Profanity in the Classroom?

Follow this link to an article about a recent controversy at St. Charles West HS:

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/chas-beat/schools/2009/09/the-st-charles-west-high-schoolnwa-controversy-what-do-you-think/

...after reading the article and public reaction, what do you think? Who do you side with? Does profanity have a place in education? Explain.

Illuminated Pleasures

"Illuminated Pleasures"

This painting is "Illuminated Pleasures" by Salvador Dali, published in 1929. This painting is displayed in The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, New York. Salvador Dali is known for his Surrealism paintings his most famous "The Melting Clock". Some can argue that Salvador Dali was the father of the Surrealism Movement going on at the time.
Almost all of Salvador Dali's painting are done using Surrealism. Surrealism is distorting figures almost to trick the mind. Often times trying to connect with the subconcious mind. Salvador Dali made a quote regarding to this painting. Someone asked why do all your paintings potray violence or sex. Salvador simply said "Well quite frankly that is my life". When Dali was starting out his styles of painting were looked down upon by critics but later was praised by those same critics an were considered some of the greatest art of the modern era.
Are all these things put together to represent a bigger picture or just thrown together just because? Why are majority of his paintings all have very similiar backrounds: sun fading, few clouds, dirt ground?

John Coplans Self Portrait

John Coplans is known for his black and white, nude self portraits. This photo may turn heads at first and just been seen as a naked man. It caught my eye because of the age of the man in the photo. Clearly, the man is older but I still find the picture beautiful. Coplans doesn't show his face which helps the viewer not focus on a specific identity or person. The camera lingers over every imperfection, such as the wrinkles, skin spots, sagging skin, and splotches of hair.

This picture also shows Coplans use of humor and wit but also his intelligence and passion.

He makes himself more brilliant and beautiful than modern pictures that show men and women with their "perfect" bodies.

In Josef Sudek's work most of his photos show some type of landscape and the tree is the main object that stands out why do you think he does that? The land that the trees are on dosent look well taken care of and the trees look like that as well. Could this be a city that has a lot of pollution considering the river looks to be dirty or is it fog? If you take a close look at the photo you can see the buildings look to be an older model? where do you think this photo was taken? Why do you think the photo has no color? In my own opinon I like photos like this because no own really looks at them from different perspectives and sees the meaning of them.

I am a Camera by Van Renselar

I really like this picture because of how abstract and colorful it is. It brings up a lot of questions for the observer to answer.Things like, Who or what is taking the picture? Why did he use those colors? Why is the girl closing her eyes?

Study for Sculpture (Coke and Marilyn)

Study for Sculpture is a screen print by Clive Barker. Barker used one of the most iconic images of Marilyn Monroe from the film Seven Year Itch. This print brings together two of the most iconic symbols of that time, a Coca-Cola bottle and Marilyn Monroe. It is "emphasizing similarity between marketing and pop culture." That's saying that people were starting to use iconic figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, to help sell their products. I think because she is inside the coke bottle, it tells the viewer she was also a product just like Coca-Cola. She became an American icon just as much as Coke did. Once all of her 'use' of an icon was used, or she was passed in the pop culture era, she died. This print caught my eye because the background is very dull and it makes Marilyn and the coke bottle stand out.

The Colossus By Francisco de Goya

The Colossus by Francisco de Goya*

The painting the Colossus was painted between 1808 to 1810. It depicts a scene of terror as a massive giant rises from behind a hill as a large caravan passes by. This painting was created to represent the giant as the defending guardian of the nation of Spain against the Napoleonic threat. One can tell by the scene that the travelers are instantaneously terrified by the beast's presence. Although, the beast doesn't care about the people and does not view them as a threat, thus turning his back on them.

Viewing this painting, many questions arose that seemed to be unanswered. Where is this painting taking place? Why has the beast been summoned? Where has this giant come from? Is this giant a god? Is he good or evil? Why does the beast have his fist clenched? Where were the people traveling to? Why has the giant turned his back on the people? These unanswered questions add to this enigma of painting and add to what is unknown.

*Recently, a great debate has arose on whether Francisco de Goya truely painted this painting. The final answer was decided that he was not the creater of it. The true painter of this masterpiece was in fact Goya's main assistant, Asensio Julia. This sudden change was brought upon by the discovery of the intials "AJ", etched in the top left corner of the painting. This was found during restoration of the painting and brought forward more investigation. The painting was the x-rayed and studied deeply. After further study, art historians discovered that many other facts could contribute to this painting not being made by Goya. Other clues found along with the intials were improper brushstrokes and miscoloring. Art historians say that the brushstrokes in the painting were unlike Goya and his perfect painting style. Along with that they agreed that Goya would not use the coloring elements used in the painting. This proved that Goya was not the true creator of the famous Colossus painting. After the decision was made, art historians changed the painting to show the new true artist's name.

With the orginal painter being discovered, more questions arise. Why would Goya "steal" his assistant's work? Will the painting still be famous even though the artist is unheard of? How will art critics view Goya now after this ordeal?

This painting has changed the viewpoint of many regarding it's true origins, and it will most likely remain mysterious just as it was meant to.