Rationale

Rationale

While surveying and sampling the current curriculum and inclinations in art education, one can find many contradictory and disheartening trends relating to the dawn of new technology and the cultural shift to push young artists into the graphic media field, rather than fine art.

On an ordinary day, one can visit the colorful neighborhoods of New York City and view literally thousands of examples of graphic media that are currently used in our society. At any given time, that person visiting New York could look up and view ads for underwear, cologne, television shows, movies, and many other things. That person, however, will not view fine art within these media images, but rather, premeditated depictions of merchandise sold in stores intended to sell products. Graphic media is the cultural force into the new era of fine art. Graphic media also speaks volumes about what society finds most important and captivating in an ad, enough to have the desire to purchase the item that is being advertised. The graphic artist generates art for a purpose; that purpose being to sell various products. I believe that if the worth of creating art is contained within a selling campaign, art then loses its original intention and principle. Art theorists and practitioners such as Arthur C. Danto would explain that “ It is certainly the case that art no longer affords that satisfaction of spiritual needs which earlier ages and nations sought in it and found in it alone, a satisfaction that, at least on the part of religion, was most immediately linked with art. The beautiful days of Greek art, like the
golden days of the later Middle Ages, are gone.” Weintraub, L. (1996). Art on the Edge
and Over. Litchfield, CT: Art Insights, Inc. (p. 12). Danto explains in this quote that art
is no longer practiced as a soul fulfilling prophecy (as it should be). Art is
now created as a tool for selling. Art that was once brimming with political and social
criticisms is now bursting at the seams with iconic pictures and words used to sell
products.

While I am not suggesting that graphic art in the media is a negative force, I feel that it is totally, altogether separate from art, and should be classified as such. Graphic media art is not created for the artist, but rather for the consumer. When exploring the original foundations behind fine art, it becomes obvious that art’s original intention was to create a place of ventilation, serenity and Zen for the artist. The practice of art can be viewed as crucial for sustaining the mental health of the artist. In Leven C. Leaherbury’s article, Conflict in commitment to Art Education, he explains, “Although professional publications regularly print examples of student art, how often do they include statements by students about art?” Leven C. Leatherbury. Conflicts in Commitment to Art Education. Art Education (NAEA), Vol. 24, No. 2. (Feb, 1971), (p. 7). With this quote, Leatherbury eludes to the idea that fine art should contain the necessary criteria to carry such a title. In this case, Leatherbury addresses the need for a fine artist to establish understand his or her own interpretation and philosophy behind art before he or she can create meaningful, soul enriching art. To establish this personal meaning behind art, the artist must search his or her soul and identify the values and virtues that he or she believes to be most important. These virtues and values can stem from many areas of importance in the individual’s life, such as politics, religion, upbringing, family and many other various influences.

Graphic media art speaks in diverse ways to the different viewers. Along with the advent of digital graphic design comes responsibility by the artists who prepare and generate the different messages that are being sent to the public through ad campaigns. The creators of visual culture must take personal responsibility for the messages that are being sent through the public viewing of his or her creation, regardless of how the artist genuinely feels about the product he or she is trying to sell, or the message he or she is trying to send through his or her creation. In other words, the artist does not necessarily need to care about the issue that is being addressed. For example, a graphic designer may be assigned to create a new ad for a “Truth” campaign to encourage teenagers not to smoke, when the particular artist assigned to the ad, in reality, does not actually care about the issue at hand, and smokes several packs of cigarettes a day. Perhaps the ad would be less effective if the viewer of the ad knew that the particular artist who created it did not really care about the issue being addressed.
In Richard Loveless’s article, entitled, The Electric Media Conspiracy, he explains that society has not replaced art, but embraced the use of new technology. “What some call the de-massification of media might better be described as the de-mystification of media. For, what we have is not so much the replacing of art experience for personal media making, but the embracing of newer media technologies for elaborating on formerly statistic techniques for verifying information. In this sense, the “non artists” seem more open to experimenting with newer media forms than are the artists themselves!” Richard L. Loveless. The Electronic Media Conspiracy. Art Education, Vol. 36, No. 4 (July, 1983), (p. 20). Loveless’s attitude seems to embrace the idea of fine artists experimenting with graphic technology to produce meaningful art work. He explains that the use of new technology in art does not necessarily take away from the art experience, as long as the artist is producing the art for the right reasons. In another quote from his article, he explains that “While most artists were still marking time, the consumer, as well as some artists, was now capable of ‘timing marks.’” Richard L. Loveless. The Electronic Media Conspiracy. Art Education, Vol. 36, No. 4 (July, 1983), (p. 20). What I believe that loveless is referring to with this quote is the shift from artists creating art as a personal journal or story, per se, to a new social era where art becomes premeditated and impersonal, but more effective on a larger scale. In this article, Loveless establishes the idea that graphic media art and fine art are two very separate expressions, and that society must understand the difference. I believe that young aspiring artists are pushed into pursuing careers within the graphic design field because graphic media allows visually creative minds to earn a living through design. Though this currently may be the more financially comfortable field, I believe that traditional fine art allows much more room for freedom and emotional growth, and the focus on the vocational elements takes away from the therapeutic experience which art was intended for in the first place. In the art textbook, A History of Art Education, Arthur D. Efland argues a similar point. “It is believed that an emphasis on quality represents an unjustifiable imposition of traditional aesthetic values on persons, to whom such values are purportedly irrelevant. An excellence curriculum for art education is thus forced to defend itself against the charge of elitism.” Arthur D. Efland: A History of Art Education. Teacher’s College, Columbia University, New York, NY, (1990), (p. 252). Although it is sad to learn that so many people have not been moved or touched by fine art, fine artists much push to reestablish the role of art in society, and reject the negative accusations of elitism in art.

I believe that the use of available technology should absolutely be embraced in the fine arts. I feel that using computer imaging with various programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator supports the new wave of technology in art, and I do believe that these programs must be taught in higher level art classrooms. To deny advancements in computer graphics would limit the tools that could be used to create personal and thought provoking fine art. I welcome the use of new technology in fine art, but feel that aspiring artists should be taught the difference between creating fine art and consumer art (art created for public viewing on a large scale, which becomes impersonal.) In my opinion, art that is created on the computer should remain personal.

If permitted, creating art can become a healthy and deeply spiritual experience. The entire progression of generating art must be thought about when viewing art. Furthermore, I believe that any artist who is lucky enough to be able to make a living creating personal fine art may experience infinite levels of spirituality in the process. Aspiring artists should be taught that art is an area where anything goes, because nothing is either wrong or right. It is simply a place of freedom and relaxation, used to assist the artist in establishing ( and/or reestablishing) his or her connection with the world. An artist should use his or her creative license in the same way that a writer would use his or her diary. Art should work through feelings and emotions, and form conclusions and ideas about what the artist has discovered about the world so far. As explained by Elliot Eisner, “Visual culture teaches people (even when we are not conscious of being educated) and, in the process, we recreate ourselves through our encounters with it. As we learn, we change, constructing and reconstructing ourselves.” Eisner, E. W. and Day, M. D. (Eds.) (204). Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education. Mah Wah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. and NAEA, (19900 (p. 817). Eisner seems to embrace the notion of the individual creating and recreating his or herself through the creation of art. He feels that creative expression allows for new ideas to be formed by the artist.

I believe that art can be defined as a personal interpretation and expression of how an individual sees his or her world, and how he or she relates to the world. Art is a sacred, depth defying experience used to push the borders and boundaries that are set up in so many other social institutions. I believe that the creation of art is a deeply spiritual idea, and the entire process of the creation of it should be considered. I believe that art allows for changes in the individual’s mindset and allows for higher levels of thinking.

Rationale Citation Page

1. Weintraub, L. (1996). Art on the Edge and Over. Litchfield, CT: Art Insights, Inc. (pp. 12)

2. Leven C. Leatherbury. Conflicts in Commitment to Art Education. Art Education, Vol. 24, No. 2. (Feb, 1971), (pp. 7)

3. Richard L. Loveless. The Electronic Media Conspiracy. Art Education, Vol. 36, No. 4 (July, 1983), (pp. 20)

4. Richard L. Loveless. The Electronic Media Conspiracy. Art Education, Vol. 36, No. 4 (July, 1983), (pp. 20)

5. Arthur D. Efland: A History of Art Education. Teacher’s College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1990, (pp. 252).

6. Eisner, E. W. and Day, M. D. (Eds.) (204). Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education. Mah Wah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. and NAEA, (pp. 817).