Inner Policeman + Kids' Making Art

David Byrne (Author / of Talking Heads) reads his own audio book Bicycle Diaries (recommended) which reflects on his travels throughout the world and riding his bike in different cities / countries.  But the book is more about social and city structure than it is about scenery.

In one chapter (London?) he is surprised when the topic of conversation turns openly to a topic that would be taboo in the US (race?) and he notes that his "inner-policeman" would not have allowed him to bring this topic up in polite society.

Burroughs talks about the inner-policeman (did he coin this phrase?) in his writings as well.  I had been reading some beat poetry / novels a few months back and I started thinking about Burroughs and the inner-policeman, Byrne and his cultural observations.

I have an inner-policeman.  Oh yes, I certainly do.  Some would say, he could be stronger, but I think he's pretty strong now.  There's a quip in here about the man keeping me down, but I'm too lazy to make it.

There are times when I am suddenly aware of my inner-policeman and it is like getting slapped in the face.  I am always taken aback, surprised to remember he is there, pulling back on ideas, blocking pathways.

Recently, I have been working on digitizing and cleaning artwork created by small children.  This involves a scanner and Photoshop.  It's a fun project (not sarcasm, I love Photoshop).

I'm not changing any of the art, just taking out some glue smudges and digitally putting some pieces back on that did not stick completely.

The project is based on Islamic tiles.  The students have seen examples and are to use these as inspiration to create 8.5 x 11" frames for poems to be created later and by a different class.

As I scanned these unbalanced, off-center, mis-matched frames, I was a little disappointed - none of these were clean or pretty.  They all looked strange and weird and like mistakes to me.

These kids had no sense of the principles of design, no aesthetic understanding.

And then...
and then.
Something magical happened.  

These lop-sided, odd frames became so beautiful and interesting to me.  As I worked on them, I felt they were less sterile than much more refined art.  They were raw and hungry.  The frames were honest and fun.  They were magnificent.

These students had not yet developed an inner-aesthetic-policeman!  But that we all could go back to that time.

One piece was created from all brilliant red & green "tiles" (construction paper squares / diamonds).  Red and green always just reads Christmas to me.  I never choose any design that only has red and green. But this kid looked at those colors and thought, "these are great colors together!" and the kid was right, it was indeed beautiful.

One student had created a frame in greens and blues with only one yellow tile in a strange off-centered spot on the right of the frame.

Some students would cut their own shapes that were twice the size as the pre-cut square / diamond pieces provided to them.  They jut into the center free-space irregularly, they are haphazard and strange.  They tell a different story from the other pieces.  They are rocking out to metal, the rest of the frame is pop.

Sometimes, one side would be drastically different from the other three in color and pattern.  Often this was a side piece, not the top or bottom of the frame.  

One frame had a double row just one one side.  Another built up two or three rows in one of the corners.

One ingenious student cut a long strip of construction paper and twisted it as they glued it down creating undulating dimension (only on one side).  Now there's a student who is thinking outside the box.  I only hope that the school system does not squash this before the kid realizes it's a good thing.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed how one student took a larger square / diamond in navy and cut smaller diamonds in navy and glued them on top.  You could barely see the difference.  It was a little gift to those who took a moment to look closely.

Still other students would ignore the shape of the paper and create a frame that was not 8.5 x 11".

These were some of my favorite pieces.

They bothered me most when I first saw the pieces, but they were fierce and straightforward, unapologetic and bold.

One student had created a giant X across her page with her tiles!

Another, the tiles only grew into the center from one side.  The pile starting on an 8.5" edge and working their way into the center of the piece, filling the majority of that half of the page.

And then one student - one brilliant student had taken all of their pieces and in what felt like a random assortment, filled the center of the page!  There was a small area surrounding the tiles, but he had created a center of haphazard colors and shapes.  The frame becoming the framed.

Working on this project was a beautiful reminder to take stock of my views on beauty and art and how much of that comes from societal ideas that were drilled into me.  What an amazing reminder to take stock of my politics, judgments, and beliefs and to critically look at how much of those standards come from societal pressure.

What in my core fiberous center do I believe?  What is beautiful to me?  When my inner-policeman dismisses an idea or an artwork, look again.  It may yet become the MOST enchanting.