Anderson and McRorie Reading Reaction

Aesthetics is an important study in art. As a critical fourth of DBAE, it enables art educators to teach reflection and theory. In the younger classrooms, aesthetics is a harder subject to address. However, grades 5-12 should be able to grasp the general and complex ideas that are studied in aesthetics. There are two important aspects are of aesthetics in art education “first, in directing student inquiry; and second…in framing curricular and programs” (6). By determining definition, meaning and values in art, students are studying aesthetics. This is a subject that is easily incorporated into the classroom, due to its close relation to art and thinking about art, but the difficult thing about aesthetics is formally introducing these ideas to the students.

I really enjoyed learning about the two types of aesthetics that teachers often use in their classroom. Although neither are the center for a well-rounded curriculum, they each provide great opportunities and possibilities for incorporating aesthetics in the classroom. Formalist values seem to be a bit more historically driven, due to it’s emphasis on how objects look, what materials are used and what techniques are used to render those skills. Contextualism seems more connected to contemporary art, and how art interacts with the public in ways that can be used for serving a purpose to communicate ideas. Art is both of these things, so incorporating both in a curriculum would be especially important.

Formalism strives on art for arts sake, purely to further the development of art, personal creation and creativity. I agree that “the best art shows originality” (9) but I also think that in order for students to be original, they need to know what was created before them. The Darwinism analogy really made the concept of formalism make sense. In order to have good art, the art that “survives and ‘reproduces’ or leads to the next stylistic change in art’s evolution is the most fit, strongest, and the most characteristically art from a formalist perspective” (9).

While formalism might add a lot of emphasis on the principles of design, Contextualism might be more based on narrative, communication, and other academic studies rather than the physical art itself. Conceptual art might be emphasized in this branch of art, due to its emphasis on art as a communicator. The idea of this type of aesthetics being theme based is very interesting to me, because it would make planning a unit, or curriculum much easier to base projects on themes of “human concerns”.

I love that the authors made sure to note that neither of these are strong enough to be the grounds for a comprehensive art program. Rather, they noted that a combination of the two is a better approach. Many teachers lean one way, or the other. I think I would lean more towards formalism, especially for younger classrooms, but would love to plan a unit solely on Contextualism in order to see the concepts that older students would develop.