{"id":541,"date":"2010-04-19T23:59:32","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T06:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=541"},"modified":"2010-04-21T21:16:34","modified_gmt":"2010-04-22T04:16:34","slug":"%e2%80%9clife-is-a-great-big-canvas-and-you-should-throw-all-the-paint-on-it-you-can%e2%80%9d-danny-kaye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=541","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLife is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can\u201d – Danny Kaye"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Haunting a new favorite place in the city, I found the above stenciled art a useful reminder about priorities and usage of time. As I type this, an ever-growing pile of articles and books teeters menacingly to my left. To my right, a stack of fellowship, grant, and conference forms & applications in varying states of duress meander from couch to floor. Sadie snores bemusedly in the corner as I riffle through one pile then another. My computer screen is a personified Jackson Pollock splash of awaiting-reply emails and tabbed-to-infinity Safari windows. And I guess this is the ocean I\u2019ve been lost in for the past few weeks as I\u2019ve been off-track from teaching duties at Manual Arts. Catching breath and wandering outside, it was useful to be challenged by a simple, quickly sprayed stencil. Having recently seen Banksy\u2019s film, Exit Through the Gift Shop<\/a><\/em>, I would argue that such a specimen is demonstrative of art\u2019s ability to better the day-to-day lived experience of those it interacts with, regardless of medium or location.<\/p>\n

[I’m again pondering the above as well for lessons of borders and space and classroom discourse, though not ready to jump into such a substantive rant quite yet.]<\/p>\n

Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3>