The Armory Show, NYC, March 2010

On Saturday, 6 March 2010, I visited The Armory Show at Pier 94 for the first time. I was amazed by the number of people there and was comforted by the diversity of people, who seemed to move so fluidly within the space. Seeing pieces of work from galleries around the world was a bit overwhelming; however, in many instances, unless I looked at the signage, I would not know that there were different countries' galleries represented. Maybe this blurred sense of representation speaks to the idea that we all "read" artwork in our own "language," bringing to it our own sociocultural norms and understandings.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the piece above resonated with me. Upon a quick, initial image scan, it brought about a memory of what I learned about the orderly, highly structured 1950's bedroom decor. However, upon a slightly closer look, it is apparent that this scene is disrupted by what seems to be a destructive overlay of paint splattering. To me, this "damage" represents the possible disorderly life that may have existed in these bedrooms/lives. This piece offers me a reminder that things are not always what they seem to be. An insider's perspective is always different than an outsider's.

Expectations for Image Culture Course

I am currently in a weekend class entitled Image Culture at Teachers College. Although I am not a student in the arts department, I chose to take this course because I wanted to jump-start my thinking around the possibilities for developing arguments to continue to fund art programs in schools. As a middle school principal, this is of particular interest to me because pre-/adolescents are living in worlds that are saturated by images and attempting to navigate through them. I am always interested in thinking more about how existing programs could be re-imagined and/or re-designed reasonably, so that programs and curricular domains remain alive for students. From this course, I hope to learn about some fundamental ideas from those directly involved in the field, and I hope that these new understandings spark my thinking in a practical, school-based way.

As I work towards completing an Ed.D. at Teachers College, my interests remain in documenting and exploring classroom talk and the dynamic exchanges between teachers and students.