This morning I took a practice ACT reading test that contained an interesting passage relevant to Mr. O'Connor's most recent (anamericanstudies.com) blogpost. The passage concerned John Maeda, an MIT graduate and current president of the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a prize-winning graphic designer and kinetic artist. His revolutionary works consist of moving images, some of which move in response to vocal command. Anyways, I think John Maeda's story in relevant to Mr. O'Connor's post because he revolutionized an art form despite being educated in the formerly artistically lacking world of technology.
Initially I didn't think twice about this passage. However, after my practice test I began stumbling <-- don't need to click to understand post) and came across a beautiful shape shifting piece of art (which can't be linked for some reason). I really started to appreciate John Maeda's story. He started in a field of education foreign to creative thinking and built an entirely new form of art that can now be found all over and is appreciated to the same degree as a photograph or portrait.
Like the students of New Trier, John came from a, "creativity is super, but the academics are what actually matter" culture. Do you think that growing up in such a culture challenges students to develop new kinds of creativity? Does suppressed creativity always manage to emerge in new, revolutionary ways? How do you think the next innovative creativity will take form?
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I think you brought up a pretty good point. Being in school has taught me how to do the "hard" things in life. I enjoy certain parts of school, but some of it is just boring. School has taught me how to stay up late studying when I'd rather be sleeping or reading or watching TV. I know that the usual outlook of students is to hate the superfluous things of school, but I think it will be helpful in the "real world," though this is probably because I don't have much homework this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, think that our school environment doesn't foster artistic growth. Art can't be rushed the way that a math worksheet can. There are lots of artists who move society forward, but, society is also moved forward by those who learned from 'school learning.' I may not enjoy it, but I guess we need school the way it is to further society. I just wish there were more classes that also fostered a creative growth.