Schools Are Factories For Obedience
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Today I wanted to share some inspiring words from Seth Godin and Juliette Aristides. Seth talks about how schools are antiquated and were built to teach obedience to students, and Juliette talks about how drawing is a skill that can be learned just like playing the piano. We see a new light being shed on the schools we grew up with, and the schools of today.
Seth Godin: Stop Stealing Dreams
In the video below Seth talks about how school was meant to teach obedience to children. Do you remember starting out the day with, “Good Morning Teacher So-And-So?” He explains how people hold a little back because if you put it all out, then others will continue to ask for a little bit more, then a little bit more after that. We have all been brought up in an industrial age where people are interchangeable, so anyone can be replaced…which is unfortunate for those who put their heart and soul into their job to make a change. Also, you’ll hear how they needed to train us to be consumers to buy up all the stuff they were making in the factories. Makes sense because we are being bombarded by ads wherever we go. Of course, the factory wasn’t a bad thing, and it got us to where we are now, but with technology and all of the advances like the internet, schooling and our lives will have to adapt in order to keep up with the times. Seth also points out that memorizing facts for the standardized tests in school won’t make you a better student willing to make a change in the world.
“If it’s work, they try to figure out how to do less. If it’s art, we try to figure out how to do more. And when we put kids in the factory we call school, the thing we built to indoctrinate them into compliance, why are we surprised that the question is, ‘Will this be on the test?’ Someone who is making art doesn’t say, ‘Can I do one less canvas this month?’ They don’t say, ‘Can I write one less song this month?” ~ Seth Godin
Learning Elsewhere
If you’re a painter, you’re not going to go to a standardized University and learn anything you can’t learn online. Sure, in these factory-esque schools you might be forced to do some work that you might otherwise be too lazy to do. You might be forced to memorize facts about art history, or be forced to draw that picture of the house on the shore that you have no interest in, but these things can be learned on YouTube, or in a book…if you really want to learn them. You need to invest your time in something that will nurture the desires you possess to create artwork that is unique and communicates the message of your heart. Try an atelier or workshop by Juliette Aristides, Dot Bunn, or Mark Carder. Work with one person that shares their unified vision, and where you can learn in a more hands-on environment. If you want to learn how to draw like Seurat or paint like Bouguereau, you can. You just need to seek out the books, videos, blogs, or private mentors that can help you…oh, and you’ve gotta do the work. You can read all the books you want, but if you never apply what you learn, you’ll never be an artist. An artist must produce art.
“The idea of training as an artist is to match your desire and passion to draw with the skills to be able to actually do it.” ~ Juliette Aristides
