A lot of research went into the making and conceptualising of the exhibition "we are doing our utmost". Much of what I researched and discovered set the foundation for my creative and educational philosophy, and so I thought I would share some of what I discovered when creating this work.
Concepts behind the print installation
This series of work focused on the medium of printmaking alongside research on existing theories about the relevance of printmaking, as well as educational theories on creativity and the notion of the hidden curriculum for a Research Article. I considered examples of this evident in Rorke's Drift during apartheid, and current printmaking initiative Black Ink.
Democratic and access are important terms within this exploration as they frame the characteristics of education that I explored through the medium of print. They define aspects of printmaking that could create a type of accessibility within a system of creative education. These works look at ‘access’ as referring to access to creativity, something that I argued should be present and important within all educational systems. In this exploration 'access’ refers to the way in which something like creativity, is presented to everyone as valuable and meaningful within society. Art education should also therefore be democratic in nature in order to enable students to think and learn creatively with the purpose of equipping them with skills and thought processes that can make a difference beyond the classroom walls. For example; printmaking can be seen as a pictorial language, which is inherently democratic according to Peder Gowenius (Hobbs & Rankin 2003: 161) and is therefore more accessible, as it is democratic and not unique or elitist in a traditional sense.
The need for such a study surrounding printmaking, Rorke’s Drift and Black Ink originated from a realisation of a lack of inclusiveness within South African art educational institutions. Galleries, museums and art institutions within the Western Cape still communicate an elitist message, such as Stellenbosch University and Stellenbosch Academy. In contrast to these spaces Rorke’s Drift, specifically through its methods of printmaking education, can be considered more democratic and accessible. For example, galleries such as Smac and the Vincent Da Silva Gallery in Stellenbosch adhere to the white cube aesthetic and do not lend themselves to be open to those who do not feel comfortable in the space of the white cube. Through their physical structure and chosen content these spaces suggest that an understanding of the gallery or white cube is necessary in order to access the art and information within their walls, which is an essentially elitist practice, and not unlike educational practices when you consider the traditional classroom format and rules.
The characteristics of printmaking and its processes can be used to start a conversation about the notion of accessible art education and what this could look like. Printmaking as an art form demonstrates accessibility through its ability to adapt to individuals, reproduce multiples and explore creativity through a process-based learning experience. All of these are characteristics that in this series of work and its accompanying research, I argued could be carried through into art education to make the skills that creative learning provides accessible to a broader group of people. I proposed that this could result in improving the value placed upon art education in schools and educational institutions throughout South Africa, because of these specific characteristics.
Notes from relevant resources
Hobbs and Rankin co-authored Printmaking in a transforming South Africa which was a primary source for the argument I used with regards to printmaking’s democratic nature and usefulness in art education. According to them, printmaking is considered as an art form of minor importance in comparison to sculpture or painting in South Africa, as it is associated with reproduction. Reproduction is seen to have less value than a ‘unique’ work of art. Printmaking in a transforming South Africa aims to highlight the depth and variety of printmaking and its different forms in South Africa. It attempts to illuminate prints as unique works of art as well as clarify the process of printmaking through explaining the basics of printmaking. As well as providing a comprehensive understanding of all the different techniques of the types of printmaking. It provides a documentation of examples of each type of printmaking in South Africa, and is a comprehensive record of facts about printmaking techniques and South African printmaking. This book is structured by an educational approach, as its focus is on educating readers about art form of printmaking. Hobbs and Rankin have therefore only chosen a group of works that are examples of each different printmaking technique. It reveals the large range of printmaking that exists in South Africa, which supported my exploration into looking at alternative and affordable methods of printmaking, as well as emphasising the technical skill involved in this art form.
In Rorke’s Drift: empowering prints, another primary source in my research, Phillipa Hobbs and Elizabeth Rankin discuss and review the Evangelical Lutheran Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift as a place in which Black artists were given the opportunity to study arts and crafts. They discuss the role played by this art centre within the context of South Africa, emphasising that the centre did not function on typical teacher-student relationships, but rather on a participatory level. This type of educational relationship facilitates a situation in which those who taught and studied there exchanged different sets of knowledge. This is an important point about how the process of art (print specifically) creation works through shared knowledge, and how accessible art education could potentially be realised.
Key case studies and resources: Rorke's Drift and Black Ink
Printmaking emerged as one of the most important methods of art and craft production from Rorke’s Drift, due to its practical and democratic nature, affordable possibilities and its ability to depict and disseminate socio-political messages relevant to the time. Hobbs and Rankin consider examples of prints that were created at Rorke’s Drift. They review the methods and materials that were used at the Centre within a wide range of different printing techniques and how these printing techniques were adapted to fit the setting of the Centre. This book articulates the ability that Rorke’s Drift Centre’s printmaking had to equip its pupils with “a language of empowerment” which not only benefited themselves as artists, but the wider community and cultural realm of South Africa as a whole.
Black Ink is a printmaking initiative that takes place in the Stellenbosch Visual Arts Department and University of Stellenbosch Museum. It aims to give art education opportunities to groups of students from schools in the surrounding areas that do not offer any art education. These students are invited into the spaces of the University of Stellenbosch Gallery, where they are given a tour of the current exhibition. They visit the Stellenbosch Visual Arts building where they are brought into the intaglio studio and given a lesson in a printmaking technique. During the lesson the students are allowed access to the printmaking studio, inks, rollers and all materials needed to make a print of their own. Following the demonstration they are given the opportunity to repeat the printmaking process themselves and produce their own work of art at the end. The printmaking processes that they learn are adapted in such a way that they will be able to repeat the process with accessible materials in their own spaces without expensive equipment.
Concepts concerning creativity and learning
I also examined Robert Beghetto’s theories of creativity in Killing ideas softly? The promise and perils of creativity in the classroom, as well as theories on creative education in Developing creativity in higher education; an imaginative curriculum, by Norman Jackson.
Killing ideas softly? The promise and perils of creativity in the classroom is a comprehensive discussion of how creativity is treated within the classroom. Beghetto examines the ways in which creativity is stifled by teaching methodologies and a misguided understanding of the benefits of creativity. He also discusses different classifications of creativity such as little-c and Big-C creativity, and how the little-c creativity is often underestimated and under supported in classrooms. Developing creativity in higher education; an imaginative curriculum is a collection of essays by a group of academics and educators who explore the importance of creativity and imagination in educational practices. Both sources discuss different types of creativity and the various manifestations of it in the classroom. Both agree that creativity and imagination are not valued within education and discuss the factors that affect this understanding of creativity and its value.
For my purposes I also drew on Kathleen Lynch and how she uses Phillip Jackson’s explanation of the concept of a "hidden curriculum" as the secondary curriculum that is preparing the students to be a competent social individual in life beyond the classroom (Lynch: 3), in other words relevant, life learning. I argue that art processes support the hidden curriculum learning.
About printmaking
In my practical print work, I explored the concept of accessibility in educational spaces and how these spaces function and are structured. I focused on looking at the accessibility of creative education in conjunction with my practical artworks. My practical work involved working on a large scale within the medium of print. Through symbolically deconstructing and destabilising physical spaces of education the prints attempted to visualise what education could look like in terms of access. In my process I often created multiple and ambiguous spaces that were context dependent. I chose the medium of printmaking for its specific characteristics of problem solving, process based learning methods and individual adaptability. All of these relate to the subject of accessibility and creative education. I make an argument for the relevance of printmaking as an art method that could be a potential realisation of accessible creative education within South Africa.
Printmaking as a technique or form of art making represents a questioning of traditional notions of ‘high/fine art.’ Due to its reproducible nature, as well as its ability to be an inexpensive endeavour within the means of those outside of the academic or elitist realm of artistic practice, it challenges the elitist framework of the art world. The art sphere of South Africa tends to focus on painting and sculpture as its noteworthy achievements. Printmaking is then pushed towards the periphery of the fine art world as a less ‘worthy’ mode of art making (Hobbs & Rankin 1997: vii). I argued that printmaking is as valuable as these other mediums in South Africa. Printmaking can be a collaborative form of art making, which allows it to be considered as a social process not an individual one (Hobbs & Rankin 1997: 3). This makes it more effective within community contexts, especially in a newly democratic South Africa. It also involves many techniques that need to be learnt, across a wide range of different printmaking processes. This suggests a level of skill and craft on the part of the printmaker who can then be considered both an artist and a technician (Hobbs & Rankin 1997: 3). The process of printmaking involves a process of transference. As suggested by Hobbs and Rankin this characteristic of printmaking speaks to the transfer of an oppressed South Africa into a democratic and free country (1997: 3).
This transference is part of a social collective and its effects can be tangible. I believe that social, empathetic and democratic transference (ie how printmaking occurs) is key to any form of teaching and learning. “The making of prints lends itself to interactive work” (Hobbs & Rankin 1997: 30) and this is one of the characteristics of printmaking that I argued make it a space in which an effective learning can take place. There are very few printmakers, or those involved in this area of art, that work alone. Often printmakers in South Africa will interact and assist one another which is what helps create “the rich texture characteristic of South African printmaking” (Hobbs & Rankin 1997: 30).
Sources
Hobbs, P & Rankin, E. 1997. Printmaking in a transforming South Africa. Claremont, Cape Town: David Phillip Publishers Ltd.
Hobbs, P & Rankin, E. 2003. Rorke’s Drift, Empowering prints. Cape Town: Double Storey Books.
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