Heres the secret sauce, folks. The art-making universe is far more expansive than most folks are aware of. Art-making does not stop at object-making. Beautiful forms and fine techniques for rendering those forms visible are only one corner of the creative universe. Artmaking is also information-making; likewise, art-making is also transformation-making. Yes, there are creative processes for making forms. But there are also creative processes for making information. And there are even more creative processes for catalyzing public transformation. When we set out to teach the arts, the most complete arts & design learning experiences teach us to craft meaningful formations of materials, AND to express memorable information, AND to instigate problem-solving personal and social transformations. In other words, creativity shapes cool stuff to capture our experiences as we physically interface with the world, AND it shapes memorable stories and story vehicles for sharing our experiences as we strive to inform the world about the value(s) of our lives, AND it alters the shape of our conventional understandings by identifying the problems others overlook--asking the questions others dare not ask--and offering solutions that make the most common sense. So the next time someone suggests that the arts are nice but not necessary, gently explain that they must be referring to an incomplete recipe for human development and the civilization we have attained thus far. Then offer them a generous helping of the secret sauce Ive just shared with you and hopefully they will never undervalue the arts & design again. We have a long way to go folks, and creativity is key, so lets be absolutely clear about this. -jhr
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 19:50:38 +0000
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