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an "artist". Over the years I had become involved
with numerous "art" endeavors: drawings, sculptures,
paintings in various media, architectural design,
photography, writing, and ceramics. I've even been
fortunate to have "art" jobs: art and photography
teacher, freelance artist, supervisor of a graphic art
department, museum exhibits,
designer and builder, and art director. In all those
experiences and even through educational training beyond
the master's degree I could not find a comprehensive
definition of..."art". After all, I was an "artist";
but, how could I make claim to this intriguing group
with out really knowing what "art" was?
In the early 1990's, I participated in the Improving
Visual Art Education Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio,
which was sponsored by the Cincinnati Art Museum and the
Getty Center for the Arts. The conference basically
centered around the concept of "Discipline Based Art
Education". In this realm arts education is believed to
have four basic tenants that should be covered in
pedagogy and help give credence to spending constrained
budgets on having "arts" in the public school
curriculum. These four areas are: history,
theory/criticism, aesthetics, and production. It was
from this conference that I came up with the design for
the MIA PATCH Lesson Plan for the Arts since there was
no lesson plan format that I new of that really fit the
"arts" education arena. One of the speakers, and I
forget her name, was an aesthetics professor from the
University of Minnesota. She came the closest to a
definition of art that I could agree with, except, for
her, art had to have a concrete artifact, an art
"object", something tangible to be reviewed through
time. But, as many "artists" know, sometimes an artistic
creation is designed to be fugitive, non-tangible
through time, it must disappear to fulfill its aesthetic
intent.
- While out jogging one
afternoon at the conference it came to me, an epiphany;
" There is a simple, comprehensive definition of "art",
it's an acronym for itself".
The Aesthetic Rendering of
Thought.
In order for Art to exist, the following three (3)
criteria must be met. First of all, there must be some
sensory manifestation (Rendering), fugitive or
permanent, that is based upon a creative, intellectual
process (Thought) with the intention of a beautiful or
pleasurable (Aesthetic or Anti-aesthetic) action, or
reaction, in one or more of the senses and/or psyche.
Encircled within this definition are more than the
traditional concepts of "art": painting, sculpture,
ceramics, writing, architecture, drama, music, dance,
and photography. It's now easier to understand why
cooking can be included as an "art" and more than just a
craft. Please do not confuse "craft" with "art". Art
objects are original creations, one of a kind. Craft, on
the other hand, is the fastidious copying, reproduction,
of an art object. He has been recognized in Who's Who In
America, Who's Who In American Education, and National
Honor Soceity Outstanding American Teachers.Author
Robert E. Bear is a professional educator and national
award winning wildlife artist. He has created the Star Poster Progra, the
game of Gig'l(TM), and the team sport of Bearball(TM).
His additional writings on art and eduation, as well as,
paintings may be seen at http://www.ursidaeenterprises.com
- The arts and crafts movement, here and abroad
The arts and crafts
movement evolved in England around the turn of the
twentieth century as a philosophical reaction to the
dehumanizing aspects of the industrial revolution and
mass production. In the hands of gifted architects and
designers the ideas behind the movement took tangible
form in innovative architecture and fine and decorative
arts. But at the outset the leaders of the movement had
to grapple with some basic contradictions. The machine,
for example, was applauded for alleviating the
 boredom
of repetitive tasks and for bringing well-designed goods
into the hands of the masses at affordable prices, but
the machine denied the craftsman the sense of
fulfillment achieved by making things by hand, although
handmade objects were too expensive for middle- and
lower-class consumers.
A large traveling exhibition on view at the Milwaukee
Art Museum in Wisconsin from May 19 to September 5
examines how architects, designers, and craftsmen
working in various European countries and in the United
States adopted the philosophical tenets of the arts and
crafts movement but produced objects modified by the
prevailing economic, social, cultural, and political
conditions, and the artistic heritage of each country.
The show is entitled The Arts and Crafts Movement in
Europe and America, 1880-1920: Design for the Modern
World and features more than three hundred objects,
including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and
works on paper. The show was organized by Wendy Kaplan
of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it was on
view this winter.
In England William Morris was the leading figure
responsible for shaping the arts and crafts movement
through his numerous writings and lectures. The Arts and
Crafts Exhibition Society was founded in London in 1887
with the goal of elevating the decorative arts to the
level of the fine arts. Morris's high regard for the
principles behind the medieval guild system and his
admiration for the objects made by craftsmen of each
guild justified circumventing the machine and
championing beautiful handmade objects in a wide variety
of mediums.
The Art Workers' Guild,
comprised of painters, sculptors, architects, designers,
and craftsmen,
was founded in 1884, and its
motto "Art is Unity" encapsulated the ideal of creating
a total work of art in which all aspects of an interior
and its furnishings were created with a uniform
aesthetic.
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The arts and crafts movement as it evolved in Great
Britain enjoyed an international reputation, and its
influence spread throughout Europe and the United
States, largely through the publications, lectures,
and exhibitions the English
presented and the commissions they undertook in foreign
countries. In these various locales the philosophy
behind the movement was for the most part upheld, but
the objects produced reflected the diverse needs of
consumers and the aesthetic priorities of the craftsmen
in each nation.
Austria, for example, still had an
agrarian economy, and hand-craftsmanship, under a rigid
guild structure, had not yet been supplanted by the
machine. |
Magazine Antiques, by
Allison Eckardt Ledes, The book that accompanies
this exhibition explains how the movement evolved in
England, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Scandinavia,
Belgium, France, and the United States. The contributors
are Wendy Kaplan, Alan Crawford, Rudiger Joppien, Juilet
Kinchin, Amy F. Ogata, Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark, and
Christian Witt-Dorring. It is published by Thames and
Hudson and is available by telephoning 800-247-9955.
COPYRIGHT Brant Publications, Inc. COPYRIGHT Gale Group
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