The Deep Creek School: Technology, Ecology and the Body as Pedagogical Alternatives in Art Education
Abstract
The Deep Creek School is grappling with a cultural condition in which the line between actual experience and its simulation has become blurred as never before. Today’s students are conversant in the language of electronic media and consumer culture--but they encounter difficulties when trying to navigate the real crises in the health of their bodies and the global environment. There is a deep sense among many of the artists and educators that we speak with that art programs nationwide are not responding sufficiently to the dramatic changes occurring in the culture at large. The precedent of fitting programs to the demands of society or other factors external to “art for art's sake" is well established-and usually short lived. Rather than retrofitting curricula to produce a weak echo of social trends, current events, or the "state-of-the-arts," the Deep Creek School experience asks students to take a pro-active stance with respect to their bodies, the tools the culture has developed, and the spaces they inhabit. We firmly believe that artists-and art as a discipline-can occupy a leadership role in driving the culture forward.
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