Student Work

Courtney Fisher, Abner Jay
xerox transfer and frottage on paper, 11" x 8.5", 2015

Three more Art Appreciation classes did end last week. Besides learning about the the different disciplines and all of art history, students also worked on art projects in their sketchbooks. They also made zines and prints that were traded with other students and I received mail art through the US Postal Service in the mail. The most exciting work however (from the vantage point of contemporary art) came from two sketchbook assignments dedicated to transfers and surrealist techniques. These assignments were introduced through demos and in-class time dedicated to experimentation. To demonstrate xerox transfers I had brought in a folder from my Top 100 archive consisting of source materials for paintings. I rewarded the best works with extra credit points. A student named Courtney Fisher received the highest reward for a series of reworked transfers from photocopies. Every semester a few students (who are by the way no art majors) really show a knack for visual creativity, get really into the making, and go far beyond the easy and obvious. In Courtney Fisher's visual work, the transfers and other in other assignments as well, she displayed a cohesiveness of vision that was not in any way dictated by thought. Just her tools, materials, and doing. Without putting too many consequences on my experiences teaching non art students into my own visions, ideas, and attitudes towards art, it does kind of bring me back to a base sense of creating visual work. The essence of art is to be found in materialism (as opposed to concepts, ideas, and ideals). The image above depicts the blues musician Abner Jay (performing together with a little girl—his daughter?) that I used for a painting in 2013.