Archetypes

So I was just trying to put into words an idea that has been tumbling around in my head for awhile. I've been reading a lot about the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy and this translation of an approach to education her in the US. We as human beings love archetypes. Fairy tales and legends, the pastoral scene, even in modern media this ideal image is brought out and displayed. In the Wii game Animak Crossing, the world is pre-industrial and romantic, another example is the tv show Stargate were almost every world they encounter looks like a village out of time. The image a child draws of their house and the grass and flowers around it. These images are deeply ingrained in us and affect us profoundly. 

So, I've been asking my art students (and my own children) to do contour drawings of everyday object. This helps us really see an object, we are surrounded by lines. At first the children were a bit lost, but now they have really gotten into it. During the next two classes, I'm going to talk to them about the story we just read from India about the goat and the wolf. Last week we drew pictures that reflected out idea of what that landscape would be like. I want them to imagine this story in their own neighborhood taking place. This week and nest we will be working on drawings of this story using modern terms instead of a more pastoral view of the mountains and jungle below. I do wonder what they will come up with?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is our world will change and morph in years to come, will it be able to change enough? Especially if the archetype we hold in our heads of the ideal family and setting is so set in the past. When I look at the images from the 50's, how amazing their design was, how foward thinking, I wonder what has happened? Where is my flying car?! 

I'm not saying trash that pastoral image, but instead make room for another ideal. I truely believe that while working on a real farm and experiencing nature in all its gritty reality is a truely valuable experience. It is hard and dirty work. I also value experiences that are just as real, authentic, that take place in the city or suburb. A working artists studio, public works department, a laboratory, manufacturing plant. 

We all try to make sense of our world, try to make it better, dream of our place in it. If the images presented as ideal all look alike(farm in the country or small tudor village), I wonder if we would be ready for true inovation.