Visual Culture Art Education

At the NAEA conference last week I learned that there are several art educators who think that the visual culture has some type of influence on our students. During my presentation there were many questions about the method used to gather information about the adolescent males I researched but there were a couple that really stood out to me. One was whether I had considered doing a study like this with students who are part of other ethnic groups. As one person put it these response could easily be students from my school. These types of responses reinforce my belief that this is a topic that has to be addressed. The visual culture of music videos is only one aspect where provocative images are prevalent. Therefore, art educators have a task that includes assisting their students in ways that they will be able to decipher any type of image that they come across. Another question that was raised during my presentation was whether I had considered the role of the females in music videos. Specifically, one person asked if I considered interviewing females to get their take on the visual culture of popular music videos in reference to how they are portrayed. This is a great question as I wonder as well how the females see themselves in comparison to the portrayal of those of the female in gender in precarious situations. Do they think that the things females are doing in some music videos is appropriate or do they see the images as degrading.  Maybe, someone will conduct research in this area, as the time is now to address these issues. If we as educators don’t take an initiative here who will? I am eager to hear what the educators think about these images. That goes for the males and the females as both genders play a role in the visual culture of music videos.

-Zerric Clinton ABD
Art Teacher
Cairo High School
Cairo, GA 39828