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News From The Chair
by Tom Bloom, Chair, Associate Professor, Scenic Design
tab4p@virginia.edu

Tom Bloom

The following is a transcription of Tom Bloom’s comments at Drama’s graduation ceremony.

May 17, 2009

I have a few remarks to offer before the main event –– so - in these waning moments before this department and faculty releases you from your academic obligations - let me subject you to - for one last time ....

a PowerPointPresentation

Let me explain - a few days ago I walked from the Drama building to my car and discovered a magnetic sticker affixed to the car door that asked - in an imperative voice - is this art? - ??!!

This certainly wasn't a Dichotomous question - you know, the kind that requires a simple yes/no answer like on a multiple choice test!
...so I began to consider whether the sticker was inviting a dialogue on the validity of my car as an art object - or perhaps it was likening my car to a piece of "found art?"
...or, conversely - might whomever placed the magnetic "is this art?" sticker on the driver’s side door of my Volvo be making some sort of veiled insult about my car's appearance?

Granted, the finish is a bit dull (it’s been over two years since I waxed it, and the back seat and cargo area are filled with refuse.)

I'm eventually getting around to disposing of this waste at the recycling center (no bodies in plastic bags).
- or, was this anonymous sticker bandit posing some sort of rhetorical question that had some other purpose in mind - I don’t know!...But, for whatever purpose the sticker appeared on my door, it did set me to thinking about the relevance and validity of what we here, on this side of the aisle (faculty), have taught or created ...,
...and what you, on this side of this aisle (students), have prepared yourselves for.
...Is This ART?  led me to revisit our Department's Mission Statement - I quote:

Our work is grounded in the idea that theatre is a vital form of artistic expression in today’s world.  We stress collaboration, solid technique, artistic daring, and risk-taking.  We encourage everyone to test and question ideas and techniques in the classroom, in the studio, and on the stage.

And for undergraduate education we added:
Our mission is to provide students with a liberal arts education in all aspects of theatre production, theatre history, and dramatic literature.

This faculty asserts that the value of your academic and production experience is lodged within the liberal arts.

The core of liberal arts training, according to NY Times writer Patricia Cohen, embraces the notion, that:

... the humanities - (which generally include languages, literature, the arts, history, cultural studies, philosophy and religion) - develop critical thinking, civic and historical knowledge and ethical reasoning and are prerequisites for personal growth and participation in a free democracy, regardless of career choice.

But recently, a trend is underway that seeks to a reexamine the validity of the liberal arts philosophy and, in particular, aims at diminishing the importance of humanities in undergraduate education.

In her Feb 24, 2009 NY Times article entitled “In Tough Times, the Humanities must justify Their Worth" Patricia Cohen writes: "... in this new era of lengthening unemployment lines and shrinking university endowments, questions about the importance of the humanities in a complex and technologically demanding world have taken on new urgency. Previous economic downturns have often led to decreased enrollment in the disciplines loosely grouped under the term “humanities” —Many in the field worry that in this current crisis languages, literature, the arts, history, cultural studies, philosophy and religion will be hit hardest."

Cohen goes on to quote Andrew Delbanco, the Director of American Studies at Columbia University, who says that: " Although people in humanities have always lamented the state of the field, they have never felt quite as much of a panic that their field is becoming irrelevant."

Was the sticker affixed to the door of my car that asked "IS THIS ART" intended to make me feel irrelevant?

....and with specific reference to all of us assembled here on this stage today -
....should we reassess the relevance of what it means to be a person of the theatre, ...or dance...?

Recently Betsy Tucker shared with me an email from a former student who was reassessing her 4th year experience and I thought that many of the things this student had to say would be very relevant to this moment!

...So I wrote back to this former student asking for permission to share segments of that email with you today, and shared with her the "IS THIS ART?” sticker incident.  Permission was granted - but what she added in reply I wish to share with you now - because what she writes affirms that what we here have undertaken over the past several years is anything but irrelevant!

I quote her email:

“Since I read your email a couple of hours ago, I’ve really been thinking about that question [is this art?]  ...And I have to say that the question of ART—what it is and how we make it and how it works outside of an academic environment is one of the most challenging questions I’ve faced post-graduation.  At UVA I felt I could point at something and clearly say how and why I thought that thing was art. I was an actor and what I did was art. I saw people working towards aesthetic products and the intentionality of those efforts made it art—whatever that product may have been. But moving outside of the academic environment into the world of full-time jobs, subway rides, health insurance, everyday encounters with so many different kinds of people, etc., encounters with intentional art — [the kind of] art that knows it's art - become less and less frequent.  And I really had to think about what I call art and what I want to do with my life in regards to creating art. Also, learning to create artistic goals for myself outside of a syllabus and rehearsal schedule, has been incredibly challenging. 

One thing that really helped me define my current understanding of art was, as I mentioned in the email to Betsy, watching theater happen in a 20 person Drama Therapy workshop.  Being part of that and observing that and realizing that I was literally watching the most moving, real theater I had ever seen in my whole life...while in a basement...with 19 other people...no costumes/set/script/etc....was fairly astounding. 

And it made me realize that I do want to devote my life to art as I understand it, not to art that other people might tell me is more valid or more real.”

Anthony T. Kronman, a professor of law at Yale University and the author of “Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life,” sums up the benefits of exploring what’s called “a life worth living”:

“... the need for my older view of the humanities is, if anything, more urgent today. This is the time to re-examine what we care about and what we value.  [This is a problem] that the humanities are extremely well-equipped to address.”

So I return to the question - Is This Art?
- my answer is a dichotomous Yes! ... and in the words of a past graduate, it is "...art as I understand it."

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