Print“We learn about the big names—Michelangelo, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso. But we just don’t know the others because it’s not what we’re taught,” a friend of mine told me a few weeks ago. When he asked me if I could name five modern or contemporary artists, I eagerly rambled off some noteworthy names—Cindy Sherman, Vito Acconci, Carolee Schneemann, Patty Chang, Bill Viola—names that were famous, at least, to an art history student like me. But when I asked my friend to name a few artists he knew, he sat in silence, unable to come up with anything but the usual Art Hum suspects.
Art awareness at Columbia is low. When I ask students around campus the same set of questions—Can you name any contemporary artists? Have you been to a gallery show lately? What do you think of the Kara Walker installation in Dodge?—I get the same blank, quizzical looks.
This doesn’t mean, however, that people aren’t aware of what art is. As a matter of fact, most students on campus are required as part of Columbia’s Core Curriculum to take Art Humanities. Just like the rest of the core, Art Hum is meant simply to familiarize students with art, and in doing so, to encourage further exploration of the subject. There are, of course, things “which a man must experience and understand if he is to be called educated,” as the core’s mission statement so eloquently puts it. And although the course has its setbacks, it generally succeeds in fulfilling this mantra.
Art Hum teaches students about the major moments in art history by looking at and discussing important figures like Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Goya, Monet, Picasso, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The class asks students to look at art in a way that is less daunting than, say, a class on the avant-garde—a topic that would certainly scare off any Columbia student unfamiliar with art.
For art newcomers, Art Hum proves to be the perfect introductory course. Eleanor Shi, a junior at Columbia College, says that Art Hum made her want to study art history further. Although she had already been an avid museum-goer, her knowledge of art beyond what she had seen in museums was slim. Shi says that the class “presents you with a different way of looking at art and from that, gives you the chance to appreciate art.” She later decided to take Twentieth Century Art with Branden Joseph, which convinced her that her passion lay with art history. Shi does warn, however, that “Art Hum is not indicative of art history … I think it’s really impossible to learn all of Western art in a semester.”
Ariel Brenman, who graduated from Columbia last year, says that the class “turned me onto things I didn’t know I liked.” Furthermore, by requiring students to go on three museum trips throughout the semester (to MoMA, the Met, and one of their own choosing), the course encourages active participation in the art world. Brenman discovered his favorite work—Rembrandt’s “Aristotle with a Bust of Homer”—because of Art Hum.
But beyond the classroom, Art Hum doesn’t seem to make much of a dent at Columbia. The course may inspire people like Shi to major or concentrate in art history, but that is the exception, not the rule. Often, those in the class aren’t even interested in taking it. Some juniors and seniors are simply there to get it over with.
What makes matters worse is that Art Hum isn’t designed to get people interested in the art of today. What the course lacks is a focus on contemporary art—the art that fills today’s museums and galleries and drives critical conversation. That’s somewhat understandable, though, considering that the course has to cover all of Western art in a semester.
The problem of art awareness, then, may lie in the fact that we, as students, are not taught what is currently going on in the art world. And even if professors do mention modern and contemporary art in class, they have to squeeze it in at the end.
Instead, we are left in the dark when it comes to everything that comes after Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. As a result, modern and contemporary art just doesn’t seem to fit into the art vocabulary with which many students new to art are familiar. As Barnard professor Alexander Alberro says, “Many people are not interested in modern and contemporary art, and even more distrust it. So why should they know the names of artists? The ones they know are the names of the artists who have most effectively used publicity—the relentless self-promoters. So someone like Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst will be known, but much more interesting artists will not.”
Why would people, then, be compelled to go to a gallery downtown or an exhibit at the New Museum if the art they’ll see there is indecipherable to them? ”Most people only want a very limited knowledge of art,” Alberro says. “They believe that it’s important to know the basics so that they can talk about it at dinner parties, but don’t care about it enough to know more. Therefore, ‘the greatest hits’ will do.”
With art, ignorance seems to be bliss.
Although some people may decide to remain removed from the art culture of New York because they find it uncomfortable, others find it impossible to keep up with what’s going on because of the nature of being a student at Columbia. For many, going to a gallery or a museum and discovering new art is an exhaustingly cerebral experience. “I think the Columbia academia setting makes it that if you have one Saturday free, you don’t want to do something that involves extra thought,” says Barnard junior Katie Stricker.
Others, like Bianca Perta, also a junior at Barnard, are simply not drawn to art museums and galleries. “I’m not an art person,” she says. “I like the Museum of Natural History more.” But when asked whether she had visited that museum recently, Perta said no.
What Columbia students seem to be suffering from is something more than just a remove from the art world at large. Rather, it’s a remove from the world outside of Morningside Heights. Many of us don’t have the time or interest to go see art. The art, then, must be brought to us.
Luckily, there are galleries and groups on campus that are attempting to do just that. The Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery in Schermerhorn Hall is one such venue. The gallery brings attention to contemporary debates in art, as well as debates outside the realm of the art history discourse.
Last semester, an exhibit titled “Modernism and Iraq” featured modernist artworks from Iraq’s museum in Baghdad, which was looted in 2003 during the first months of the war. The current show discusses the controversial new Parthenon museum in Athens. These topics are interesting not only to those studying art history, but also to students majoring in subjects like political science, archeology, ancient studies, anthropology, sociology, and Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
Despite its proximity and accessibility, many students are still unaware that Wallach even exists. “Wait, there’s a gallery there?” says Brenman. And those who do know rarely make the trek up to the 8th floor.
Postcrypt, the undergraduate-run art gallery that holds its shows in the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel, is trying to combat this lack of interest in art by giving people incentive to pay attention to it. For one, art openings always feature free wine. “We do get a decent proportion of newcomers who are clearly out of their element and came primarily for the free wine,” says Ian Kwok, president of the group and a senior at Columbia College. “And we totally approve, by the way.” Maybe all people need in order to see a contemporary art exhibit is one small push.
But, of course, a class isn’t necessarily going to make students want to go down to Chelsea. Instead, Kwok brings the art to campus: “One of our primary goals at Postcrypt Art Gallery is to integrate students—both artists and art appreciators—into contemporary art culture. This involves leading gallery hops, giving students a chance to curate shows and organize public art installations, and simply talking about art in a contemporary context.”
For art awareness to increase on campus, art needs to follow Postscrypt’s model and become accessible, exciting, and relevant. Art Hum attempts to do this, but it fails to make people curious about how art functions today. Alberta Wright, a senior at Barnard College, offers a simple remedy: Students should view art, especially the art we learn about in classes, as an “avenue to learn other things.” Art, says Wright, can relate to everything in some way—be it biology, anthropology, or philosophy. Connecting art to academic disciplines or current events may not be a goal of Art Hum, but perhaps it should be. For people to appreciate art, they first have to be convinced that it matters.