On being a humble student and also on art in general

[ishime]

This post is my reaction to an entry on rebecca_kalista's other blog, beckyverse.
It involves my personal opinions. You're welcome to comment on it whether you agree or not. You're not welcome trying to force-feed your opinion to me as universal truth, thanks.

So rebecca_kalista was talking about one of her personal experiences as an art student. Just to make things clear, I'm not discussing her situation with her teacher. I wasn't there, I don't know the teacher nor what was said exactly, I don't consider myself to be in a good position to judge.
I will be speaking of humility as a general concept.
Another point I need to highlight is that I am not a graphic arts student myself. My mom used to be and I got to know a professional artist and discuss art with them, but I am not a graphic artist myself. I do, however, consider myself a writer, though not a professional one. And yes, I do consider my writing to be a form of art : I write for the pleasure of beautiful words fitting into beautiful sentences fitting into beautiful paragraphs fitting into beautiful texts that tell a story - and beauty and something to share with the reader/viewer is my definition of art.

So, back to our topic: humility for art students.

I'm of the opinion that students should be humble.
I do not, however, agree that being a humble student should mean being a student who shut their trap and never discuss what their teacher says.

It doesn't really matter if you're an art student or a maths student, I think. This all falls back on the relationship between a teacher and their students in general. What should a teacher be? A teacher should be someone who has something to teach you. What should a student be? A student should be someone willing to learn what their teacher has to teach.
So yeah, by definition, the teacher must know something that their students do not know yet - that's why they both came to the classroom. So that this particular knowledge can be transmitted.

I think being humble isn't so much about showing respect for your teacher as a person as it is showing due respect for the knowledge your teacher has and wants to transmit to you.
Said respect should involve trying to understand this piece of knowledge, and then to learn it.

Now, shutting your trap when you disagree with your teacher is in no way, shape or form, "proper respect" for the knowledge they're trying to transmit you.

If you're disagreeing with your teacher on something unrelated to the knowledge transmitted in the classroom, then it has nothing to do with being a humble student - you have to be polite to a person who came to help you become more knowledgeable, nothing more.

If you're disagreeing with your teacher on the knowledge transmitted in the classroom, then there are three possibilities.
The first is that you are wrong and your teacher is right. In that case, trying to argue - politely - with your teacher shows them that you didn't get the reason why they are right, and this prevents you from properly learning. Therefore, it helps them notice that you need to be taught more, and gives them an occasion to demonstrate why you are wrong. They're here to explain their knowledge to you, and giving them an opportunity to do so is being a good student.
The second is that neither you nor your teacher are right, because there is no definite answer to a question. You might not have understood that yet, so answering - politely - to your teacher will give them an occasion to explain that to you. Good thing. Plus, your opinion might be a valid piece of knowledge to share with your fellow students. Adding a possible answer to the pile of knowledge brought to you is the best tribute you can do to the knowledge shared in the classroom, and indirectly to your teacher: you are showing interest and talent in what they've been teaching you, you are showing them that they didn't work for nothing. This is highly rewarding for a teacher, and most of them crave that sort of feedback!
The third is that you are right and your teacher is wrong. It happens, because a teacher is only human, and therefore might fail sometimes. By speaking up, you are preventing a false piece of knowledge to be transmitted and transmitting an accurate piece of knowledge instead. This is a display of respect for truth and knowledge in general, and of the knowledge shared in the classroom: you are showing that you care enough about it to speak up against a lie, an error, an omission or a wrong ideology.

Whatever possibility it was, speaking up will have positive consequences for you, and show your teacher that you were actually paying attention to their class (which should always be welcome).

Being a humble student means to dedicate oneself to one's student role: learning valid knowledge within the classroom.
Just like being a humble teacher is about dedicating oneself to one's role as a teacher: to transmit valid knowledge within the classroom. (And not to flatter one's ego by having one's students cattering to one's wishes.)

Now as for what rebecca_kalista says on art... I know we have different definitions of what art should be.
If I understood what she told me, she is of the opinion that art is about meaning. What makes a work a piece of art is the meaning the artist chose to give it. That implies that technique is not art, nor is it necessary for art (though it may be a very useful tool for an artist, of course).
I am of the opinion that art is about aesthetics. Not in the sense that there is a universal aesthetic you have to follow, but in the sense that showing your sense of aesthetics is telling us about your values scale, and having a values scale is, for me, something crucial for a human being. And that's what makes art special: it deals with values (asserting or questionning it) through the notion of beauty.
I guess this is a matter of point of view, but I just can't work with the idea of art as just "something that has a meaning". Everything man-made has a meaning. Art is supposed to be something more special than that.

(When I discussed this with a professional artist I know, they pointed out something else that I agreed with: we should have a respect for what you'd call "la maîtrise de son art" in French. I don't know which expression translates that in English... The idea is that yes, art is about expressing something, but to express something with an acceptable level of subtlety and precision, you need to master your techniques (notice the plural - that person told me that choosing what technique to use according to what you're trying to express is also important) and that it takes years of practice, both in an art school and after you graduate from an art school before you can say you mastered anything. And that mastery is precious, in an of itself. It is a piece of knowledge and skills that deserves to be preserved and transmitted, and therefore is worthy of respect.
Mastering the techniques makes an artist precious for art, because they preserve some precious skills for the future. After all, "art" used to be about the work of an artisan: it was a skill, first and foremost. And though it grew into more than just a skill, I think skill is still an important part of it.)