The most interesting email I got this week was one from Christopher Clarke of the Glucksman asking for my piece on the drawing that hangs over my desk-a Michael Quane drawing which depicts a male figure in a gymnastic leap. In true Morris Zapp mode it occurred to me that I might use that request and comply with it also populating my (lonely-is there anyone out there?!) blog with the same said piece.-(Indeed surely this kind of reutilisation or recycling deserves particular credit in a research publications world where numbers, hits and citation indices are the flavour of the moment?) The drawing arrived when I requested some for the CACSSS offices on taking up the post as Head of College. My aim was to brighten the place up, but aside from painting the wall in the social area purple-the College colour- I was arguably not very successful in this mission, in that the large painting that now hangs outside my office – a figure with its back turned which I quite like- was relegated there as it was judged too depressing by the staff in the office –who quite wisely pointed out to me that it was not very inviting for students....
The collection of paintings which included the Michael Quane drawing, came from those available in the Glucksman collection & in that sense were pre selected or chosen for me, but I picked the Quane drawing for my office from the selection proffered, as I have always liked his sculpture pieces which grace the President’s garden. It is a quiet but powerful drawing and although I might have had bolder more colourful pieces in mind when I first moved into my office, perhaps this quieter more sombre depiction symbolises what is more apt (& realistic) for me to aspire to as Head the College-reflective I hasten to add not of my strength of ambition for the College as a whole, but perhaps of the pace of change. However as I reported to College this Monday, we did get a return of monies from ‘moderation’ recently (reversing that strange practice whereby monies are passed from one side of University (ours) to the other to subsidise activities (theirs)). That return is truly a change, and a cause for celebration-though only what is just, and just, I trust, a beginning!
But I digress. To return to the drawing, I like the rough appearance of the texture of the paper -proving Ruscha’s point that background is important. I also like the lines, strong, powerful, visible and yet with the figure not overly drawn but still in formation. It is a muscular drawing-some might say very masculine but I don’t think so- certainly full of movement but graceful, depicting both beauty and strength, much as a ballet movement might. I often look at it during the day-glancing upwards from the lines on my laptop and it gives me pause and refreshment, which is something that changes the day-or can do. The aesthetic environment in which we work is an important part of our lives, and in UCC we are lucky in the institution to which we belong where the campus is a beautiful one, and I have been struck since I moved from one end of the campus to the centre how the architecture of learning, worship and play work so well there together, blending both ancient and new.
In an era when we may find ourselves surrounded with very many arguments about the utility and economic value of the arts, which can be admittedly useful, it is important to celebrate it simply for its own sake. In the same way an education and a degree should be an end in themselves-rather than seen as a means to a utilitarian end. That is not to dismiss the importance of a job in these difficult times, but rather to remind ourselves of the important point that the more flexible and adaptive graduates are, the better they will fare in whatever field of endeavour they choose. The recent Hunt report on higher education is welcome in so far as it celebrates and commends flexibility in degrees, and recommends broad choice in first year of University. Certainly courses which open opportunities and are amenable as pathways to a variety of career paths would seem to be the wise choice for the graduates of the future, and in this respect an arts degree has few rivals.
To return to the drawing, there is another point here that merits a mention, one made by Robert Hughes in reflecting on his TV series on art The Shock of the New. He made the point that what the Box can do is show things and tell, but the inaccurate image on the screen is not the real painting, and not a substitute for the real experience of art. There is a point here about the experiential value of education (the campus, the student societies), the importance of place, and of an education which involves presence on a (multicultural and diverse) beautiful campus. That presence (even for a limited time perhaps) has a value for Irish students, and also for visiting students from abroad. It is quite a different experience I imagine, to study Irish theatre when doing it in Ireland, performing it with Irish actors with Irish accents, in the environment which fostered and may explain the subject matter of that play. Understanding the political and legal system and how it forms part of the local culture and interacts with the European mission is also easier when living there, breathing the air-and drinking pints of Guinness as my American Summer school students used to tell me-than simply reading the law and political structure in texts and online. That is a factor concerning place, art and education, which must form a part of any discussions we have regarding online /e-learning and distance education (a topic perhaps for another day).
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