But, after all, the aim of art is to create space - space that is not compromised by decoration or illustration, space within which the subjects of painting can live. - Frank StellaThe 2nd chapter of Rubenstein's guide to teaching Carver talks about models of creativity, assigning Carter (who goes grudgingly) to Minimalism, which is as much a critique of art as it is a genre of it. It is a term that can be used in a broad way over many mediums- and this is what piqued my interest as far as ideas for teaching. Rubenstein focuses mainly on minimalism in prose writing, citing Hemingway as a direct influence on Carver, but I would encourage a much broader take on Minimalism in art, music, photography, film to give a more holistic approach. I included the quote by Frank Stella at the top (along with one of his paintings) because I thought it could be broadened into a theme for a class, or even a great writing prompt in relation to the characters in Carver's "space." Carver's world is certainly not "compromised by decoration or illustration."
Bringing in a visual aspect to a unit on Carver (the work of Stella or Modigliani) as well as encouraging students to pursue musical and film representations of the ideals of Minimalism that we see Carver establishing is a great way to make the work we are experiencing part of a larger literary conversation.
I really like this idea and think it’s totally the way to go when teaching—or at least how I’d like to go about it because this is how I make sense of the world for the most part, by relating and organizing facts and tidbits. Thanks for the image, Stephen!
ReplyDeleteUsing Hemmingway as an intro to Carver seems like an obvious conduit, but utilizing other arts would help frame the period or feeling better. When you mentioned Minimalism in music I thought composers like Phillip Glass—who is coincidentally the cousin of Ira Glass of This American Life!).
I also wanted to mention—not just for our Carver discussion, but for others as well—RadioLab on NPR (Sunday nights here after TAL). I just subscribed to the podcast. It aims to flesh out some big topics like morality, sleep and identity construction.
OH!
And there is an episode of TAL that I was listening to while spending the day at work filing paperwork (the devil made up that job, I swear!). The episode is called “How to win Friends” and has a reading from the (new?) David Sedaris book that really closely resembles ‘Bikes, Muscles, Cigarettes’, about how he was punched in the face and required dental work. His parents were put in the interesting position of negotiating who would pay for it. That is not a way to incorporate Minimalism, but a different medium with a similar theme.
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteCan you show us how to put photos up on this? I tried inserting a photobucket picture of David Sedaris to try and it won't let me.
Thanks
you have to download a photo to your desktop and then load it into the posting screen...
ReplyDeletedidn't know that about the glass family. talented bunch! phillip glass's work is really hard to listen to for any given period of time. i would also describe musical artists like gillian welch to be minimal in their approach to songwriting and production...