Week 2 - Discipline Areas

I am interested in the discipline area of art. At this stage I am thinking about how students feel marginalized in the art industry based on the fact that they do not aspire to become exhibiting artists. This idea originates purely from personal experience. I am not sure how common this is among other visual arts students, therefore I am a little skeptical about committing to this idea as my research topic. 

'If we place value only on higher test scores—and if the tests measure only math, problem-solving, and verbal skills—the arts are at a clear disadvantage. If we demand quick results, the arts will not supply them. The arts develop neural systems that often take months and years to fine-tune. The benefits, when they appear, will be sprinkled across the spectrum, from fine motor skills to creativity and improved emotional balance.' - Jensen, E. 

A key thinker who has had an impact on the Arts is Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel. Hegel was predominantly involved in the art in which beauty is found. He believes that beauty is shown in a form called the Ideal. 

Week 1 - A brief introduction is in order!

Hi, my name is Aleks Spiric. I live in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. I enjoy the outdoors and nature - I like to spend as much time as I can at the beach or in the mountains. I have always loved the fine arts and spent a lot of my high school life pursuing a future in the Arts industry. Predominantly, I love to work with still life photography, but I also like to draw. Not until recently have I realized that I would prefer this as a hobby rather than a profession. The same can be said for music (I play the drums) - I have probably spent 80% of my VCE years in the music prac rooms with my band. This was something else I thought I wanted to pursue for my future, which also changed into something I preferred as a hobby. I have had a lot of inspiration from family and friends, which led me to my path towards education. 

My hobbies would include snowboarding, a small amount of surfing, photography, drawing and drumming. Snowboarding has become quite an obsession of mine after I had first given it a go. 

I have completed a Diploma of Visual Arts prior to this course. I did enjoy this course although I felt that the course had catered for students who aspired to become exhibiting artists. This isn't what I wanted to do, which made it hard for me to fully engage myself in the course. I did however acquire a lot of new knowledge and skills, as well as great friends and memorable experiences. 

Below is an image that I feel is a depiction of what research means. 

Research, to me, is a continuous cycle which involves observation, investigation and application. Through this we are able to develop an understanding of various topics or issues. In turn, I feel that the more we learn, the more we realise that we don't know, therefore supplying us with an incentive to keep learning and improving, this is mediated through different forms of research.