Art galleries waste of time for kids, says artist

 

One of Britain's more thought-provoking artists has said taking children to art galleries is "a total waste of time". Jake Chapman made his controversial comments in an interview with the Independent newspaper. He also made other comments that might anger parents, child development experts, and children. He accused parents of being "arrogant" for thinking children could understand modern art. He said to show a child a painting by the American artist Jackson Pollock was an "insult" to the artist. Pollock pioneered the style of art known as abstract expressionism. Chapman explained that it's like telling the artist his work is "as moronic as a child". He added: "Children are not human yet."

Chapman's comments have created a stir in the art world. Award-winning artist Anthony Gormley said: "I don't think art is to be understood. It's to be experienced….It is to be felt. Feeling comes before understanding." A spokesman from London's National Gallery said: "Children benefit a great deal from visiting art galleries and museums. It widens their horizons." BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz suggested Chapman's comments were designed to manipulate the media to get more attention. He said: "The formula is simple: When you have an exhibition to promote, say something mildly inflammatory to the press, and watch the column inches…and ticket sales soar."

3. CHILDREN: How do they benefit from these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Your experience as a kid	How beneficial?
Art galleries
Museums
Hiking
Opera
Gaming
Camping

4. HORIZONS: Students A strongly believe art widens children's horizons; Students B strongly believe it doesn't.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. ART: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• manga   • installation art   • abstract art   • calligraphy

• graffiti   • religious art   • ancient art   • impressionism

6. WASTE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "waste". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	An American artist said art galleries wasted children's time.	T / F
b.	The artist said children were able to understand modern art.	T / F
c.	The artist said most art was insulting to children.	T / F
d.	The artist said children weren't yet human.	T / F
e.	Many people in the art world are talking about the artist's comments.	T / F
f.	Anthony Gormley said art is felt before it is understood.	T / F
g.	A BBC arts editor said the comments were made for publicity reasons.	T / F
h.	The editor said a formula makes the press say inflammatory things.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	total	a.	annoy
2.	controversial	b.	control
3.	anger	c.	stupid
4.	pioneered	d.	fuss
5.	moronic	e.	debatable
6.	stir	f.	shoot up
7.	benefit	g.	entire
8.	widens	h.	profit
9.	manipulate	i.	developed
10.	soar	j.	broadens

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Where is the controversial artist from?
2.	To whom did the artist make his comments?
3.	What did the artist accuse parents of being?
4.	What did Jackson Pollock do to abstract expressionism?
5.	What did the artist say about children?
6.	What did Anthony Gormley say happened first when looking at art?
7.	What did the National Gallery say children benefit from?
8.	What did the National Gallery say was broadened?
9.	What did a BBC editor say the comments manipulated?
10.	What happens to ticket sales after more media exposure?

 

Role  A – Manga You think manga is the best form of art. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their art forms aren't so great. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): graffiti, installation art or religious art or ceramic art.

Role  B – Graffiti You think graffiti is the best form of art. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their art forms aren't so great. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): manga, installation art or religious art or ceramic art.

Role  C – Installation art You think installation art is the best form of art. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their art forms aren't so great. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): graffiti, manga or religious art or ceramic art .

Role  D – Religious art You think religious art is the best form of art. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their art forms aren't so great. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why):  graffiti, installation art or manga or ceramic art. Role E – Ceramic Art You think ceramic art is the best form of art. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their art forms aren't so great. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why):  graffiti, installation art , religious art or manga

ART GALLERY DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'art'?
c)	How important is art?
d)	How important is art in your life?
e)	Is taking kids to art galleries a waste of time?
f)	Are parents arrogant to think their kids understand art?
g)	What is abstract art? Is it good?
h)	Are there styles of art children should not see?
i)	Why might Chapman think showing a child modern art is an "insult" to the artist?
j)	Why do you think Chapman said children are not human yet?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	From what age do children benefit from visits to art galleries?
c)	What do you think of Chapman's comments?
d)	Is art to be understood, experienced or felt?
e)	How do children and adults view art differently?
f)	How does art widen children's horizons?
g)	What do you like about visiting an art gallery?
h)	Would parents be right to be angry?
i)	What do you think of an artist making a controversial comment to get more publicity?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the artist Jake Chapman?

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	more thought-voorpknig artists
2.	Chapman made his rvelosnictrao comments
3.	He accused parents of being gnrrotaa
4.	Pollock piedeeonr the style
5.	art known as ctbtaars expressionism
6.	his work is as rmnioco as a child
Paragraph 2
7.	Children tbnifee a great deal
8.	It widens their hioorsnz
9.	designed to utnimlpeaa the media
10.	The mofural is simple
11.	say something mildly lyafniamtomr
12.	watch the lmunoc inches