A Past Editor's Wishful Thinking
by
Jay Hanes
I have known Ken Marantz for several thousand years. He
was there when Mel Brooks parted the Red Sea and Christopher Columbus began
the destruction of the ìNew Worldísî oldest inhabitants.
I believe that he will provide you, the readers, with his perspective on
events such as these as well as contemporary situations with social relevance.
In 1975, I graduated from high school with his son Alec,
in Columbus, Ohio. At that time in no way did I think that I would become
an art educator (I didnít even take any art classes at dear old Upper
Arlington High). Alec eventually went onto study linguistics with Noam Chomsky,
and I went to study art education with Ken. So who said the world is fair?
I began my Ph.D. studies at OSU during the last year before
his ìearlyî retirement. I remember two things most about him:
he was always goading us on, and he was quite concerned about word choice
and accuracy. He ran a special topics seminar - Art in a Politically Correct
World. The course announcement featured a stalk of broccoli. After auditing
the course I continued to like that vegetable and it became a feature in
my dissertation on dissident group art.
I followed the activity of an artist group, the Acme Art
Co. in Columbus, a city that also hosted an international flower thing.
On Amerifloraís opening day then President Bush inaugurated the event
with a campaign speech meant to help us forget his puking on the Japanese
ambassadorís shoes. Prior to that opening, an Indian drumming circle
maintained an all night vigil, in a futile attempt to correct 500 years
of mistreatment. The Acme Art Co. was there shaking stalks of broccoli while
chanting ìput broccoli back in the White House.î Bush did not
get reelected. Talk about the power of the supreme Goblinhood!
Kenís course was, of course timely. We were challenged
by him to think about the presentation of culture and to question art canons.
Both of these issues impact on the question of ìvisual literacy.î
We considered the problems of policing political correctness, while maintaining
respect for all. So, itís an honor to pass the editorship of the
CAUCUS on to him.
I regard him as a sort of uncle. We have continued an e-mail
conversation in the recent past. He and Sylvia were always returning from
world travel, hopping around foreign lands, while Eleanor and I were state
university hopping. He has promised me to continue challenging the CAUCUS
readers (you all) in his cajoling way, and I will continue to tease him
about his spelling. I began my CAUCUS membership when I returned to Columbus
and remember enjoying the quarterly newsletter. It was great to be editor
for the past two years and I will be looking forward to receiving newsletters
from Ken. I hope that you will too. | ![[logo for CSTAE web site]](../images/cstae.gif)
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