“Act! Do Something”, LAND Conference, Liberal Arts Network for Development, Grand Rapids MI. – Feb 2016
Abstract: When art is created as part of the social sphere, it can bring attention to and effect change in a larger context. Joseph Beuys once said: "I am not a teacher who tells his students only to think. I say: Act; Do something; I ask for a result. It may take different forms.” It is this statement that inspired the assignment “Act! Do something” that I give students in the second week the Introduction to Contemporary Art History course. Beuys believed everyone had the potential to be an artist, which he defined as “a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and condition our lives"; it is in this vein that I ask each student to think of a small act that she/he can do this week that can have an effect on her/his larger community (the student defines what constitutes his/her community). In this short talk, I seek to not only share some of the amazing “somethings” that my students performed, but also how such an assignment broadened students understanding of art and community, and the power of simple, small actions can affect others in their community and world.
Abstract: When art is created as part of the social sphere, it can bring attention to and effect change in a larger context. Joseph Beuys once said: "I am not a teacher who tells his students only to think. I say: Act; Do something; I ask for a result. It may take different forms.” It is this statement that inspired the assignment “Act! Do something” that I give students in the second week the Introduction to Contemporary Art History course. Beuys believed everyone had the potential to be an artist, which he defined as “a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and condition our lives"; it is in this vein that I ask each student to think of a small act that she/he can do this week that can have an effect on her/his larger community (the student defines what constitutes his/her community). In this short talk, I seek to not only share some of the amazing “somethings” that my students performed, but also how such an assignment broadened students understanding of art and community, and the power of simple, small actions can affect others in their community and world.
