Student 5

This fairy house sculpture was personally created in 2013 within an art camp setting, in which attendees were instructed by employees how to construct a fairy home out of clay over the course of a week. The student age ranged from 8 to 12 with a range of artistic talent and motor skills while the three counselors were adult parties assigned to supervise and teach the camp class. Despite the same instructed technique, intended outcome, and given tools, many of the creations came out different and sometimes damaged when compared not only to the others in the class, but also to the examples from the instructors.

This item relates to this exhibition because it demonstrates the hierarchy of knowledge, those who have it being the leading or upper party while those without it act as those striving for its attainment. I as an art student must rely upon the instructor to create this piece, and the amount of attention I paid to the instructor is reflected in the warped walls, caved ceiling, and sharp edges of the work. Instead my own direction was taken to ignore the relationship of having and not having knowledge and not trust in the ability for one to lend itself to the other.

In this manner, the fairy house represents how the failure to recognize the hierarchy of knowledge can manifest into actions and creation that is not intended or of replica. However, this repositioning of the relationship of that with and that without knowledge is shown with now new knowledge and information was formed because of such ignorance, manifesting a unique sculpture and personal expression that entirely inherited knowledge cannot produce.

This sculpture relates to the area of knowledge for art, demonstrating the rules and teaching of creativity as well as the disregard of the conventional.

This crochet bookmark was created during my pre-teen years, using cheap yarn and a method of double crochet with my mother hovering over my shoulder to tell me what loop to use next. The item was only established to be a bookmark once the project was set down and never once looked into for value, until it happened to be present while someone needed to note a page in a cookbook. The nature of crochet is to build a foundation that all future structure depends upon, which is verily similar to the methods of gaining knowledge or not having any at all.

This bookmark connects to the exhibition question in the matter of its production, both technically and in the manner of being taught to make it. Because my mother held my hand through every step of the process, I had neat rows and loops. However, each row, much like the duplication of the previous, resulted only from my mother’s knowledge, and I became a printer, copying the information and making a product but not actually processing the knowledge. Because of this, and despite many other crochet creations, I do not have knowledge of how to actually make anything within the art form.

This reflects how not having knowledge generates a dependency on others to learn. However, not having knowledge or a curiosity of the subject could mean that knowledge is never gained, and one never actually learns. This is why having a foundation of curiosity and structure, much like the foundational chain of crochet, is so imperative to begin the process of having knowledge. However, dependency on others is always present when having a lack of knowledge. This only further demonstrates how a relationship of the known and the not known is present, even if disregarded entirely.

The bookmark falls under the area of knowledge for mathematics, where a given formula foundation with different numbers distinguishes knowers from copiers.

The antique coffee brewer presented is a family heirloom that has passed through at least four generations, is said to be made of bronze, and with little to no other concept of origin or initial understanding of it being a coffee brewing device. With what little knowledge is present about the piece, many of those who have possessed it have attempted to research accordingly, though the usual outcome is an appraisal for the metal and turquoise and little of the nature of the object. It was my grandmother who suggested that it may be a coffee brewer, and only through the use of the internet has such information been collected and properly recorded.

The reliability of past knowledge in relation to this object gives a unique perspective on the question, where the implication comes from the method of gaining knowledge. While seventy years ago, my great grandfather could only test if the metal was an alloy or something pure yet tarnished, today, research has a further range of possibilities. However, with this greater expanse of knowledge comes greater possibility of misinformation. Previous generations relied upon testimony from fellow learners to gather information and appropriate knowers. Now, there is an overwhelming access to knowledge. While it may have been present previously, as well as misinformation, the overwhelming access can discourage the polishing and refinement of knowledge, much like how the coffee brewer has not been in appropriate care for fear of potential further damage.

The relationship of knowledge and lack thereof is again present in what learners can anticipate about a subject - We know to look for information about a brass colored coffee pot, but not to specify the turquoise decals that may give more pertinent information.

The brewer best fits under the area of knowledge for History, with how hindsite and revisionism acts as a benefit and hindrance to knowers.