Can a child be considered a multimedia artist in the 21st century? How creativity in the early years produces a wide and eclectic gallery of artworks.
Introduction to my Degree Essay
Can
children be considered artists in their spontaneous, experimental, open minded
and curious approach to the visual arts? Can creativity be considered an
instinct in as much as children seem to manifest a nimble and wide spanning
ease in the use of materials, which might seem obvious at a young age? Taking a
closer look at the process of mark making it seems that they are not a tabula
rasa but are unfurling an ancestral ability that has lied dormant and awakens
as the gestures of visual representation emerge. Carl Jung’s creative instinct shows how this impulse
is rooted inside each individual. It makes its way from deep inside the human
psyche to then surface and blossom. Van Den Berk illustrates this concept as he
states that the artist reaches down into his/her roots and works like an
alchemist transmuting the drive into artwork furthermore the development and
evolution of the conscious brain has
brought humans to use marks and painting in a spontaneous/ instinctive drive to
communicate. We are born with a set of characteristics that make us complete
and these will be tweaked and refined with experience in our social and
cultural contexts in addition the definition of art has acquired new visions
and has expanded towards new paradigms allowing it to redefine what it is.
Seen under
this new light the child is in touch with the ancestral knowledge that as
humans, we have accumulated proving an incredible versatility and openness
towards demonstrating the human ability of mark making in the primary years. It
could also prove the resourcefulness that children present in their artwork. Of
course, the impulse alone does not suffice but is at the base of the
development. It was been proved that young
children are able to produce striking pieces of artwork that are aesthetically
pleasing and qualitatively important.
The 21st century had provided children
with tools that enable them to work at levels of
expertise that were once for
professionals and the term artwork has mutated considerably.
Schools have
enhanced their teaching strategies with new approaches considering the child as
an authoritative figure in his/her development of lifelong learning.
