Success and Failure When Art Changes - Allan Kaprow

In Allan Kaprow's essay "Success and Failure When Art Changes" the author attempts to dismantle what is, and what is not, art. Kaprow is recognized as one of the pioneering artists to perform “happenings” in the late 1950's (John Cage beat him by 7 years to be considered the first). Kaprow collaborated with educator Herbert Kohl to create Project Other Ways for the Berkeley school system. The project was an educational experiment that attempted to inject art into a failing traditional curricula. The example Kaprow focuses on in his essay is artwork created by illiterate sixth-grade students who could be described as social out-casts. Through the umbrella of art, students were able to copy local graffiti (similar to apprentices copying the works of master painters) and then synthesize their own graffiti, eventually learning to spell and even write their own names. They jumped right to a higher level of learning according to Bloom’s Taxonomy – art rocks! The students also created early analog versions of hacktivism and mash-ups by defacing and rewriting discarded “Dick and Jane” early learning books.

The main question the author tries to answer in the essay is whether or not the work that the Berkeley sixth-grade students created should be considered as high art. Is artwork that is created outside of the institutionally set norms considered art? As a graduate student of the integrated arts, my short answer is yes. My long answer is hell yes. It is easier to answer this question twenty-plus years later when the art institution has lost its absolute monarchical control. The formal institution consisting of academia, galleries, curators and critics still exists. However there has been an extreme change in how art is delivered to the public. Information technology has allowed artists (even the most amateurish) a direct outlet to the viewer. Young artists are showing their work on their own, in both virtual (net) space and physical (run-down warehouse) space. Do we need art critics and curators to filter the work for us and tell us it is any good? Do we need galleries to select the work for us and tell us the value of the work (times two)?

In my working definition, art is actually art when it is viewed, discussed, interacted with, criticized, copied, parodied and reworked. If the students who created the art were free to express themselves, then it was certainly art for them. If the viewers who saw the work got a reaction from it, whether it was mental or emotional, then it was art for that moment.

The other question; was the work educational? Since there was no study or follow-up such as “where are they now?” -one can only speculate. Safe bet there was a surge in graffiti around the bay area. E]