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Art video to help students
Thursday, October 21, 1999 By Caroline Abels, Post-Gazette Cultural Arts Writer
A video designed to teach high school students about the Carnegie International lays it out on the table early on: Contemporary art is hard to understand.
In the video, a group of local teens is shown discussing what contemporary art is and asking artists in the International to fill them in.
The hope is that when local high schoolers watch the 30-minute program in their art or history classes, they won't feel like they're the only ones who don't get it. And the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland hopes that maybe they'll even check out the International.
"If kids don't understand contemporary art when they're young, they're going to have trouble relating to it as an adult," said Robin Moorecroft, the video's producer.
The video, being coordinated by the museum, features interviews with three of the International's artists and the curator of the exhibit, Madeleine Grynsztejn. The teens hail from Mt. Lebanon High School, the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and North Allegheny High School.
At one point in the video, the students ask video artist Shirin Neshat about her artwork. She is an Iranian from New York City whose work addresses the position of women in modern-day Iran. Artists Kerry James Marshall and Kendell Geers also appear.
The video was not scripted, but the students were given questions in advance that they could pose to the art experts. The video has a flashy look that should appeal to teen-agers, Moorecroft said, and will be distributed to teachers who call the museum's education department for a copy (412-622-3131).
The students who appear in the video were selected by high school teachers who have been involved with the museum's education programs. This is the first time the museum has produced a high school video on the International. The video was paid for with a grant from the Grable Foundation.
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