Art School: (Propositions for the 21st Century)

The last explosive change in art education came nearly a century ago, when the German Bauhaus was formed. Today, dramatic changes in the art world — its increasing professionalization, the pervasive power of the art market, and fundamental shifts in art-making itself in our post-Duchampian era — combined with a revolution in information technology, raise fundamental questions about the education of today's artists. Art School(Propositions for the 21st Century)brings together more than thirty leading international artists and art educators to reconsider the practices of art education in academic, practical, ethical, and philosophical terms. The essays in the book range over continents, histories, traditions, experiments, and fantasies of education. Accompanying the essays are conversations with such prominent artist/educators as John Baldessari, Michael Craig-Martin, Hans Haacke, and Marina Abramovic, as well as questionnaire responses from a dozen important artists — among them Mike Kelley, Ann Hamilton, Guillermo Kuitca, and Shirin Neshat — about their own experiences as students. A fascinating analysis of the architecture of major historical art schools throughout the world looks at the relationship of the principles of their designs to the principles of the pedagogy practiced within their halls. And throughout the volume, attention is paid to new initiatives and proposals about what an art school can and should be in the twenty-first century — and what it shouldn't be. No other book on the subject covers more of the questions concerning art education today or offers more insight into the pressures, challenges, risks, and opportunities for artists and art educators in the years ahead.