Terrence writes;
On of my most memorable art school classes/teachers at the U of British Columbia was
Roy Kyookas's 3 yr. class on studio art communication. It was a 6 unit class. We were
to meet once a week. Everyone showed up the first day except Roy. That was it. We
later were told by the shop technician that Roy would lead the rest
of the teachers to review our studio work. That happened at the end of the year at our
3rd year show. The shop technician told me that roy selected one of my paintings (a
realist still-life of personal objects in one of the wooden packing crates I used in
my constant apartment jumping as a student) as the best work he
has ever see a student do. It pissed off the other teachers because it was not
painterly and I was told by a student who dropped out the year before that the
unwritten rule was no realism. I was doing expressionism and symbolism but did still
life's at home on the sly. I hod about 70 paintings when I graduated. I left
half of them there in the studio. The following year students got to see Roy leave the
class and come back after smoking a joint. He asked the students to start talking.
They apparently ended up spending much time on french theory. That was 86.
Serge Guilbaute's class on modern art was better. He was pissed off that there was
more than 12 students in his class and insisted that one of us leave the first day. It
was very tense and silent in the room. I was really pissed off about that and used to
come in befor class after that and smoke a cigar. He was really
demanding and wanted original material about certain critical periods of contemporary
art history. Some suspected it was material he was looking over for a book to follow
his How NY Stole Modern Art. He asked us about our impressions of his book and we
discussed mostly american abstract expressionism. I still browse the
art books and "find" artists whose work interests me. Flux dada etc. was never taught
me. All to fill in the big gaps.
One visiting painting professor from the local art school came out to see our work. He
stood before a large very symbolic painting of a fire breathing monster clutching a
group of screaming people) that hung in the studios. The painting Prof. pointed at it
and called it barbarism and left the studio.(I painted in the
studio's one summer and I used it at an anti-cruse missle rally as a backdrop for the
speakers. It ended up on the front page of the news paper with the mayor in profile.
'84). The other student's pretended not to notice it when I was there. It began to
bother me and I entered and got it into a local major art show. I
was old to submit to a gallery but was rejected due to a few female nudes in my
portfolio. They were caricature meant to make fun of pinups. It was not funny to them.
I received no connections from my professors to launch my career and they try not
recognize me but I always drop the remark that I still paint and am into
the computer and email. I consider every little thing or gesture a artistic
possibility. My sweet revenge.
I am told the non degree Art school, Emily Carr now has mandatory art history. I do
know that certain gender taboos exist now at that art school, like it is unkool for a
guy to do a nude study of a woman. Some students were calling a few well to do
housewives breeders and many kids work hard at styling their wardrobes
and are very hip on the latest hot young artists. They do have more opportunities to
meet visiting successful artists and are much more enthusiastic. I am told they are
switching a more technical aproch so the studen't don't end up waiting on tables or
painting houses (like i do) to get by as artists.
I think it is nuts not to have comprehensive art history studies even though
university departments do specialize one needs to know what the others are doing or
have done. I think my art school years were a waist land but at least I was creative
and self reflexive on my rudderless education.
I think we all need to give art history fluxus talks at local artschools and community
centers. Dropping hints on new initiatives would be fun to do.
How about coming up with some material/ ideas for that here????
At least printing a few flyers with url's and posting them on student bullitin boards
can be done. I am definitly for that kind of gorilla info drop.
terrence kosick
artnatural
Rod Stasick wrote:
> --- Sol Nte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Don, the majority of art teachers that I have met are fairly poorly
> > educated
> > in the arts (or at least anything beyond the mainstream). It's very
> > disappointing...
>
> It seems that's the case for the educational system in general...
>
> Certainly there have been occasions when I have been
> > pleased
> > to talk to an art lecturer to ask them how they present certain
> > material to
> > students only to find they've never heard of it and start asking me
> > questions. I'm just a computer programmer without 1 art qualification
> > to my
> > name and they're asking me about things...it's plain daft!
>
> Yes, I can relate to this on many levels. I recently mentioned a couple
> of times to the head of the Dallas Video Festival (features many "art"
> videos) that if he needed any videos relating to the Situationist Int'l
> that I could provide them for viewing as long as viewers weren't charged
> an admission price. He then said, "Situation what?" hmmmm...
>
> A threatened friendship over Fluxus seems to be no friendship at all.
> Also, there's a "personal" nature concerning many artists work that I
> just don't understand - hit my art>>>>you hit ME - as if there's a
> neuron jump.
>
> Rod
>
> =====
> http://rostasi.8m.com
>
> http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/hunt.jerry.html
>
> Left to itself, art would have to be something very simple - it would be sufficient
>for it to be beautiful. But when it's useful it should spill out of just being
>beautiful and move over to other aspects of life so that when we're not with the art
>it has nevertheless influenced our actions or our responses. -John Cage
>
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