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Lesson Plans


Re: artsednet-digest V2 #208

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
Clair/Lily Kerns (CWKerns)
Fri, 4 Apr 1997 06:09:39 -0600

>>>First
I believe that you can find words for things too early. Experiences in
art, both in viewing and making, can be reduced to a discussion thereby
killing the awe. Sometimes it is better to point and keep quiet. Second.
Words are not the thing itself. They are a layer of abstraction that
enable us to sometimes hold something precious for a while. T.S. Elliot
said it best : that he found words for things which he no longer needed to
>>>say.

Amen! I had to do a paper on Henry Moore for a sculpture class
(correspondence) one time. The first half of the paper was the usual
discussion of his work, etc. Then for the last half I quoted Moore in some
of the things I found especially thought-provoking.

The teacher chewed me up one side and down the other because the last half
of the paper was not "the same fine quality as the first half".

What I didn't explain adequately or she couldn't understand was that these
quotations were things I still wanted to think about. If I had formulated
and written out an opinion, evaluation, etc as she apparently was expecting
(and I could have done to her satisfaction, I'm sure), that would have put
an end to it--I'd have discarded the paper when I got it back. As it is, I
still go back to those quotes....

This is one of the reasons I like the concept of journalling as a part of
the thinking process--it's OK to be tentative. Too often papers,
discussions, and/or lectures end up trying to be definitive.....

Lily Kerns CWKerns