Information Technologies (IT) are becoming an integral tool in the education of Fine Arts at the University level. Universities are scrambling to find additional funds and IT instructors/professors for their Fine Arts departments. In addition, new students specifically seek out institutions that include IT with their major study. It is happening so quickly that many educators do not possess the fundamental background or skills in IT to integrate it with their curriculum. There seems to be a gap between the needs of the students and what Universities are able to provide in relation to IT.
Fine Art studies; visual art, drama and music, are experiencing radical change. As Information Technologies (IT) are quickly and inexorably introduced to these studies, the very nature of the studies themselves are changing.
Fine Art students are increasingly concerned about job opportunities when completing school. As a result, the Fine Art faculties attempt to address their relevance to the job market. It was not that long ago when finding employment after completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree entitled the person to a career in taxi driving or waiting on tables. Times have changed; not only does IT provide the student with valuable skills that increase the likelihood of employment, but IT also has become a necessary skill for the young artist to integrate with existing cultural industries.
As changes are being brought in, IT is being met with a certain amount of pessimism by some existing faculty members. Some feel there is a wild blind rush towards all things technological and a certain amount of caution is due. There are general questions of relevance, cost and curriculum. These questions are indeed important and come up whenever a new study is being offered. The nature of IT however, is that it affects communication relationships within and outside the institution. Not only how things are being communicated, but what is being communicated. IT goes beyond being a simple course addition; IT affects the entire educational process.
There is continual and necessary concern within Fine Art faculties to identify and maintain a competitive edge over similar institutions in vying for the ever shrinking pool of potential students. In the past this edge has largely been related to the status and esteem that the institution engendered, or perhaps a specific professor. Of course these criteria are still highly considered. However, IT has more recently been viewed as a potent form of leverage to quickly and effectively entice prospective students. Institutions that are able to modify their curriculum quickly are gaining the upper hand in marketability. New media demands that Universities readily adapt their study programs in answer to market demands for new employment requirements. Speed and timing have become paramount to success. The amount of time in which a study can be implemented and the length of the program itself are becoming topical survival issues.
For example, distance learning has become increasingly popular as itīs very nature relies on elements that have become of such critical importance to Fine Art studies: time (flexibility) and distance (convenience) all wrapped up in the medium of IT. Although this particular mode of education is rather attractive at first blush, it is relevant only to certain studies where the actual physical presence of the instructor is not needed. Fine Art studies specifically value time to master a discipline and the convenience to participate or access the physical facilities of the University itself, often outside of normal school hours. It is at this point where IT can play a pivotal role for Fine Arts: IT represents the connection to the outside world, to the discourse of others, to the practice, to the position of art and the shifting definitions and values of cultures within societies. Conversely, IT can also represent new opportunities for the outside world to participate within the University, which I suspect, some faculty find intimidating.
Fine Arts can only partially benefit from distance learning: drama is necessarily a group experience, music requires a conservatory approach, and visual art involves studio practices, all of which require an actual physical facility. It is my contention that it is under these specific conditions which Fine Arts must be taught that gives Fine Art a value that IT could never replace. Fine Arts teach actual physical skills that necessitate physical presence. If anything, IT will actually increase the cachet of Fine Arts departments as a place of higher learning that values actual physical skill and celebrates virtuosity. In spite of all that IT can emulate, it sorely lacks the ability to independently create original art work. Perhaps one day there will be a virtual artist that can truly create art on itÕs own terms, itīs a fun thing to speculate about. Why not? Stranger things have already happened. Could a virtual artistīs work be relevant to us in our world? That could be interesting. For now, IT has become the single most powerful tool for artists in assisting them with their practice.
Through the Internet, faculty and students can access the most recent reviews, ideas, events, personalities, etc. The Internet has come to represent a crucial moment of our time: nearly instant communication and a decentralization of existent Art power structures. This is obvious from the recent popularity of Mp3īs to virtual art galleries such as Wiredīs RGB gallery. It was once often said that if an art work was not recorded (record, photograph or film) it may as well not have happened. This statement grows from the 20th century passion to archive. Soon, much the same will be said about the Internet: If itīs not on the net, it didnīt happen. An article of information can be stored indefinitely and shared infinitely. We are only at the beginning!
It should be added that Fine Arts play an important role in the development of Information Technologies. Fine Arts bring history, pluralism, cultural theory and a host of other concerns which are crucial to the development of social aspect of information technologies. Perhaps art is an alternative to subjective market forces within the development of IT. Perhaps it is part of the third way.
It is an exciting time as Fine Art departments begin to define and chart their course with new technologies. It is a time that requires open debate and new ideas. It is clear that the very relevance of Fine Art departments involves the integration of IT studies.
Robert Hamilton
11449 - 152 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5X 1T1
Canada
email:
robert.hamilton@uleth.ca
robert_hamilton@yahoo.com