Computers, Video-Discs, and Art Teachers

National Art Education Association

Computers, Video-Discs, and Art TeachersAuthor(s): Jerome J. HausmanSource: Art Education, Vol. 44, No. 3 (May, 1991), pp. 4-6Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193249 .

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Thorima ? 1990, by J. P. Walsh. Courtesy of Pratt Manhattan Computer Graphics Lab, Pratt Institute, New York

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Computers, Video-Discs,

and Art Teachers

- An Editorial

"Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road" Stewart Brand, The Media Lab, 1987, p. 9

I can recall that in the late 40's I was taken to Jackson Pollock's studio. At the time, I was much impressed with the paintings of Norman Rockwell and my teacher, Robert Brackman. My conception of art was very much linked to visual narrative along with the technical skill that would enable a more romantic rendering of reality. Imagine my shock and sense of disarray in seeing a canvas on the floor with the swirling, spontaneous spatter of color on its surface. I can recall my imme- diate and outright rejection of the "drip- painted" image, especially as it was described as a 'Work of art." In the years

4 Art EducationlMay 1991



that have passed, I have come to think differently about the work of Pollock and his contemporaries: de Kooning, Rothko, Reinhardt, Motherwell, Kline, and others. Whereas my initial reaction to the Abstract Expressionists was puzzlement, confusion, and rejection, I have now come to incorpo- rate ideas about intrinsic meaning, con- trolled spontaneity, movement and gesture into my definitions of art.

It happens over and over again in our experience. The new and unfamiliar are frequently received with discomfort and sometimes, rejection. Of course, not all that is new and unfamiliar is deserving of a position of acceptance and value. Some new ideas and forms deserve to be re- jected. Yet with the passage of time, there are particular ideas and events, personali- ties and groups that are judged to be valuable; they help shape our understand- ings and values. As was stated by George Kubler (The Shape of Time): "Time, like mind, is not knowable as such. We know time only indirectly by what happens in it: by observing change and permanence; by marking the succession of events among stable settings; and by noting the contrast of varying rates of change. (P. 13) ... "The moment of actuality slips too fast by the slow coarse net of our senses." (P.18)

For present day art teachers, computer and laser disc technologies make up a relatively unfamiliar terrain. Understand- ably, there are those who urge caution that we not rush headlong on to another bandwagon of new media and techniques that will diminish or divert us from the more personalized identification and controls of traditional art activities. For many, the whole question is moot in that school budgets are hard pressed to provide such media as tempera paint or clay. The cost of purchasing computer or laser disc equip- ment in the light of the paucity of funds makes the whole issue "academic." Yet, the question of "what would we want?" deserves thought and attention.

Each medium and technique offers its own potential for art activity. In the end, it is

not the medium or technique that can be said to be the art form. Rather, it is the resultant of a human being's initiative - actions that utilize media or techniques. To be sure, each medium and technique becomes inextricably linked with the concept and form created. Every artist comes to know the essential nature and limits of the tools and materials being used. Indeed, artists frequently explore and stretch these limits. As teachers of art we work with students in helping them to sense and understand the materials and tools being used. However, these under- standings are never ends unto themselves. We do not teach "paint" or "clay" or, for that matter, "computers." What we do teach are the processes and means by which media and techniques become instrumental to the creation of personalized forms. "There is ... in all artistic creation a characteristic tension between the man and the material in which he works ... the artist literally wrestles with his material, while it both resists and nourishes his intention ... He finds himself constantly excited by the qualities objectively present in the material which it is his aim progressively to discover." (Max Black, "Education as Art and Discipline," Ethics, 54, July 1944)

Art can be made with discarded or even scrap materials. New and unexpected possibilities can be realized utilizing materials and means not previously associated with "art." Hence, no wonder that there is interest in computers and video discs as means for instruction and for the creation of art forms. Clearly, these technologies offer fantastic possibilities for expanding and enriching the work we do. "As things become identifiable, and as we leam to notice the differences between them, our perceptions of the world become differentiated. Formerly indefinite qualities become definite ... the progress of learning is from indefinite to definite, not from sensation to perception. We do not learn to have percepts but to differentiate them." (James Gibson, The Perception of the Visual World, 1950, P. 222).

Art EducationlMay 1991 5



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Paco by Rich Levine. Courtesy of Pratt. Manhattan Computer Graphics Lab, Pratt Institute, New York

Already, many artists are engaged in collaborative projects involving the use of computers with engineers, architects, physical and social scientists. For example, collaborative projects have been com- pleted at M.I.T.'s media laboratory involving architect I.M.Pei and artists Kenneth Noland, Richard Fleischner, and Scott Burton. Virtually all of our major design and architectulral firms utilize computers for creative, storage, and retrieval functions. At a common sense level, computers are here to stay! What has also been observed is that the "hardware is ahead of the software;" that is, the technical capabilities exceed the creative ideas for their utiliza- tion.

In his book Mindstorms (1980), Seymour Papert recalls 'The Gears of My Childhood," when he played with the gears in his erector set. As he recalls, "First, I remember that no one told me to learn about differential gears. Second, I remember that there was feeling, love, as well as understanding in my relationship with gears. Third, I remember that my first

encounter with them was in my second year. If any 'scientific' educational psy- chologist had tried to 'measure' the effects of this encounter, he would probably have failed. It had profound consequences but, I conjecture, only very many years later. A pre-and post-test at age two would have missed them." (P. VIII)

Art teachers need to learn to play with computers. Already, students are coming to us with greater readiness and acceptance of the medium. As Papert put it: "I think it corresponds to children wanting to be able to control an important part of the world. They're always reaching out to grab what is perceived as important in the adult world. They grab a pencil and scribble with it. They can feel the flexibility of the computer and its power. They can find a rich intellectual activity with which to fall in love. It's through these intellectual love affairs that people acquire a taste for rigor and creativity." (Steward Brand, The Media Lab 1987, P. 123).

Jerome J. Hausman

6 Art EducationlMay 1991



Documents

Computers, Video-Discs, and Art Teachers