8 planet of the arts / october 1997 COVER Teaching visual culture By whatever means necessary Ron Burnett chief executive artist Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design Vancouver, Canada http://www.eciad.bc.ca Admissions Endowments Gallery PoA Newspaper (604) 844-3850 844-3871 844-3811 844-3861 Telephone: (604) 844-3854 E-Mail: rburnett@eciad.bc.ca The rumour of vigilante drummers took inspiration from Malicolm-X-based advertisements (above) featuring Dr. Ron Burnett, and from the impending revival of Emily Carr student performance nights. d from previ page Vancouver every few months for the past couple of years), Clark won- dered, “Do you consider yourself first and foremost an artist or a designer?” To substantiate his question, Clark mentioned the exam- ple of a friend working in the field of graphic design as an income-making strategy that finances a range of stronger passions in other areas of visual art endeavour. Khattak replied that today’s design curriculum is predicated upon moving across the purported boundaries of art and design on a con- stant basis. He also indicated that an effective practice orientation in the design field currently requires critical skills and multi-layered approaches. “Today, to offer something that the public needs and wants, you need academic knowledge, such as sociology, an artistic temperament to explore and experiment with new ideas, and practical strategies to bring your design ideas through production and to the market. The distinction between art and design is completely blurred at the highest levels of design prac- tices: Erin Gunther is now enrolled as a third year stu- dent in Emily Carr Institute’s School of Visual Arts. She has interests in painting, drawing and print making. She also practices photogra- phy and, subsequent to the conversation with Premier Clark, has been writing for Planet of the Arts. Gunther hopes to combine teach- ing visual arts with exhibiting her work through alternative galleries. For the conversation with Premier Clark, Gunther brought along a 24” x 28” oil painting on board. She described it as a work in progress — deciding when a painting is “finished” often is no easy matter. The composition is an over-life-sized head and shoulders portrait of a female subject. The use of colour and the brush work can be described as expressive in that the artist has worked up the surface textures of the painting and used pigment to convey a psychological mood rather than observed surface realities. Speaking to these techniques Gunther commented, “I’m trying to work with the power of the image. I have to think about how to har- ness that power (through composition, pigment choice, brush tech- nique, etc.) so that it becomes meaningful, so that its meaning involves the people viewing it.” Clark acknowledged that he found the painting “powerful.” In the course of her dialogue with the Premier, Gunther indicat- ed her preference for representational image making over abstrac- tion, and remarked upon the importance of the tradition of drawing from the nude. Noting the pleasing proportions of Gunther's composition, Clark went on to ask, “Do you start a painting having in your mind’s eye exactly what you want to end up with?” Gunther indicated that substantial and fairly detailed sketching comes into play in working up ideas for a painting. But none of these drawings can function as a mechanical template — the painter’s ideas need to be clarified directly and immediately on the canvas. Gunther talked of using rough brush work to establish some basic outlines on the painting surface but the task at this point is to explore compositional ideas directly through paint and brush work. This is done by reworking the painting surface continuously until the look and feel begin to advance in satisfactory directions. The work she presented to the group discussion was about aggres- sion. The scale of the subject and the expressive use of pigment were strategies to substantiate this intent. Further discussion of Gunther’s approach brought to light the creative processes that members of the public often do not consider when they view finished art and design work. In Saleem Khattak’s earlier presentation, the importance of inter-linking various disci- plines in the process of research and creative development was dis- Letting Glen Clark ask his questions was intrinsically worthwhile. cussed in connection with the experimental drawings he produced prior to fabricating a “marketable” product. At Emily Carr Institute, the importance of these sorts of fusions is recognized by maintaining a thriving and highly accessible Studio Division in close proximity to non-Studio departments. It is also recognized in the Institute’s mandatory Creative Processes course, First Year art history, and senior academic seminars. In these courses students develop a critical understanding of the nor- mative sources that socially define what counts as “pretty”, “useful”, and “marketable”, and to use their accumulating insights in evolving their own art and design practices. Studio Division practices — drawing, painting, print making, ceramics and sculpture — have a prominent place in the Creative Processes course because their organic, tactile nature makes highly visible the choices that an artist or designer faces in giving pri- ority to one meaning over others. Fourth year film and video major Ling Chiu pre- sented still images on paper to Premier Clark that were reproduced from her film TEE HEE HEE, a four-minute film that was screened last October at the 15th Vancouver International Film Festival. She returned at the end of August from a four-month stay in China where she conduct- ed research on her upcoming graduation project. The issue of promoting social change through film-making was the major focus of Chiu’s discussion with Premier Clark. Her film uses its own audience to instantiate the gendered nature of public space. Its title is drawn from an observation by Margaret Atwood about the gender-specificity of people’s emotional relationships to public space: men fear embarrassment; women fear violence towards themselves. While the same word — fear — is associated with each of these emotional responses, each is of a qualitatively different order. Chiu uses the attributes of the film medium - particularly the practice of viewing films with other people, i.e., in social space — to challenge expectations and thereby stimulate thought. The critical self-reflection that can result from people’s responses to a film like TEE HEE HEE is an example of opportunity for social dialogue stim- ulated by the visual arts. The experience of viewing Chiu’s film turns upon the incongruity of moving from the humorous title to information and imagery that references the murder of fourteen women in Montreal. The incon- gruity induces members of Chiu’s audience to reflect upon their own and the other gender’s immediate reaction to the film’s content and point of view. This compels consideration of the gender-based differ- ences that play out in any mixed-gender public setting, including city streets, film auditoriums, and classrooms such as the one at the Ecole polytechnique on the evening of December 6, 1989. About ninety minutes separate TEE HEE HEE from a feature film like Double Happiness, which was directed by UBC film graduate Mina Shum. So too do a million dollars in production costs as well as national distribution and publicity, and getting stocked in strip mall video stores. Premier Clark asked if Mina Shum’s example was indicative of Chiu’s ambitions. Shum had spoken that day at the youth conference and was busy until last month directing her second feature-length film, Drive, She Said. In answer to the Premier’s question, Chiu noted that feature-length film making with a commercial look and feel is not the only or even the best way to deal with her concerns around the issues of gender and ethnic identity. Other film formats — shorts length and experimental narrative, for example — have been highly effective intended audiences in reaching and promoting needed social dialogue. “How do you make films that promote social change if people don’t watch them?’, the Premier wondered. “People will go see films that are clever,” Chiu replied. “For me, using film as a tool for social change is a subversive strategy. Because going to see films is not foreign to most people, it’s a great opportu- nity to convey ideas to a captive audience. It is true that the mass pop- ulation are interested in Hollywood films. The strategy is to merge the conventional style of Hollywood with artistic sensibilities. This allows the film to be accessible to the masses while the artistic style enables the message to be conveyed.” Chiu also highlighted the difference between Emily Carr Institute “and UBC in the area of film making by noting that each graduating student at Emily Carr directs a film whereas only about a third of UBC’s graduating class does so. Besides directing, Emily Carr stu- dents also serve in virtually every other production role by crewing on each other’s films. The film program at Emily Carr Institute is also distinctive because of the depth of its integration, through curriculum-sharing and ongoing student collaborations, with other visual arts depart- ments. Film students at Emily Carr can concentrate on sharpening their film skills while developing an overall vision that is informed by extended partnerships with students in other areas of endeavour. At the conclusion of Premier Clark’s conversation with Chiu, the perfunctory group photograph was taken. Everyone, including the Planet of the Arts photographer and writer, managed to smile. The Premier of British Columbia had engaged in conversation with Emily Carr students pursuant to their request and did so despite six long days of primeval conflict and strife. The conversation was good. It was now the Sabbath. Ol) “Men are afraid to be laughed at, women afraid of being killed.” Margaret Atwood For Ling Chiu, “using film as a tool for social change is a subversive strategy.” 8 plonet of the orts / october 1997 COVER Teaching visual culture By whatever means necessary Ron Burnett jef ex cutive artist Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design ‘Admissions Endowmen Gallery oA Newspaper (604) 844-3850 844-3871 844-3813 849-3861 ‘The amour of wgiante drummers took inspiration trom Malcolm based adversement (above) featuring Dr Ron Burnet. and fromthe Impending revival of Emily Car student performance nights. contin rom previo nae ‘Vancouver every few months forthe past couple of years), Clark won ered, “Do you consider yourself rst and foremost an designer? To substantiate his question, Ch rk mentioned the exam ple of a friend working in the field of graphic design as an income-making strategy that ances a range of stronger pasions in “other area of visual at endeavour Khatak replied that today’s design curriculum is predicated upon ‘moving scros the purported boundaries fart and design on acon stant basis, He abo indicated that an effective practic orientation in the design field currently requires critical skills and multi-layered © public needs and ‘wants, you need academic knowledge, such as sociology temperament to explore and ‘experiment with new ides, and practical strategies to bring your design ideas through production and to the market. The distinction approaches. “Today, to offer something that between art and design is completely blurced at the highest levels of design prac Erin Gunther is now rolled asa tied year st