Art i Escola 07. 2017-18
TABOO
Art i Escola 07
For the school year 2017 – 18, Art i Escola's working proposal is centred upon the topic of Taboos. This topic is open to many different spheres and aspects of approach within schools, opening up possibilities of working upon themes which are perhaps unusual within the school context.
ART i ESCOLA is a programme to promote and highlight the presence of art ischools. The initiative establishes a network of partnerships among different organisations working in the field of art and education, in conjunction with schools. It is based on the premise that education is a part of cultural production, and that the arts, considered as a multiplicity of contemporary forms, may provide several useful tools for revitalising educational activities.
ART AND SCHOOL is promoted by ACVIC Centre d’Arts Contemporànies, Centre de Recursos Pedagògics d’Osona, Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de Vic, Fundació Privada Osona Formació i Desenvolupament, H. Associació per a les Arts Contemporànies, Materials Educatius, Morir de Frío, Idensitat, Pakdart, Universitat de Vic, and interested individuals, and each edition is developed jointly with participating nursery, primary and secondary schools
TABOO
Art i Escola 07
Calendar:
4th October – Attendance at presentation and coordination meetings
27th October – Returning students' forms, agreeing to allow photographs of themselves to be published, to project directors
From October until 9th April 2018 – Creation of a project, and elaboration of a finished product
9th April – Finalisation of project, and delivery of material – Delivery of project documentation – Access to online document ends.
10th, 11th and 12th April – Presentation days aimed at students.
11th and 12th April – Debriefing and exchange days for teachers
THEME:
TABOOS
How to approach this theme?
Sex, gender, identity. The body. I
ntimacy.
Death.
Religion, sin. Corruption. Legal loopholes.
Maternity.
Menstruation, pregnancy, breast-feeding, abortion.
Male chauvinism, feminism.
Sexual identities, pornography, masturbation.
Bullying, poverty, house evictions.
Racism. Fascism, fanaticism.
Drugs and addictions.
Mental health disorders. Depression, stress, eating disorders connected to the «body cult».
Anorexia and bulemia have always been school taboos.
Environmental concerns affecting different localities:
At the local level: Industrial contamination of soil, ozone or groundwater.
And on a global scale: nuclear energy, the use of petroleum.
International commerce, globalisation which, on a grand scale, leads to the exploitation of certain zones around the planet, for the benefit of certain other zones.
From some people, for the benefit of others.
Which brings us to the subjects of slavery, and of the communicative persuasion of capitalism which leads to consumerism ...
But our own feelings may also become taboo, if we do not bring them out into the open; rage, sadness, fear ...
Taboos are what embarrass us deeply.
Taboos are wishes.
A gesture made with the body, with the hands, might be taboo, if it is considered obscene or violent. So might a word.
Crossing a line.
In certain spaces, it is taboo to dress in a certain way. In certain cultures, certain foods are taboo.
Taboos bring out the «politically correct»
And art has always stood on the edge of the politically incorrect.
Michaelangelo was politically incorrect when he painted nudes on the Cistene Chapel.
So were Bosch, with his picture, the Garden of Earthly Delights (1503 – 1515), Manet with Le Déjeuner Sur l’Herbe (1863), Duchamp exhibiting a urinal (La Font, 1917) and Piero Manzoni, with his canned Artist's Shit (1961).
So is the happening, actionism, performance, body art; surrealism, dadaism, and other avantgarde movements.
In dance:
For example, Hillell Kogan with a dance show against prejudice, We Love Arabs http://mercatflors.cat/es/espectacle/grec-2017-we-love-arabs/
In design:
Curro Claret, industrial designer and artist whose projects include works of design, interior decoration, installation, social action, etc, and whose projects always include a social background. Project, “No tant(ts) porcs…”, with students from the Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny in Vic – http://hibridacions.net/2017/05/no-tants-porcs/
In photography:
Nan Goldin, American photographer, whose themes include death, violence, sexual relations, among others.
In painting:
Goya, the engravings Los desastres de la guerra or Caprichos y disparates among others
Leon Golub
In performance art:
Marina Abramovic, artist who practised in the earliest days of performance art.
Lygia Clark who made public performances, eg. Baba antropofágica (1973)
Yoko Ono, who, in Cut Piece, left a pair of scissors for members of the public to use on their own clothing, as they wished.
Orlan, French artist whose themes included the body, identity, politics, plastic surgery, and many other topics.
Art and polítics:
Mona Hatoum, working with sculpture, installation, video-actions, among others, with a decidedly political content.
Santiago Sierra, installations with social content, critical of the exploitation of labour and class discrimination. For example, “3000 hecos de 180x70x70 cm cada uno”
The exhibition “Emergencias” at MUSAC brings together a group of artists who tackle subjects such as discrimination and inequality, political conflicts, the movements of migrants, environmental problems, etc. A full list of participating artists may be found at http://musac.es/#exposiciones/expo/?id=268
Also the exhibition “Laocoonte Devorado. Arte y violència política”, at Artium, Àlaba.
Artists who break disciplinary boundaries:
Juan Hidalgo, Ester Ferrer and grup ZAJ, avant-garde musical and performance group.
Wolf Vostell, central in the Fluxus movement. Fluxus was the name for a series of activities, actions and performances by different artists in the 1960s.
Carles Santos, Composer, painter, pianist, sculptor, performer… with theatrical works such as “Patetisme il·lustrat”
Andy Warhol, who mixed art with design and advertising, among other things.
And many other artists throughout contemporary history:
Antonin Artaud, poet, novelist, playwright, stage director … his body of work leads towards absolute art. He created the genre of the theatre of cruelty, which sought to startle audiences by creating powerful and unexpected situations.
Antoni Muntadas, who denounced the obscenity of the audiovisual media with the video-artwork “El aplauso”
Francis Alis, artist who fixes upon the social influence of art. Involves large groups of people in his works, such as When faith moves mountains, At Lima, or Green Line on the Border between Israel and Palestine.
Ai Weiwei, artist and activist. He has roundly criticised the Chinese government, and corruption, and has been imprisoned as a result. “Sunflower seeds” and “Straight” are examples of his work.
Ana Álvarez-Errecalde deals with subjects such as womens' bodies and maternity in such works as “More Store”, “El nacimiento de mi hijo”, “Tres gracias sangrantes”, “Anunciación” “DSD, Migrant Islands”.
Pedro G. Romero and Daniel G. Andújar deal with the Civil War.
Teresa Mulet, Cada-ver-es. Cada-vez-más – Exhibition at ACVic “en color i en blanc i negre”
Santiago Cirugeda, social and alegal architecture.
Antoni Abad, zexe.net and megàfon.net are websites which deal with public space from the perspective of persons of restricted mobility.
Bestué Vives. "Acciones en casa". Art which deals in absurd humour, and absurd actions.
