Creating Believers

One of the biggest challenges I face in my Art II classes is getting my students to believe me.  To believe me when I say that sighting works but they must lock their elbow.  To believe me when I tell them to squint at their work to evaluate their values..  To believe me when I say, "walk across the room and look at it from a distance and you can see what's wrong."  To believe me when I say that real artists really do think about composition, movement, repetition, a color palette, a focal point.  To believe me when I tell them that the greatest art comes from passion, from feeling strongly about something.

I want them to 'get' art and to understand that art-making is not the end goal; communication is.  Exploration of an idea.  Sharing an opinion in a creative way.  As Shea Hembrey says, it has the 3 H's - Head (ideas), Heart (emotion), and Hands (technical skill).

Shea Hembrey decided that contemporary art had become too esoteric so he decided to create his own Biennale - a body of work created in two years by 100 artists.  These artists were created by Hembrey, as well as their bios, backgrounds, ideas, and working methods.  He created the artists, then he created their works.  There are several examples of "this artist is interested in exploring the idea of _____," along with the resulting artwork.  If someone came across the exhibit, there would be nothing to indicate the works were made by one person.

Check it out; it's pretty cool.  And I think I'm going to show it to my Art II.