Us AND Them - by Shawn Sobers
An enquiry into how Art educators negotiate popular approaches to student creativity - A Guide

CONTENTS:

Home - Essay Question and Outline

1. Introduction: The Art of Smoking
-Art today
-Art's growing family

2. Lecturers' Approaches
- On Individuality
- On Clichés
- On Commercialism

- On Criteria
- Summary

3. Students Challenging Tutors
4. Future Challenges
5. Conclusion

References
Bibliography
Self Evaluation

 

 

 

 

High Art, Low Art

Brief summary and interview responses

  • Surprisingly, this research hasn't taken me down the discussion route of High and Low Art as much as I thought it would. Whilst every lecturer spoken to acknowledged that the concept does still exist in both staff and students to some extent, the overall consensus was that it was this not the prime reason why they would have problems with certain student approaches to project work; being more about issues of individuality, originality, idea development and intellectual engagement. Also, of consideration was how the students intends to put their work in context, and was it appropriate for the project brief.
  • It was acknowledged however that in some minor cases academic snobbery and high/low ideas may still influence tutors perception of their students' ideas. This, in combination with some tutors actually being "frightened" of particular student approaches due to them not understanding it, not knowing the technology, or that the work is to connected with "popular culture" (which bring us back neatly to High Art, Low Art concepts.)

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  • The media lecturer interviewed said when it comes to television, on a personal level, he is only interested in quality. That there is far too much on all the channels which he considerd "not very good" and that quality should matter. That is "high & low culture as I understand it", and although not entirely exclusive, this must be of relevance to students, and they must be aware of those debates.
  • That rather than students being completely postmodern and accepting everything they see in a gallery as "art" - that many students tend to be still be quite "traditional" and argue about the "Sistine Chapel being more art than a biro on a plinth in a gallery". (This is a rare example of Popular Culture and Popular Opinion adreeing with eachother, but does that mean that are necessarily right?)
  • It was acknowledged by all spoken to that no one subject area, style or genre held the High Art mantle in the way that painting and sculpture used to, and was now the territory of all creative areas. That High Art, Low Art ideas are more based on the context in which the work is presented rather than the work genre itself.

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