Историјски ослонац прогресивног уметничког образовања XXI века – Блек маунтин колеџ
A Historical Basis to the Progressive Practices of Art Education in the XXI Century – Black Mountain College

Summary/Abstract: In the capitalistic contemporary world as one of the forms of resistance, there is an educational turn – a tendency of art by which it goes into the field of education and triggers the production of small, local, ontological knowledges. In that way, education becomes a platform that offers new possibilities of participation, negotiation and reflection that occur between gathered actors that are equal interlocutors. In cognitive capitalism, knowledge production is increasingly becoming industry, educational outcomes are becoming more standardized and therefore comparable and payable, which all leads towards commodification of education. The state of confusion and precarity becomes the dominant state considering the fact that universities must ‘deliver’ suitably qualified students/future workers. As a reaction to this, a growing number of self-organized structures, independent critical projects, nomadic free universities and art academies, experimental groups, conferences, discussions and other forms appear. Those practices are representing new forms of education, learning within the open forums, the absence of hierarchy, focusing on the process and testing different models of alternative forms and spaces for learning. Many researchers within the educational turn refer to the past educational practices that can be viewed as its forerunners. One of those educational practices was organized and practiced at Black Mountain College (BMC), an American college founded in 1933. Experimental education practiced in BMC was related to experimenting of teaching and life itself – an emphasis was placed on research and the process, that is, solving problems whose solutions cannot and should not be familiar in advance. Anti-hierarchical relationship between teachers and students and the flexible and experimental curriculum, was allowing the individual to learn in community with others and in daily life activities. College teachers that mainly exiled from the more rigid institutions or systems looked like artists in a creative and productive way, using everything that comes in their way. ‘Learning by doing’ associated with imagination and understanding that art is the process of establishing human interrelations were main premises of BMC’s educational platform. Comparing the basic ideas and practices of educational turn and BMC it is possible to spot obvious resemblances which suggests that the College contributed to the contemporary educational practices. Beside the fact that the two concepts were launched by those who in some way were expelled or marginalized by the dominant institutions, regimes or educational systems, the common characteristics can be underlined. Some of them are radical shift towards collective and pragmatic tasks, the use of artistic practice and research as a means of problem solving and life improvement, learning in the community, interdisciplinary approach and taking responsibility for education. However, considering the time distance between these educational practices, it is necessary to make a distinction and realize that direct application of education that was practiced at the BMC is not possible today. In fact, it is much more likely to imagine an inter-institutional cooperation as well as the establishment of a platform for experimentation and research.

• Details
• Contents