Page 33 - Studio International - September 1966

What kind of art education?

An introduction by Victor Willing to his interviews (pages 132-139) with Richard Hamilton,
Professor Misha Black and Sir Herbert Read

The 164 art schools in Britain contain a student popula- role in terms which indicate the kind of responsibility we
tion of 25,000. At present they are passing through rapid might expect from such a school. 'There is no industrial
changes resulting from a number of disruptions. design that is not design for the community, design with
First, the old academic disciplines have finally collapsed. the community. Handicraft may be personal and indi-
Second, the nature of modern art makes pedagogical vidual, but industry is a communal activity. 'Unfortu-
distinctions between painting, sculpture and graphic art nately the community is like a client who does not know
unreal. One of the reasons for the interpenetration of what he needs and can easily be persuaded to want
disciplines is the declining force of the idea that art is the something other than his needs. In a free society con-
result of a mysterious collaboration between the artist sumers have a sacred right to wild wanting. However,
and his material—the artist as craftsman. The mystique some study of the community's needs must be carried out
of the 'tactful hand' has been found inadequate—and also and this can be best done in a university. The school of
unattractive to the artist who thinks. Third, the schools human ecology is an educational concept geared to prob-
are replenished by very young artists returning as teachers lem-solving and deduction; its responsibility is to the
to work on very nearly equal terms with students, engaged client—bearing in mind that ultimately the designer's
in a dialogue about the concepts and theories of art in client is the community.
which they both discover their conscious and declared If the builders and designers have their way, what will
aims. This evolution of art theory in the schools is the become of the art schools ? Can they survive as Art/Craft
most significant new fact in art education. Schools ? Will they become Fine Art Schools ? The term
Changes have not been confined to the fine artists. Of `fine art' has become an embarrassment. Herbert Read in
the 164 schools all but half a dozen are art/craft/design the following interview speaks instead of the 'free arts',
schools. The linking of fine art and craft in art education changing the emphasis from the physical nature of the
was a reaction against the ugliness of 19th-century factory- object to the attitude of the artist. Modern artists have
made goods and the alienation of the mass-produced planned utopias, served causes, withdrawn, pointed,
process. This union of art/craft/design was fundamental debunked, and dreamt. They have intervened at every
at the Bauhaus but was rejected by its heir, the Hochschule possible point of correspondence in our culture—drama,
fur Gestaltung. It was questioned again in the context of poetry, music, architecture, technology. If the education
the British scene by Professor Misha Black in the Cantor of artists is to introduce students to these possibilities it
lectures : 'The value of schools of art and design being cannot limit the definition of painting, for example, to
integrated into single establishments might now be ques- `coloured marks on a flat surface' or similar simple-
tioned—it certainly is by some students who find the mindedness. The possibilities in the role of the artists
relation between the painters, sculptors, and designers an today might be made more apparent in Arts schools than
uneasy one which creates tensions which are sometimes in Art schools. That is, schools in which painting, sculp-
more harmful than helpful.' ture, ballet, drama, poetry, film and some crafts were
Industrial designers and architects are now interested practised, centres of creative activity in the arts with no
in the creation of a new structure in education—the examinations, degrees or diplomas.
school of human ecology, which would be concerned There seem to be four current concepts of the art school:
with the construction of our total environment. It is now the Art/Craft School which sees art as a 'natural' and
recognized that the separation of one profession from `expressive' activity of direct therapeutic value to the
another in the environmental design field, with separate artist and less directly to those who enjoy it; the Fine Art
educational institutions, is inhibiting. The existing pro- faculty of a University which pursues a liberal-humanistic
fessional distinctions no longer correspond either to study with a professional status and measurable achieve-
students' educational needs or their future jobs. Educa- ment in particular skills and disciplines—both of these
tionally, architects and industrial designers are attempt- seem to me out-dated; the Art School of strict definition
ing to embrace a wider range of interests and disciplines. which seeks to define the artist's available means and
When they leave their schools they are employed in avoids personal expression; and the Arts School which, I
increasingly specialized fields. The proposed schools of have suggested, encourages an egoistic search for roles,
human ecology would be better able to include these new exploding outwards in many activities.
disciplines and students would have better opportunities It is time that the rival claims of the current art/
to compare the various specializations and 'switch' if they pedagogical theories should be clarified so that future
wanted to. moves in art education can be made with these new
Reyner Banham has defined the industrial designer's concepts in mind.
131