Page 16 - Studio International - January 1971

Corres ondence to creativity in science waiting to be crossed. painter under fifty can match.' Whaaa??? As Gore
p
It is from this common ground of creative thought
'The total image is convincing in terms of the
in science and art that our new structures of learn­ Vidal would say, 'Prove it!' Harrison does, sort of.
ing and education will arise. The groundwork must hierarchy of general aspirations and possibilities it
be laid now, and my contact with scientists con­ represents.' So you consider someone good based on
firms that the time is ripe. what his motives are, no matter how dull these in­
Fine Art teaching in its present form is bankrupt, tentions? Come on, it'd be better just to say 'I
and in Design there is little more than narrow voca­ knows what I likes' than to start bullshitting like
tional processing-it trains for tasks and roles which that! And what about 'under 50'. Is that some sort
are obsolescent. As such these pursuits are actually of diffuse underhanded compliment? Who, over 50,
socially irresponsible. had you in mind? (By the way, Warhol is under 50,
It is time we faced our responsibilities as artists and, so am I, for that matter.)
in consort with scientists, attempted to formulate Really, criticism is getting more retarded by opinion
new human values, an ethical code which would be masking itself as some sort of historically objectifi­
meaningful and relevant to our evolving culture." able existence. Why not stick to analysing, explicat­
When art 'is more generally recognized as a form of ing, and/or putting opinions as opinions, without
behaviour, and its products as learning systems and the freshman-type rationalizing and Elliotean foot­
triggers to social creativity, we shall be in a better notes. Good grief, and good night.
position to make recommendations for change in (PS: Who is Joseph Kosuth?)
art education. PeterGidal
RoyAscott LondonW14
Wolverhampton
[Charles Harrison writes: Mr Southall's letter seems
to have been motivated by distaste, and there's not
Abstruse abstraction much I or anyone else can do about veiled state­
Mr Harrison's sequacious puff for our word mang­ ments of preference for one kind of 'experience' as
The Coldstream Report lers ['A very abstract context', November issue] re­ art over another. But I'd like to make some com­
About the Report. Whatever DipAD may have quires comment. After dispatching Mr Stella, who ments on Mr Gidal's statement of desperation:
achieved in injecting life into a dying convention, alone appears able to make art using paint, our com­ 1. I don't see the relationship between 'thought' and
the fact remains that art education in this country mentator leads us gently to his deprived or mentally 'sensation' as a 'dichotomy' (nor do I understand
lacks structure, vision and relevance. defective prosopopoeiac spectators who alone are how the concept of such a dichotomy is charac­
It is structureless because a false liberalism has allowed to stand beyond his pale. The poor fools re­ terized as 'reactionary'; daft maybe). 'Thought' and
denied support for research into the principles of quire associative qualities in order to turn on and 'sensation', 'mind' and 'body' are four different
visual learning and creative behaviour. There is tune in their critical faculties. He then goes on to words with four different meanings. There is a
cowardice in the failure of art schools to generate show that jargonart must be referential, to actuality journal of philosophy called Mind; if Mr Gidal
new programmes and to defend them, tailoring you understand, and Critic help those misguided would have me indulge in a semantic melange of
their ideas instead to suit what they anticipated the would-be jargonauts who get mixed up with the the concepts of mind and of body he might pause to
visiting Summerson committees would demand. particular when what we need is the General. consider the expectations which might be aroused
They have failed to respond to the cultural impact And this, sir, in an article about ever-increasing by a decision on the part of that journal's editors to
of new scientific thought and technology. These abstraction. (There is an idea I find piquant! The change its name to Body. As for the 'terrifying fal­
negative states proceed directly from a lack of vision Oxford Dictionary of Etymolo gy has: 'Abstract; de­ lacy of the form/content separation', I have never
about art, about creative human beings, and about rived, withdrawn, take away ... '). I have a proposal. suggested that form and content are separable or
society. Take time-structured sound from music, the paint independent; but plainly the relationship between
In my view the Report, too, lacks vision-inevitably from painting, the words from poetry, and matter form and content in, say, a painting by Monet is of
since it is simply an answer to the complaints of stu­ from sculpture; replace all with jargon about the a different kind from the relationship between form
dents and teachers which were in themselves trivial nature of art and call it Art. While you are so en­ and content in a work like Lecher System. If Mr
and, very often, parochial. Recommendations for gaged I will present you with a written analysis of Gidal can't see the difference I don't see how he can
art education become irrelevant if they are not the taste of a jam buttie. To conclude, you and I, make sense of either. It seems to me to be a fact of
based on discussion of first principles concerning and other like minded jargonauts, will write a piece much recent art that attention to specific morpho­
the nature of creativity and its relation to the whole stating the time and location of the events and com­ logical characteristics has ceased to be a primary
structure of education at all levels, and to ongoing ments thereon for our house magazine. To conclude means of identifying something as art. If Mr Gidal
changes in society. we will each write a piece about each of the pieces. doesn't like Kosuth's work that's his business; but
But whereas the brief of the NACAE has been far To conclude we will each, and so on, ad rectum ad before making his judgment he presumably needs
too narrow ( to advise only on art and design in the infinitum ... to know how he is identifying what he identifies
Further Education Sector), the NCDAD on the Derek Southall as Kosuth's work. 'How one does one's singling
other hand has consistently imposed an unjustifiably LondonNl0 determines what he singles out'.
narrow interpretation of its terms of reference. It 2. I fail to understand Mr Gidal's point here; is he
could have been a critical body which would ener­ One reads Charles Harrison's 'A very abstract con­ objecting to my phraseology (which does seem a
gize and inspire creativity in education; a dynamic text' (November issue) with quiet desperation. little quaint I admit), or to my suggestion of the re­
information exchange, in touch with research and Facts and opinions seem underscored by reasoning, lationship between Kosuth's art and Reinhardt's,
new thinking in a great many fields, and essentially until one starts really questioning. Picked almost at or is he objecting to Kosuth's art?
in dialogue with the colleges of art. Instead it has random, the following seemingly correct but ulti­ 3. The first quote here is a misquote. Mr Gidal will
very often seemed to be little more than a rather mately foolish statements: find that I was more specific about what I feel gives
secretive court of no appeal, unrepresentative, with 1. 'Objects have tended to be employed too often in Stella's paintings 'conviction and strength'. And
no basic cultural criteria which might be open to art as a means of diverting thought in favour of sen­ obviously I don't find Stella's motives dull. Also I
debate or revision. sation. The art of sensations is essentially pic­ consider that the fact that I do (occasionally) know
We need at once support for research into the rele­ turesque and conservative.' Sounds right, 'pic­ what I like is a better basis for writing ('bullshit­
vance and methodologies of visual learning and the turesque and conservative'. But wait: Harrison ting') than the likely alternatives (hysterical inde­
variable conditions for creative behaviour. This makes the reactionary dichotomy between thought terminacy, Mr Gidal?). I admit that 50 was a bit
should be done at the expense of churning out and sensation (i.e. mind and body) and this ulti­ imprecise; perhaps it should have been 65. Warhol
fashionable stylists in the outdated categories of mately leads to the terrifying fallacy of the form/ hasn't made any paintings lately and the particular
design and fine art. The visual mode, in processes content separation. qualities I admire in his early-60s work don't have
of learning and the invention of problems, has a 2. Many paragraphs later: 'Joseph Kosuth both ful­ much to do with my notions of 'conviction' and
potential function at the very core of education. filled the prophecy and extended Reinhardt's life­ 'strength' in painting.
Scientists recognize this, or can be shown the poten­ span in art when ... ' Now what could be more I'm sorry about retarding criticism. I hardly
tial, and would welcome, I know, discussion and conservative than fulfilling other people's 'pro­ thought it was possible. For what it's worth I'm
participation in how it might be realized. The visual phecies' and extending lifespans ... Good grief! aware that my opinions are opinions; if Peter Gidal
field has an untapped value even in the formulation Charles Harrison! doesn't feel confident of his ability to tell opinion
of purely scientific concepts, where numeracy and 3.Just one more gripe: 'Frank Stella gives his paint­ from fact then he shouldn't read criticism; he'll only
literacy are becoming inadequate. There is a bridge ings a conviction and strength which no other confuse himself further.]
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