Please note:
This is a draft paper used to organize and manage planning for this project
and needs to be edited further before formal publication other than on this website. -HGL
Good morning. Thanks for coming. I’ll try
not to be more boring than usual; however
I have a tendency to get lost inside my
mind.
At least ever since I took English
Literature in the Spring semester as a Senior in high school.
I sat in the back near the windows which had a southern exposure and as the days grew longer so
did my daydreaming …
And there is nothing new here either. Luckily
it’s almost two months until spring.
But it will be eclectic
Here’s
a short quote from Picasso. I chose it because it speaks to the intensity of
the creative experience, and that’s what we are talking about, getting caught
up in the enveloping experience of creating the endless expansion of reality
out of possibility that our curiosity uncovers and our imagination forms.
And
it links to my choice of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues for the intro music.
“We artists are indestructible; even in a
prison, or in a concentration camp, I would be almighty in my own world of art,
even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my
cell.”[1]
― Pablo Picasso
― Pablo Picasso
A couple of thoughts to occupy the minds
of those of you who would find an art appreciation lecture boring no matter
what …
I’ll set it up with another quote from
Picasso:
“What do you think an artist is? An
imbecile who only has eyes, if he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or
a lyre [pronounced liar] in every chamber of his heart if he is a poet, or
even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles? Far from it: at the same time he is
also a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking, passionate, or
delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their
image. How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people, and with a
cool indifference to detach yourself from the very life which they bring to you
so abundantly? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an
instrument of war.”[2]
― Pablo Picasso
― Pablo Picasso
So here’s some class warfare economics
applicable to our responsibilities as citizens to let your mind wander off with
These might not fit everyone whose mind
will wander off
Like, if I think art will bore you, why
would I think economics won’t?
In that case, you are on your own. Wander
off with what you will. I can only do so much.
Fair market capitalism is not socialism.
Free market capitalism is monopolism.
How do monopolists get away with cloaking
the negative connotation of monopolism with the positive term “free market” and
the positive term “fair market” with the negative connotation—in our society—of
socialism?
Three simplistic slogans sustained by
reason:
- The so-called “free market” produces the company store.
- “Trickle down” economics is plantation economics.
- Solidarity of labor is not an evil conspiracy.
There is no such thing as a free market
because of what are called externalities, things like second-hand cigarette
smoke,.
Trickle down means letting the master get
the fruit of our labor and he will give us what we need.
The solidarity of labor means we as
workers—those who earn our living by our mental and physical efforts—have
identified what we have in common, the desire to be treated fairly in the
distribution of the wealth our labor produces.
There is much we do not have in common,
aggregate income for one thing, but the right to collectively participate in
determining the fair distribution of the wealth we help produce is even
biblical in its basis:
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he
treadeth out the corn. - Deuteronomy 25:4
For it is how we distribute the wealth we
produce that is the fundamental factor of determining the society in which we
live. And when we who earn our livelihood by our own labor, our mental and
physical effort, are separated from our common interest of a fair distribution
of the wealth our labor creates, then the society suffers. We are separated
from our common interest when do not participate in the determination of what
is a fair distribution of the wealth created by our labor.
But back to art appreciation.
Art as Cohesive Coherence: The da Vinci
Model, also known as the science of art.
Like I said, nothing new here.
Da Vinci demonstrated his passion for art some
500 years ago, what curiosity, unquenchable in da Vinci’s case, and an
inventive imagination can create. And yet we still struggle with the
constraints of needless boundaries on both curiosity and imagination. Don’t
misinterpret me. Not all boundaries are needless.
We have to know something about da Vinci
to get very far into this, wouldn’t you agree?
He is described as “archetype [arr-keh-type]
of the Renaissance
Man,
a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive
imagination”.[3]
“Marco Rosci states that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his
vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious”, and the
empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.[4]
Keep those adjectives in mind:
- · Curious
- · Imaginative
- · Logical
- · Inventive
There is one more I would add:
- · Productive
He created stuff.
Da Vinci thought of art as science back in
the fourteen-fifteen hundreds, the 15th & 16th
centuries, he lived from April 15,
1452 to May 2, 1519, 67 years.
And acknowledging that a summer day camp
integrating science and art experiences is named the DaVinci Experience®, and
with a nod to Jackson Pollack fans of whom I am one, da Vinci “is widely
considered to be one of the greatest
painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to
have lived.”[5]
Remember that: “diversely talented”
Quoting from Wikipedia with footnotes
linking the source: “Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are
the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed
knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest in physiognomy
[fizz ee og no mee] and the way in which humans register emotion in expression
and gesture, his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition,
and his use of the subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together
in his most famous painted works, the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper
and the Virgin of the Rocks.”[6]
"Leonardo is also renowned as a scientist, engineer and inventor. The areas of his scientific study included aeronautics, anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, civil engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics and zoology.
"While the full extent of his scientific studies has only become recognized in the last 150 years, he was, during his lifetime, employed for his engineering and skill of invention. Many of his designs, such as the movable dikes to protect Venice from invasion, proved too costly or impractical. Some of his smaller inventions entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As an engineer, Leonardo conceived ideas vastly ahead of his own time, conceptually inventing a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics and the double hull. In practice, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics).
"Leonardo's most famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, is a study of the proportions of the human body, linking art and science in a single work that has come to represent Renaissance Humanism.”[7]
OK.
“All these qualities come together in …”
Coherence: the quality or state of cohering: as
a : systematic or logical connection or consistency
b : integration of diverse elements, relationships, or values [8]
a : systematic or logical connection or consistency
b : integration of diverse elements, relationships, or values [8]
Couple of things to think about ...
First: The joy and
satisfaction found in living the inner directed life of our curiosity coupling with our imagination pushing and pulling us into doing something new, a variation on an existing theme, or extending our range, something that renews the
cycle through our own sense of joy and satisfaction in doing it,
“Getting caught up in the enveloping experience of creating”
Not simply “producing” … though producing can be creating
Not simply “building” … though building can be creating
For most of us, cooking is a good example of the variation in our minds, preparing food can be work or it can be art, and the food a work of art.
Creating the endless expansion of reality out of possibility that our curiosity uncovers and our imagination forms.
The creative experience can be doing almost anything. I doodle and work on
social action projects. Others paint, garden, . I have a close personal friend
in Alaska, disabled with COPD, on oxygen 24/7, lives in a one-room log cabin
with wheel chair and scooter ramps, and ties flies for fly fishing in the
summer. For him there is both the fly tying and the fly fishing.
You know, when I get caught up in my own cycle of curiosity, imagination and doing something that emerges from that process, I don’t get bored. And I find that typical.
You know, when I get caught up in my own cycle of curiosity, imagination and doing something that emerges from that process, I don’t get bored. And I find that typical.
Second concept to think
about if your mind is not yet wandering: Our responsibility in moving toward
oughtness out of the isness of our current existence.
That is both the solitary responsibility of the individual and the collective responsibility of the group or groups to which we belong.
This is the struggle of the artist, Picasso’s war, the dialectic of art: oughtness as the arbiter of isness out of possibility?
That is both the solitary responsibility of the individual and the collective responsibility of the group or groups to which we belong.
This is the struggle of the artist, Picasso’s war, the dialectic of art: oughtness as the arbiter of isness out of possibility?
As human beings we consciously experience
the process whereby our curiosity pursues discovery arousing our imagination
that leads us to try something, the “what if” of the human mind.
The result—the painting, the music, the dance, the sculpture, and, yes, the tied fly—is what we typically call art. But there is also the carpentry, the auto repair, the plumbing …
The act of cohesive coherence … the
sticking together of diverse elements that are connected logically in some way
… which may in fact simply be the point of view of the artist … thereby
creating its possibility in reality … choosing its oughtness by creating its
isness
Cohesive
- Characterized by or causing cohesion
- Tending to cohere or stick together
Cohesion
- The act, process, or condition of cohering: exhibited strong cohesion in the family unit.
Cohere
- Be united; form a whole.
- (of an argument or theory) Be logically consistent.
It is the entire process that is art. Omit
any element in the process and it no longer is art … to the artist, not necessarily
to the observer. Here again cooking is as good an example as any. It can be
work or it can be art, completely dependent on the mind of the cook … while the
person eating the food may or may not think of it as a work of art
independently of the mind of the cook.
But this is all commonly accepted, isn’t
it?
So why don’t we take the natural curiosity
of children and use the internal motivation of their imagination to guide them
in the discovery of the tools they will need to create the what if’s that their
curiosity and imagination bring to mind.? To discover the subject matter that
ignites their self-motivation to learn, pulled along by their curiosity and
imagination? Why don’t we apply the science of art to education?
In
order to survive with ease in today’s world, we should be able to read, to
write, and to perform at least simple arithmetic. But as children, we don’t
know that, we have to be told that. What we know as children is that it is fun
to play and in our play to practice the adult behavior that attracts our
attention as necessary for successful adult living, or the next step toward
becoming adults, because that is what we are driven internally to do … by our
dna, as it were.
We know that we need to know how to read,
and by reading with children the stories that we know will interest children,
we know they will reach the point—individually—where they will want to read.
We know that
we need to know how to write, and by writing with children the words, the
numbers, the symbols used in communicating ideas and thoughts, we know they
will reach the point—individually—where they will want to write these words, numbers, and symbols.
We know that
we need to know how to do arithmetic, and by doing it with children—counting,
adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing— we know they will reach the
point—individually—where they will want to do it themselves.
In all of
these activities our mind works best using the da Vinci model: the arousal of
curiosity, the feeding of our imagination, leading to our creating something of
interest, and its integration in reality arouses interest in others, feeding
their imaginations, leading to their creating something else, ad infinitum, the
endless expansion of reality out of possibility. The science of art.
And as we
experience this process, consciously absorbing the science of art, we become
comfortable with the way our minds work and confident in their functioning even
as momentary satisfaction gives way to new needs for both the necessities and
the excitements of life as human beings.
And we don’t
have to be children to absorb and internalize the science of art. Curiosity and
imagination are in our DNA. For many of us, we simply need the affirmation that
it is OK to use them.
Some Psych 101
at this point. Opening up curiosity and imagination late in life can be like
opening a storage closet long kept tightly closed. Some strange things can tumble
out, stuff that has been repressed by negative experiences of guilt, shame,
fear. Like teachers who tell us we can’t draw or sing or dance, that we will
always be mediocre, never truly succeed.
But in
today’s world, I would suggest that it is equally important for older adults to
learn the science of art. Especially when faced with the loss of a job as
described in today’s The New York Times:
There is a movement afoot to return art to
its rightful place in the shrines of learning:
STEAM not STEM
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art,
Mathematics
not
Science, Technology, Engineering,
Mathematics
Its Mission Statement on its webpage reads:
Our mission is to have business leaders, arts professionals, educators and others work together to educate governments, the public and the media to the need for returning Arts to the national curricula. China and others have determined, as we must, that STEAM education is a national priority issue.
Together we can demonstrate that Arts is a necessary adjunct to STEM "by connecting the dots" for all constituents -
- Arts education is a key to creativity, and
- Creativity is an essential component of, and spurs innovation, and
- Innovation is, agreed to be necessary to create new industries in the future, and
- New industries, with their jobs, are the basis of our future economic well-being.
A win-win situation – low cost – job growth and insuring the future. If we do not connect these dots Arts education will continue to be virtually extinct in our schools - and the US's economic future will be damaged.
Articles
- Our Education System is not so much “Broken” – as it is Totally Outdated!
- Art Education in China
- New Law Aims to Measure School Creativity
- STEM to STEAM – Recognizing the Value of Creative Skills in the Competitive Debate
- STEAM – Not STEM Whitepaper
Research
- Arts and Education Webinar
- Neuroeducation: Learning, Arts and the Brain
- The Arts, Creativity and Cultural Education
CONTACT INFO
Harvey P. White
Chairman, (SHW)2 Enterprises
Suite 110
2223 Avenida de la Playa
La Jolla, CA 92037
phone: 858/729.0442
fax: 858/729.0105
email: info@steam-notstem.com
CREATIVITY ENABLES INNOVATION
"It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning unexpected findings of science." - Carl Sagan
HALF A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE
"Science and technology aspire to clean, clear answers to problems (as elusive as those answers may be). The humanities address ambiguity, doubt, and skepticism - essential underpinnings in a complex, diverse and turbulent world." - Dr. Alan Brinkley
CREATIVITY IS ECONOMICALLY VIABLE
"The game is changing. It isn't just about math and science anymore. It's about creativity imagination and, above all, innovation." - Business Week
CHINA IS PUSHING AHEAD OF THE U.S.
"Art education constitutes an important component of teaching in primary and secondary schools in China." - CERNET (the China Education and Research Network)
Let me conclude with one observation. For
most of my life, and most certainly long before I existed, there has been a debate
about the quality of minds across population groups fueled, in my opinion, by
the specious arguments of prejudiced minds. This is relevant in today’s global economy
where every citizen is a resource for producing wealth, and to the extent that
anyone is idle or working below capacity who could be more productive in some
manner, to that extent we are not only failing in achieving our potential and but are falling
behind.
[1] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/picasso
[2] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/picasso
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci:
Gardner, Helen (1970). Art through the Ages.
pp. 450–456
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci:
Rosci, Marco (1977). Leonardo. p. 8
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci:
Vasari, Boltraffio, Castiglione, "Anonimo"
Gaddiano, Berensen, Taine, Fuseli, Rio, Bortolon.
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci:
These qualities of Leonardo's works are discussed by
Frederick Hartt in A History of Italian Renaissance Art, pp.387–411.
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_inventions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci
[8] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherence
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