Inner conflicts? Whatever they are, Miller adds to them with his distortions of my comments and rhetorical red herrings. Let's keep in mind that our comments here are off the cuff, on the fly, conversational. They're not intended as studied responses strained through researched nettings and buoyed by hard factual data. But even in my haste I do try to be cognizant of some truth. For instance, I never said that American Universities disdained marketplace realities. Obviously they work hand in hand with economic interests, even leading the way in many fields defined by markets. What I said was that arts programs tend to be different from that because by nature they aim to vex established mores and aesthetic beliefs, not to simply weaken them but to reveal their true correspondence with human experience and reality...or words to that effect.
I readily admit a fascination for UFOs, being convinced that I saw one in the 50s, before Sputnik. I'd better add here that my daughter, a real, working space scientist brushes off my speculations as too fanciful...for now. Otherwise, I still think Miller should start reading the bibliography in Singerman's book where hundreds of sources are listed dealing with measurements and histories of arts programs in the U.S. A good researcher goes to the sources, follows the information trails, and looks for answers and stops answering his own rhetorical questions with fanciful assertions, just as my daughter has advised me to do regarding UFOs. Incidentally, everything I write here is copywrited and can't be disseminated beyond this list without my explicit, written permission. WC --- On Fri, 2/6/09, Chris Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Chris Miller <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Tinkering with the System > To: [email protected] > Date: Friday, February 6, 2009, 10:29 AM > William has asked me to provide evidence and data to support > my claim that > University art schools are no more interested in being > studied than any other > business enterprise -- and I'm afraid that I am just as > helpless as those > skeptics who doubt that earth has been visited by voyagers > from outer space. > > There is simply no way to prove that something does not > exist. > > But of course, if Willilam, or the UFO societies, really > did have evidence to > support their beliefs -- I'm sure we would have seen it > by now. > > Why should we share William's belief that the American > university system is > significantly different from the terrible, crass world of > commerce against > which every True Artist should rebel ? It's as if > these academic institutions > were created in some other, wiser universe -- and then > gifted to mankind for > our intellectual, aesthetic, and moral improvement. > ("To Serve Man" -- as Rod > Serling once put it) > > One can understand William's loyalty to a system that > gave him authority and > financial stability -- and many Midwestern college museums > have collected his > work. > > But I think that even he is a bit miffed at the direction > the academic system > has been going -- just as David Hickey feels that the > money-driven > contemporary artworld has left him behind. > > Yes -- I did just read Hickey's diatribe in the > February "Art in America"-- > and his re-assertion of the importance in believing that > there's a difference > between good art and bad art. > > But careful readers will notice William's replay to > Cheerskep's easy > question about a "stunner of a new student". > > William mentioned one such who went on to become "a > well-known critic and full > prof. in a top art school" -- and another who became > "a full professor in an > elite university and shows with a top gallery --- but he > never told us whether > any of them were making good art (or gave us any names, > for that matter) > > William's inner conflicts appear to be running deep and > wide. > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Click for online loan, fast & no lender fee, approval > today > http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/PnY6rc1k17uGszyOdOED0oLG9x2jRA > 7Tkz3dLQggk1Q5mQF8J80p2/
