Chapter 3, Theories. Buy the book on Amazon. This book got me in some trouble when I first wrote it. There was a public event where I teach, at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago: the Dean and a couple of faculty, including me, were to discuss how we were teaching art. Chapter 1 is a history of art instruction from the Greeks to the present, with special emphasis on what remains from each period — what is still with us, still part of what every art student is taught.
More filters. Sort order. Feb 24, Nelson Zagalo rated it it was ok Shelves: academic , art. We do not teach because we do not know when or how we teach.
No fundo, em vez de ter passado todo o tempo a questionar a arte pela arte, devia ter parado para ouvir, ler e questionar a realidade que o rodeia. View all 3 comments. Apr 20, Courtney rated it did not like it. As an artist and art educator, I want to start by stating that I really wanted to enjoy this book. This was fascinating, although it took most of the book to get there. In , it's very difficult t As an artist and art educator, I want to start by stating that I really wanted to enjoy this book.
In , it's very difficult to read a book in which all the students are unnamed "she"s and nearly all the professors and artists named are male. This is problematic, and should probably be addressed in a book about the issues of why or why not art can be taught. The author also proposes critique as a sort of "seduction", with examples where the professor "seduces" the student to agree that their work will fall apart. Surely a better metaphor must exist for this sort of critique? If not, I sincerely feel for the author's wife or partner Putting these rather large issues aside, there are some major difficulties throughout the book.
The author suggests storytelling as a framework for critiquing and discussing art. This is interesting. He summarizes his point by noting that he loved his grandmother's stories growing up, until he realized they were a way of "rehearsing her unhappiness" at which point he no longer was interested in hearing them.
How is this rehearsal different than the process of making art? Or different than talking about making art? Points like these are strange and almost nonsensical, or simply horrible. As the author summarizes: "People tend to be less interesting when I understand their stories. After all this, the curiously short less than two page conclusion doesn't leave us with much else. View 2 comments. Mar 09, Zachary rated it it was ok.
I always like this guy's books. I tend to agree with him, but I always walk away from them asking, "What was the point of that? Then I get back to work. Jun 06, Rob rated it it was amazing Shelves: art. James Elkins has proven to be the leading diagnostician of art world follies. This work has become a small classic among artists working in the academic side of studio arts and should be required reading for anyone considering a BFA or MFA in visual art.
Based upon his experiences as a student and professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Elkins offers a wide array of anecdotes and analyses that will ring all too true to those of us who have waded the wild waters of art school. It James Elkins has proven to be the leading diagnostician of art world follies. It is true, art cannot be taught.
Sep 30, Theresa Anderson rated it it was amazing. My favorite quote "It is a simple, inescapable fact that looking at a life model is a charged experience.
No matter how used to it you get- and studio instructors can persuade themselves, over the course of years, that models really are nothing but interesting furniture- it still possesses sexual and social overtones. The model is "objectified," used as an example as in medical school or hospital rounds- and we might also think of prisoner-of-war camps , and his or her personality is erased or d My favorite quote "It is a simple, inescapable fact that looking at a life model is a charged experience.
The model is "objectified," used as an example as in medical school or hospital rounds- and we might also think of prisoner-of-war camps , and his or her personality is erased or drastically simplified as in mass-media pornography. The condescension, emotional distancing, and "master-slave" relation are similar in all three institutions Jan 21, Rachel rated it liked it Shelves: art.
I took forever to get into this. I think I got it as a requested Christmas gift years ago, but I just couldn't get into it. I finally finished it and I'm not sure how important that last 3rd really was. I'm an art instructor at a community college, so the book isn't exactly aimed at me.
However, even as an MFA student, the things referred to in the book, particular I took forever to get into this. However, even as an MFA student, the things referred to in the book, particularly the style of critique referred to, weren't my experience. The most interesting part of the book was the history of art education at the start. I'm a fan of history, so this is natural.
It was a brief history, interesting but not particularly in depth. But it was also clear the reason, the book was about our current art educational system and that, itself, doesn't give much weight to non-western ideas. Most of the book talked critiques. What they are, why they're like that.
The premise of the title is, as you might guess, that art can't be taught. The author explores this idea a bit, but doesn't do much with it other than discuss some arguments about why this might or might not be true. He also addresses the phenomenon of art critiques as a microcosm for teaching art as a whole and dissects real-life critiques, highlighting presuppositions and dynamics that make them confusing and suggesting ways to make them more helpful. Elkins's no-nonsense approach clears away the assumptions about art instruction that are not borne out by classroom practice.
For example, he notes that despite much talk about instilling visual acuity and teaching technique, in practice neither teachers nor students behave as if those were their principal goals. He addresses the absurdity of pretending that sexual issues are absent from life-drawing classes and questions the practice of holding up great masters and masterpieces as models for students capable of producing only mediocre art.
He also discusses types of art--including art that takes time to complete and art that isn't serious--that cannot be learned in studio art classes.
Why Art Cannot Be Taught is a response to Elkins's observation that "we know very little about what we do" in the art classroom.
Elkins's no-nonsense approach clears away the assumptions about art instruction that are not borne out by classroom practice. For example, he notes that despite much talk about instilling visual acuity and teaching technique, in practice neither teachers nor students behave as if those were their principal goals. He addresses the absurdity of pretending that sexual issues are absent from life-drawing classes and questions the practice of holding up great masters and masterpieces as models for students capable of producing only mediocre art.
He also discusses types of art--including art that takes time to complete and art that isn't serious--that cannot be learned in studio art classes. Why Art Cannot Be Taught is a response to Elkins's observation that "we know very little about what we do" in the art classroom. His incisive commentary illuminates the experience of learning art for those involved in it, while opening an intriguing window for those outside the discipline.
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