There was a very good thread on Art Education list on Boys and Violent
Drawings. I wanted to grab some of the good stuff to share with you,
but there are just so many posts.... some of which I haven't read (as
my machine was away for a couple of days - machine is working faster
now - knock on wood - but still "grinding" away - must need new hard
drive?).
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This is the subject line that started it all:
From Kate: "boys and violent drawings....opinions???"
Posts started March 7
excerpt from her post:
"In the beginning of this year I made it clear to my students that I
do not allow any weapons, blood or violence drawn in their work. I
feel that while I can't control the war in Iraq, how the media
chooses to bombard us with murder, violence and war...I can omit
that from our art environment. Enough is enough.
"But now I am not sure. Boys will be boys, meaning they are naturally
drawn to blood and guts, guns, fighting. Is this wrong to not permit
these natural expressions? Where do I draw the line?"
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I would show the students some work about war - how expressive it
is.... talk about the messages that are presented...the meanings.
There is a lot of art out there about violence. I have some very
powerful images from a contemporary artist, Sergio Hernandez about
war. It would have been a shame if an art teacher stifled his
creativity. (although, I think he became interested in art later in
life? I don't remember his story now).
There is no need to reply to this post... If you do, please remove my
email address so it is not archived on Getty' we site - again. My
address is already out there over 50 times..... I get enough Spam
already. Clip the email addresses when you post a reply.
