Accessibility

Access! The Big Idea I keep coming back to it ‘access’; who has it, who doesn’t, how it affects how we move in the world and our identities as a result. I think Access has been the theme of education throughout history and as the internet and access to information is made more available (though not without restrictions still) how the concept of Access is morphing and evolving still.
Traditionally education and art were both reserved for wealthy (mostly Caucasian) males. There have been things that have crept in slowly over the hundreds of years of American culture alone that have gently nudged us in the right direction of inclusivity and open access to all people regardless of religion, race, gender, abilities, etc.
I think restricted access to education based on religion, race and gender prevailed for years but as schools opened and laws changed and technology and access slooooooooowly evolved, we are still struggling with the wealth gap, lingering racial issues, not to mention awareness about disabilities, gender (still!) and a myriad of other issues that restricts “access” to some and not others.
The twentieth century saw the rise of quite a few art movements that challenged this idea; from the Dada, Bauhaus and Surrealism, which pushed on the conventions of art to Pop Art, and the Avante Garde which tried to shake up the status quo and reorganize our society. The movement that I think tackled the concept of Access head on was the Fluxus movement of the 1960’s and 70’s.
Fluxus was multidisciplinary; they had poets, visual artists, performance artists, designers, musicians, authors, and composers involved. They tried to shift the perspective away from a “finished piece” of art that could be owned and collected and hoarded away along with its value; instead choosing to emphasize the experience of making art, which made it accessible to anyone who could participate.
I think my interest in “access” to art and education stems from the experiences in my own life, and I would encourage my students to explore the “access” they perceive in their own worlds. For example, I would encourage my students to create a Fluxus-like experience/performance piece that could incorporate as many people as possible taking into consideration how others around us are different and how those differences may impair some experiences, and work arounds for maximum inclusion. I would also love to challenge my students to use recycled or found objects to create pieces which would help my students to explore their own access and empathize with the limited access to materials that people experience. I could also imagine a project in which they would re-design a building, a neighborhood or a city to address a restricted access point they find unjust.