This realization, that to study an art form is to explore a sensibility, that such a sensibility is essentially a collective formation, and that the foundations of such a formation are as wide as social existence and as deep, leads away not only from the view that aesthetic power is a grandiloquence for the pleasures of craft. It leads also away from [the idea that] works of art are elaborate mechanisms for defining social relationships, sustaining social rules, and strengthening social values. Nothing very measurable would happen to Yoruba society if carvers no longer concerned themselves with the fineness of line, or, I daresay, even with carving. Certainly, it would not fall apart. Just some things that were felt could not be said-- and perhaps, after awhile, might no longer even be felt-- and life would be the greyer for it. Clifford Geertz????????---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On July 15, 1996, thirteen students from Sauk Valley Community College, four student facilitators, Dr. George Karnezis, and myself traveled to Chicago to view two of the sites belonging to a project called SculptureChicago. The trip turned out for all to be extremely rich in experiences, experiences redolent with both multivocality and nuance. 1 The idea for the trip began, simply enough, as a way of giving my students a first hand experience of some of the concepts we had been discussing in our HUM 210 (Intro to the Arts) class. In the past, this first hand experience has been provided by field trips to the Art Institute in Chicago. For most of the students, these trips provide their first experience with a museum or viewing paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts directly. While some students are truly moved by the experience and re-evaluate the importance of the arts in their...
