New York, New York that...

I love that song from Frank Sinatra.  Just got back from New York.  It is such a great city.  A lot of culture and diversity.  Attended the National Art Educators Association conference.  I learned some new things and was able to see one of the most famous artists of our time Chuck Close.  He spent about an hour talking about his life and his work.  I did not know that he has some disabilities and was surprised to see him in a wheelchair when he talked to the crowd.  The room was packed at the New York Hilton, standing room only.  It was a great experience to see an artist of his caliber in person.  I have used his work as examples in my lessons and seeing the man who created the work was an awesome experience.  He was very personable and candid and was humorous as well.  I also saw two of my colleagues from NIU present on various topics.  They both did a great job.  It was also great to see people that have either graduated or moved on to different schools and to reconnect with them.  I always look forward to attending the conference each year.  I plan on presenting next year at the conference, I just need to figure out what I will talk about.  Any suggestions?  I have also posted a few pictures of chuck close and his work and also a short video from the conference.  Look for more to come soon.  Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Drawing on the Artist Within

I received this book by Betty Edwards last year for my birthday from my son.  My son is not usually this thoughtful with gifts, but I am glad he gave me this book.  Thanks son.  Last year I was very busy with student teaching and classes, I did not have much free time to read.  Recently, I finally picked up this book and I never realized how much it talks about creativity.  In this book the author mentions that words are not enough to describe the creative process.  Direct perception is a different kind of "seeing."  This direct perception is a key part of thinking and part of the creative process.  How can we access this kind of seeing?  The author suggests that we can access this through the language of drawing.  If you can see differently in this way, this will enhance your creative thought.  But if learning how to draw can enhance creativity then that poses a few questions.  Can drawing be taught to anyone? Can drawing change your perception and make you creative or more creative?  And the bigger question, Can creativity be taught or are people just born with it?    The subject of creativity and the creative process is elusive.  This fact became evident in my recent class this past Fall on Creativity and Learning.  When we tried to define creativity and tried to define the creative process we had many definitions and many discussions.  Looking at many different countries and their views on creativity also varied.  Some countries focused a lot on creativity and the creative process while other countries did not emphasize it as much.  One thing is for certain there is much to be said about creativity and the creative process.  As I read through this book I will provide my comments and observations, as well as my findings.  There are also some exercises that are in the book that I will do and post the results from those exercises here.  Feel free to comment and add your thoughts.  I'd love to hear them.

Creativity and Technology

Creativity is difficult to define and there has been much research and discussion on the topic. Some people think creativity can be taught and some people think it cannot be taught. Sometimes technology can influence or help creativity but it can also hinder creativity. Recently I conducted a short survey for my art education seminar class on creativity. Art teachers in were asked a variety of questions on creativity and technology.  Below is a link to the research paper I wrote.  Please let me know what you think or if you have any comments.  Thanks.

Creativity and Technology Research Paper

RTR Art Blog

I have decided to start blogging on things related to art, art education, creativity, design, visual culture, and other interesting topics. I welcome any feedback or comments on my blog and look forward to posting my thoughts here. Thanks for reading and welcome to RTR Art Blog.

Schindler's List Critique

I am in a Visual Culture Class as a Graduate Student at NIU. Below is a critique of the movie "Schindler's List." I would appreciate your feedback and any influence or comments this critique has on your thinking related to the movie or the events portrayed within the film.

Thanks,

Rick

Schindler’s List

Schindler’s List was a highly influential and emotional movie. It was a serious movie from director Steven Spielberg. It was a departure from his earlier films like Jaws, Back to the Future, E.T., and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film was shot in black and white and I think that helped to create a somber mood in the film. This type of cinematography enhanced the film and helped create the emotion Spielberg was intending. One of the most effective scenes was when there was a flaky substance coming down from the sky, I thought it was snow, but in actuality it was ashes from the Jewish prisoners being burned. This was a horrific thought to me and made me angry and sad for the cruelty against humanity. Spielberg captured the realism and the significance of Nazi Germany and the Jewish prison camps by showing what the Nazi’s did to the Jews. He portrayed random shooting, the burning of bodies, cruel treatment, the marking of the Jews with the Davidic Star, etc. This movie was an awareness piece. It was produced to make us aware of what happened during the Holocaust. However, I think it may be watered down somewhat because of Spielberg’s own influences and backgrounds in Judaism.

Within the film you see a structure of good and evil. The evil was found in the Nazi Party and the good was within the Jews. However, the structure was upset because Schindler joined the Nazi party. Schindler joined the Nazi’s because he wanted to prosper as a businessman. Schindler was moved and troubled by the treatment of the Jews and he devised a plan to help them. Spielberg wanted to emphasize there were some good decent people in the Nazi party. However, the life of Schindler was downplayed from what is actuality. He was more a womanizer and hedonist than Spielberg portrays. Spielberg may have done this on purpose to make Schindler have more of a perfect role as a “savior.” The movie gave us a depiction of the Holocaust, but I think it is limited in scope because the focus seemed to be on Schindler and the Jews he was saving rather than all the millions of people that were killed. However, the movie did move me to tears when viewing the atrocities, even though the movie depicted them on a smaller scale. Though I was not around during the Holocaust, I felt like there were some connections I could draw. Previously, I had some knowledge of the Holocaust and what happened to the Jews, but seeing some of the other acts of violence sickened me. There were shootings of random Jews just for fun by the Nazi Commandant. Because a man was old the soldiers killed him. There seemed to be no logic as to the killings or the cruelty. It saddened me to see what the Jews went through.

There were many signs and symbols within this film to create or portray certain ideas and thoughts. The Jewish children hid under floors and some even hid in a toilet. I think this is symbolic of what the Nazi’s thought about Jews. They thought they were the scum of the Earth and not human. They thought they belong with all the slime and dirtiness. Schindler saw that this wasn’t the case. He saw that these people were beautiful and they were significant. Within this film I saw many other symbols. The little girl in the red coat symbolized innocence and purity. She did not know anything was wrong or that she was bad in any way. It was sad toward the end to see her being carried away as dead. That was one of the few parts of the film that was in color. In the beginning they start the movie with candles and a Jewish ceremony. Toward the end Schindler encourages one of the workers have a ceremony again with the candles. The candles are in color. It seems the candles and ceremony symbolize going back to traditions and starting anew. As the movie is closing you see survivors and descendants from Schindler’s Jews placing stones on his gravesite. This part is shown in color and I think it represents life and new beginnings.

Overall, I thought this was a well-done film. The cinematography and music score added to the feelings and emotions evoked by the film and the narrative of the Jews in the prison camps. While I think Schindler was very important in saving some of the Jews, I think Spielberg was lacking in his portrayal of what happened to the millions of Jews that were murdered. At one point it seemed like the only focus was on the 10,000 that had to move into the Ghetto. I also think that because Spielberg needed a hero in this movie he de-emphasized Schindler’s lewd behavior. While Schindler was doing good things for Jews he was being immoral and wasteful on his “live-it-up” lifestyle. Personally, I would have liked to see more background into the whole of the Holocaust and stories of other people who tried to help the Jews, not just Schindler. I would encourage you to see the film if you haven’t and it will give you a good base on some of the things that took place during the Holocaust. But if you have already seen the film, I would encourage you to do some more research on the Holocaust and learn more about what happened to all the Jews, not just the few that were saved by Schindler.