October 13, 2016

My feet didn’t touch the floor yesterday. It was a heady, head-long, free-fall into MA-ness, followed by an elongated staff meeting. All good. But no time to reflect. That exercise will have to wait. 8.30 am: Art/Sound, set up. The lecture theatre’s new audio-visual system makes light of my preparations. The second lecture felt more confident and assertive. Likely or not, it didn’t sound either better or worse than last week’s delivery. (Performance is a very subjective experience.) I’m back in the groove (IMO):

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10.10 am: The beginning of a day of second and third year painting tutorials. The studio had a good vibe. Dr Forster and I did the rounds, like physicians on a hospital ward:

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What students, even in their second year, fight most is the tyranny of ‘A’-levelism. It’s not the teachers’ fault. Secondary school art is focussed upon examination attainment. The students, for their part, are under pressure to do ‘the right thing’, ‘the acceptable thing’, ‘what teacher thinks best’,  and the type of work that’ll receive the highest grade. This is a difficult mindset to counter. And, so, they enter university fearful of ‘going wrong’ and ‘displeasing the tutor’, and wanting to know ‘What must I do to get a first-class mark?’. In reality, there’s no right or wrong way; there’re only a more or less appropriate ways (plural), which are, in turn, determined by each student’s intentions. What pleases the tutor is the student’s willingness to work hard, exercise (sometimes reckless) courage, respond positively to challenges, show initiative and creative imagination, demonstrate passion and commitment, and bend the rules to breaking point. What must they do to get a first-class mark? Work their socks off, at the very least. In short, it’s attitude not aptitude that impresses and gets results at this stage in their development.

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As I was reminded today, there’re still fine art courses our there which teach students virtually nothing, and leave them to their own devices – to either sink or swim. This is unacceptable, unprofessional, and unfair. It’s not only the issue of the student’s fee and what they get in return for it which makes this practice questionable. Artist-teachers have a responsibility to pass on their knowledge and expertise to the next generation. To withhold such is an expression of wanton selfishness and a callous disregard for the future of the discipline.

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Evening. 6.30 pm: Practise Session 1. 7.30 pm. A final admin catch-up session for the weeks teaching (which has been unusually satisfying) and clearing of the desk in readiness for tomorrow.

Some principles and observations derived from today’s engagements:

  • A measure of the art student’s integrity and commitment:

The lengths they’ll go to in order to get something right.

The maturity of their response to mishaps and disaster.

The degree to which they don’t need to be taught everything.

  • Professional musicians practise for at least five hours a day, not in order to play better but, rather, to prevent themselves from playing any worse.
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