The Unbridgeable Gap

At the end of semester, one of my students asked how to know whether her artwork was “good” or not. This student, whose concern arose from a medical/scientific background of clearly delineated facts, brought to mind a remarkable moment in 1993 when I visited Beijing, the capital city of the People’s Republic of China. I was one of the advisors brought in from New York City to help the premiere Central Academy of Art and Design (now the Central Academy of Fine Arts) move away from thousands of years of imperial art symbols towards a then-unimagined future.

This video is excerpted from the last day of class. To answer my student’s concern, an impromptu motivational talk emerged at an important moment in American higher education.

A calligrapher practicing his art in water on paving stones at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Summer 1993

I hope you will find inspiration and encouragement, whether you consider yourself an artist/designer or not.

The author, her husband Timothy Binkley, and their interpreter Bing Lee at the Forbidden City, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Summer 1993.