The Universitification of Art School
In education and into working, it seems that the more diversity is spoken of/called for, the more homogenous work is.
Thinking about PhD research recently/chatted to a couple of course leaders/
potential of PhD subject being something to do with education/notions of diversity & inclusion
and how it’s been undermined/ill-used
The unequivocally good intentions of diversity & inclusion (particularly in education) are undermined by its inept enactment especially when mandated by people who don’t understand or give any kind of shit at all about diversity & inclusion beyond lip service
What is happening?
There’s no point in reading infinite Rick Rubin books if what you’re doing is entering competitions to pump out social media for influencer’s energy drinks
Encroachment of uniformity
College is closer to the corporate HR idea than ever before as a raison d’être
Any action is PR first, lip service, creativity a distant second.
Real change is as close to anathema as it’s possible to be.
Protect the brand at all costs
Universitification of art schools
What happened when art college became university?
-the role of data
-how data messes things up- over-determining/leading mindset
Data- determining odd approaches/conclusions at secondary school level both for overall daily process and creative education towards college
constraining creative possibility which some colleges exacerbate
If self determination is the prime mover in education to enable (a) inclusion and diversity as a matter of course (b) in order to encourage communal working © towards leading creative possibility for self, community and the larger world, then homogeneity and privilege (following the way things are done) will potentially dissipate until the established hierarchies no longer control what is perceived as ‘good’, as a comfortable accepted standard for everyone to unconditionally aspire to.
This hard. Systems don’t make it easy, don’t help.
This is hard.
-education
-following not leading
-too close to industry
-educating for workforce? educating to think?
-ignore awards
-art and poetry
-being there; present as often as possible
-is it all about the money?
- who are you and where are you in your work?/ or/
- it starts with you, not them
preemptive working (the clarity before the bullshit)
Creativity has no hierarchy
Hierarchies are imposed- awards, titles, levels, student/‘professional’; the bogus notion of ‘the real world’
Shun hierarchy
If diversity and inclusion is pursued (in education) as intrinsic to the creative act
then it will flower and propagate
What does this mean?
Virgil Abloh
Barrington Reeves/ Too Gallus
Sophia Wood
Kwame Taylor-Hayford Kin
Aries Moross
Anna Bergfors
Nelly Ben-Hayoun
Stefania Malmsten
Salem Al-Qassimi/Fikra
Afra & Sheikha bin Dhaher
