Every spring for the last three years, I have taught a course in Digital Motion Graphics to the Foundation students at the Otis College of Art and Design, considered by some as one of the finest art schools in the country. The presumed prestige of the student body would lead one to think that the familiarity with many aspects of modern art would be commonplace on campus. I continue to be surprised how selective information has become.
My first class is usually a three-hour discussion about the trends in the field, an overview on the various career options, and some examples of leading figures in current practice. Curious to see what is on the minds of these talented young people, I question them about what they watch and listen to, and about their awareness of the contemporary art world. To my surprise, I find a very disinterested attitude about the current so-called leaders of the modern art scene, and very little interest in what academics call "video art".
Every semester, I find an appropriate point in the semester's discussion to mention the name Bill Viola, no doubt the most famous of the video artists. I ask my class how many of them have heard of Viola. The first two years I taught the class, only two or three of the students knew of him, this year, no one had. I found it fascinating that those most likely to be aware of a particular artist had no interest in this area of contemporary art work.
Whose fault is it that art students are unaware of this work? Certainly the educational system, and also certainly, to some extent, the curators, museum directors, art critics and even Viola himself. All these people have, according to these students, created an irrelevant system, which they feel cater to the elite, the pretentious or the deluded art speculator.
Is this the future of art, that even the most supposedly famous individuals of a particular filed are marginalized so that only the aficionados recognize a leading figure? Perhaps, and that may not exactly be a bad thing. With the diversity of world cultures continuing to evolve in every possible direction, more and more local, regional and genre-specific stars will emerge.
Bill Viola certainly does not lack for admirers in the museum, curatorial and high-end gallery and art collector culture. He may however, have to work harder to gain the recognition of the general public, even within the professional art community. Since he is a MacArthur Fellow ( and therefore a "certified genius") I wonder who the people are that select the Macarthur Awards, and what concerns they have towards having the population as a whole benefit form the people they select. Obviously, one cannot benefit form an artist's work if the artist is generally unknown.
My first class is usually a three-hour discussion about the trends in the field, an overview on the various career options, and some examples of leading figures in current practice. Curious to see what is on the minds of these talented young people, I question them about what they watch and listen to, and about their awareness of the contemporary art world. To my surprise, I find a very disinterested attitude about the current so-called leaders of the modern art scene, and very little interest in what academics call "video art".
Every semester, I find an appropriate point in the semester's discussion to mention the name Bill Viola, no doubt the most famous of the video artists. I ask my class how many of them have heard of Viola. The first two years I taught the class, only two or three of the students knew of him, this year, no one had. I found it fascinating that those most likely to be aware of a particular artist had no interest in this area of contemporary art work.
Whose fault is it that art students are unaware of this work? Certainly the educational system, and also certainly, to some extent, the curators, museum directors, art critics and even Viola himself. All these people have, according to these students, created an irrelevant system, which they feel cater to the elite, the pretentious or the deluded art speculator.
Is this the future of art, that even the most supposedly famous individuals of a particular filed are marginalized so that only the aficionados recognize a leading figure? Perhaps, and that may not exactly be a bad thing. With the diversity of world cultures continuing to evolve in every possible direction, more and more local, regional and genre-specific stars will emerge.
Bill Viola certainly does not lack for admirers in the museum, curatorial and high-end gallery and art collector culture. He may however, have to work harder to gain the recognition of the general public, even within the professional art community. Since he is a MacArthur Fellow ( and therefore a "certified genius") I wonder who the people are that select the Macarthur Awards, and what concerns they have towards having the population as a whole benefit form the people they select. Obviously, one cannot benefit form an artist's work if the artist is generally unknown.