This
month I viewed a program on PBS called
"How Art Made the World
- More Human than Human"
I recommend the film but some aspects I feel require comment.
The premise of the program is that 1) Human Beings portrayed in art are
often distorted with certain aspects of the form being exaggerated and
2) the appeal of the human figure in a distorted form with exaggerated
features can be explained by science.
I have strong issues with the show’s second thesis, I agree with
the first thesis; human beings find distortion and exaggeration compelling
and attractive.
I will discuss my reasons for feeling that this film would be worthwhile
to use in a classroom setting as an introduction to a classroom project
on drawing the human form in unusual and unnatural ways
As I watched the show I felt that this could be made into a fun classroom
project in art instruction but with reservation. As always there are dangers;
how does one invite a high-school class to distort without inviting the
introduction of bullying or ridicule? Certainly some students will use
this opportunity for misbehaving, so the environment must be controlled
to avoid abuse.
Some of the students may be able to draw or paint from a distorted reflection
of themselves in, perhaps, a metal or ceramic dish but a static image
would be more useful in the classroom, more students would be able to
take their time and concentrate on drawing from life rather than a shifting
reflection. Article
Continues
My
suggestion:
You will need a camera.
Choose a three-dimensional figure, a pose-able wooden figure of a human
form would be perfect. Take a variety of pictures from various perspectives
and distances.
Once the prints have been made have the student assemble the complete
form by taping different images together. Matching the general shape of
the body’s form but with alterations of size and position, to make
the figure more interesting and arresting.
I do encourage watching the PBS program and feel that this film could
be worthwhile to watch with a class to promote interest in the visual
arts. However my feeling about the program includes a negative reaction
to the idea that science can explain art and the human response to art.
The program posits that human response to exaggeration is the result of
an instinctual tendency to exaggerate the individual elements of a figure
that are important to the artist. Therefore the exaggerated elements of
the Venus of Willendorf are the result of instinctive (and therefore irresistible)
drives to make those elements over sized (breasts and buttocks).
This tendency to explain things is part of a larger tendency very specific
to our culture.
Does science have the faculty to explain all of life’s mysteries?
Does an experiment with seagulls explain human kind’s zeal in composing
distorted versions of the human form? The program More Human than Human
asserts that it does
For about a hundred years humans have increasingly looked to science to
answer questions and solve mysteries and instead, I believe, science has
been better at revealing new mysteries for us to ponder.
For example: Einstein revealed that time is not exactly how time has always
been considered. A new mystery was revealed; I perceive four sides of
an object in sequence i.e. over time while in fact all four sides exist
in this moment. Picasso explored this mystery in Cubism
The propriety, stability and respectability of nineteenth century middle-class
European society somehow led to the first-world war and the Somme.
Members of the artists’ community responded to the mystery of the
slaughter with Dada, an art movement that continues to influence twenty-first
century fine and decorative art as well as advertising, music video and
a host of other creative expressions.
Today we may be told that the mystery of happiness can be resolved by
an understanding of the serotonin levels in a person’s brain. Does
this resolve a mystery or reveal one? Are we so complacent about happiness,
or beauty, or pleasure that we can distill it down to a proper combination
of chemicals?
There are a variety of mysteries in life and they seem to line up in a
hierarchy. Perhaps the most important mystery is: Why is there something
instead of nothing? Moving down the hierarchy we may ask: “Does
my life have meaning?”, “Why does the scent of this rose bring
me pleasure?” and so on.
It is precisely here that art becomes absolutely important, because it
is the expression of art at an intuitive and non-rational level that allows
us to reveal and explore the many mysteries of our world and our lives.
It is the meeting of mystery and intuitive expression that allows art
to explore and explain our world in a way science and technology cannot.
Perhaps we learn that the universe is expanding, that pleasure is related
to brain chemistry, that we share 98% of our DNA with Chimpanzees; all
interesting facts variously devoid of “Meaning”. Art becomes
the tool in describing significance; science only provides new mysteries.
Each new discovery makes the world somehow less sensible and science,
while extraordinarily important, has not kept its promise from a hundred
years ago that life would be explained and understanding would be universal.
So if you choose to show students this PBS program on “How Art Changed
the World”, you can say what I’ve been accused of (and admit
to); “I have no problem with art explaining science, but I am absolutely
opposed to science explaining art”. The foolishness in this program
of was to claim, without apparent embarrassment, that the behavior of
baby seagulls could explain very complex human behavior.
Brought to us by Camlin North America,
Register to receive a merchandise award for your next juried exhibition
or fund raising event: CLICK
HERE
Read our May Essay: What
College Art Teachers Expect from High School Students
Read our April essay: Technological Innovations
in Art Educations
Read our March essay: Does Handwriting have
a Future?
Read our February essay: Copyright and trademark
for the art educator
Read our January essay: Counseling your students
on choices for Higher Education
Read our December essay: Why Teaching Visual
Art is now a Necessity
Read our November essay: Teaching Collage as Social
Critic
Read our October essay: The Place of the
Body in Education
Read our September essay: The Ways Artists
Support Themselves
Read our August essay: Why students should copy
the great works
Read our July essay: Hidden Clues in Works of
Art
Read our June essay: The Mathematics of Art
Read our May essay: The Importance of School
Art Competitions
Read our January essay : Art History
and the Internet
Read our March essay: Ink Jet Printers
and the Color Wheel:
Please help us keep the CALENDAR page current and send your newsletters
to 13101 Washington Blvd. Suite 420, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Please stay in touch and let us know
how we can improve - Jim Chandler barrchan@earthlink.net
|
