For a long time, I've thought that the purpose of activism and art, or at least of mine, is to make a world in which people are producers of meaning, not consumers, and writing this book I now see how this is connected to the politics of hope and to those revolutionary days that are the days of the creation of the world. Decentralization and direct democracy could, in one definition, be this politic in which people are producers, possessed of power and vision, in an unfinished world.
Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit
If there is anything that gives me hope it is teaching. I've been thinking about what a gift it is these days. Coming back into the classroom after a year away it is even more evident. This term I am teaching a section of the courses called RPM's (or Research, Practice and Methods).
(From the course description) In these courses students investigate strategies for effective communication. Each section emphasizes process and creative problem solving - appropriately using subject matter and a variety of media as a means of examining conceptual goals. Students engage in critical inquiry and conduct in-depth research to promote the development of their own studio practice within a historical, cultural, and personal context.
Students in the course recently turned in a project (a small book in an edition of ten, with a dos-a-dos binding) based on the writing and concerns of Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco. The work was gritty and tough and the research was, in general, spot on. It's not an easy class. They are challenged each week with a new binding, a new writer, a new topic. The turn around time is fast. They have to work quickly without over-thinking decisions. Practicing this is an important part of the course - again, not easy.
I have long been a fan of the writing of James Elkins. His books, such as Why Art Cannot Be Taught and Art Critiques: A Guide are interesting, if only for the questions they raise. They don't always come to definitive conclusions - but in their defense, how could they? The topics are huge and the fact that he tackles them at all garners huge kudos from me. I bring them up here because they have helped me formulate my own thinking about critiques - which is going to bring me back to the RPM students I'm working with in a minute....
In Art Critiques: A Guide, Elkins writes:
...an art critique is an entirely different sort of experience. Art classes maybe the only time in your life that people really focus on your work, and try to say all the things it might mean. Meaning, interpretation, evaluation. Ambiguity, complexity, difficulty. Intensity, confusion, exhaustion. Inspiration, doubt, revision. These are the things that happen in critiques.In your first semester of a dive into college, to study art and design - what you learn about critiques and how they are practiced has a great effect on the way you look at work - your own and others. More about the content of that critique in another post.
On the other end of the spectrum a group of seniors - working to craft a professional digital presence. What social media tools are best used, how to write strong content - how to pull it all together. Over the summer - I sent out a survey asking former students and colleagues to talk to me about how they did this. Many of them generously offered to speak to this group - and I try each week to invite one - in person or via Skype.
Full circle this past Monday for me. A student asked the speaker, "How do you annihilate your competition?" He had a goofy smile on his face - but there was a part of him that was serious.
Our guest didn't miss a beat. She said, "I don't, I try to become friends with them and ask them to teach me everything they know."
Now that, for me, is hope in the dark.
