John Carlo M. Bienvenida

9-6-11

Blog post #2

I rather enjoyed reading the rest of Why School by Mike Rose as he brings up some interesting points and notions. A topic that I would like to bring up is the separation of “hand work” and “brain work”. Rose implies that the American population generally believes “that industrial work calls for strictly rote performance while new work requires learning and problem solving” (pg 76-77). This statement suggest that “hand work” fails to challenge the mind at all, lacks problem-solving situations and is preposterously simple to perform. Such an idea is laughable.

Rose cites an experience he had with a carpenter installing a set of sliding French doors. He says that carpenters must be knowledgeable about “symmetry, proportion, congruence and the properties of angles” (pg 78). Inability to transfer these concepts into the job translates to mediocre work and could spell disaster for a carpenter. This particular carpenter imagined the project before performing any physical work. He envisioned the angle that the threshold must be and solutions to possible problems that may arise with the panels. He drew on knowledge gained from previous experience and adapted that to the new project using his problem-solving skills. Such a task requires careful planning.

The Wake Up assignment can be viewed much like the French doors mentioned above. I must be like the carpenter and envision my art project before I actually assemble it. There must be careful planning as to what pictures to use, where pictures are placed and the size of pictures used. In addition, I must determine how to address problems areas of the collage where there is no picture and the white poster board is visible.