try to love acrylics, which domintate art classroom supply closets.

Here is the first of my recent studies. Acrylics are tricky, and to coax them to obey, you need to work quickly or find a medium to bend them to your will.

This excercise reminds me yet again that students are constantly provided with materials that are unfamiliar and equally unforgiving to the learning process. So my advice to the art teachers of the world for the Summer is, take your least favorite medium - and fall in love with it.

As for acrylics, I’m still learning to love.