Recently I began teaching a small class of students who, no doubt, will one day be working in the world of fashion and all the mayhem that that entails. When delivering some fashion history to them they are intrigued to learn that YOU are and were there....when it all took shape.
The 1970's in Melbourne was certainly a most prolific decade....with new blood...fresh from the many art schools....bursting onto the streets with a sense of doing things for the very first time!
AND THEY WERE!
A generous sprinkle of assorted bands and radical art movements ...gushed out onto the streets.
St.Kilda was the place to be seen and heard....all who walked Fitzroy Street were clad in the notorious BLACK clothes...we so loved with a passion....and still do.
Screeching sounds from over tuned electric guitars and piercing over pitched bemoans were rampant.
We were living in the twilight zone...a zone where what we were doing ....meant everything!
Life was about hanging out in groovy bars in Chapel Street as well as lounging at the Tiger Lounge in Richmond.....all day WARHOL movies at the Valhalla Movie House.....donning a hot pink vespa helmut...with FUCK ART LETS DANCE...written on the back....we wore what we thought was chic with our own inimitable style attached.....hell we were the ones!.....the ones who got the good end of the educational stick.
As a result....we now...many of us..find ourselves teaching and listening to the needs and desires of this over indulged generation.
Don't get me wrong!...I will put my hand up to say there are some who know the value of tutorial and class discussion.....but in a world where their technology rules everything....surely and slowly they are becoming less concerned for the knowledge and creative banter.....we so loved from our mentors and teachers.
The heady days of decades past, is a reminder of the values we placed on all the diverse and experimental approaches in our lives......today their lives are somewhat devoid of experiences.
I am aware of many young people in my charge who have not been to an exhibition in a Gallery or listened to classical music on the radio on a lazy Sunday morning......contemplation or as I like to call it......DREAMING AWAY....unexplored notions to them.
World politics is too hard for most of us to fathom at the best of times...however there is enough written about it on an hourly basis....to warrant some discussion.
My expectations for them are to grab and gauge and hammer their way into this century.
Say something about your world...the world so fast and furious only you can steer...the one you will live in and hold dear.....throttle it with all your might...make it bend to you and scream out loud when it hisses back at you!
Welcome all who ask you what will you do in the FUTURE.............................................................
LEO TOLSTOY..by ILYA REPIN.
Wise words. I am often disheartened by the general apathy of my students today. With a few exceptions they seem to be very passive in their approach to life, as if there is no point in attempting to change anything. I tell them: Question authority, be suspicious of those wanting to pigeon-hole you. I long to see another punk uprising or similar, which would spearhead another cultural revolution. I wait in hope.
ReplyDelete