Vince Pitelka on thu 23 sep 99
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>>... `teaching design.`
>>i really do not know if it is possible......
>
>Dear Mel: thank god, you wrote this post. I have thought it but never said
>boo all.
>I completely agree with you. I think "seeing" can not be taught.
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I have been teaching art for almost fifteen years now, including 2-D and 3-D
design, drawing, art history, art appreciation, and of course clay. It
seems to me that we ARE teaching students to see. I suppose the confusion
here lies in the definition. If you expect the act of seeing to be
quantified or qualified, it implies that the student must see what you
expect them to see, or what the teching manuals say they should see (so that
you can quantify or qualify it), and that inherently denies the essential
premise of art. If we tell them WHAT to see, then we are not teaching art.
What they see is ultimately subjective and personal, but what we can do is
help them sensitize their perception by examining and discussing art, by
learning the elements and principles of design, by viewing the world with
open eyes and an open mind.
I suppose we cannot teach them HOW to see, in specific terms, but I believe
that we certainly can teach them to see. If it is unquantifiable, then it
is essential abstract and undefineable, but we see the "evidence of seeing"
in every creative artist.
Psychologists studying art and visual perception have found that the viewing
and making of art enhances visual perception, essentially sensitizing the
eyes and the mind to the world around us. In other words, it teaches us to see.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Lee & Kevin Daniels on fri 24 sep 99
"Seeing" is more than the visual data collected by the eyes. It's what the
mind does with that information. Can we train our minds to interpret
information differently? It would be a pretty bleak world if we could not.
Just a thought - Lee in Seattle
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>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>>... `teaching design.`
>>i really do not know if it is possible......
>
>Dear Mel: thank god, you wrote this post. I have thought it but never said
>boo all.
>I completely agree with you. I think "seeing" can not be taught.
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