2020 Award Card Design: Interview with NTNU Professor He
Professor He, from National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Design, has over 33 years of experience in advertisement. He participated in BigByte’s 2020 Award Card Design Contest. Read our interview with him below for some insight on art and education.
1. How do you integrate art into education as an artist and an educator?
If you want to know how art is integrated into education, what I often say to students is this: there are many things in life that you have to try to discover its beauty, especially at its present stage. When everyone is constantly glued to their phones, children, from birth, are only familiar with animations, and those kinds of people, especially those characters, are all drawn in the illustrated animation style. Of course, this is a kind of aesthetic people draw. This way of storytelling is fine, but this isn’t the only one.
In life, rain can be bothersome, but have you paid attention to the puddles accumulating over there? Rain keeps pouring but when you really see the rain falling. Every raindrop is a circle, one after another; another drop, another circle. All the circles overlapping together, don’t you feel like saying, it is beautiful, it is beauty.
When the thunder strikes, BOOM, the lightning is like a tree branch. Everyone thinks, “thunder is frightful.” But in fact, thunder itself is beauty, created by the earth. No thunder is the same. Everything should be appreciated from an aesthetic view. When there is beauty in the heart, it will naturally be converted into positivity, and realized in one’s art conception. In fact, it is very important to have an aesthetic eye at all times.
2. Could you share with us your greatest achievement in teaching art?
If you are talking about achievements, it would be witnessing students do things beyond one’s imagination. When your students come up with something, they might not be as skilled in technique. But their ideas have actually surpassed you, and you think “Hey, I never thought about it.”
For example, one of the works in this competition is an image of the Buddha. The student turned the earth into a head. At first glance, you notice Shakyamuni Buddha, but he also looks like a mother, in line with our contest theme Mother Earth. The key takeaway is their usage of Buddha to talk about Earth Day. Nowadays in Taiwan and abroad, many competition posters have a plethora of theme days, ranging from global warming, animal conservation, forest protection, and so forth. I rarely see religion, whether it’s Jesus or Buddha, moreover it occurred in this child’s artwork. Although he is not a student of mine, if he were, I would feel a sense of accomplishment.
3. How can art assist in language learning?
One part of art is auditory, the other visual. One layer deeper, it is a feeling of the soul. Art is related to language. Language is about the power of words, words are a way to convey information. Writing itself is an aesthetic, regardless of if it is spoken or heard. It is essential.
For example, we often hear “Don’t Drink and Drive.” There are many government announcements. If you drink, don’t drive. If you drive, don’t drink. This concept has been around forever, but no one really pays attention. One day I saw a sign on the highway, “If you drive drunk, I’ll remarry.” Yikes! Wow!
On a fundamental level, language is a communication tool, to be written, read, spoken, and even sung. Sometimes language only shows its beauty through song, so the two cannot be separated.
4. Were there any works that stood out? Can you spot students’ characteristics from their art?
Very cute. They’re cute because they are children. Of course there are also adults’ artwork in this competition, and those pieces are more technically advanced. This is natural. But even through their mature techniques, the art can still be innocent, natural, and original.
I don’t care whether they drew skillfully or not, because not everyone has been trained in the fine arts.There are some very good ideas in these works, it’s clear they are not just passively studying in school. I was afraid to see a drawing of a polar bear on a cellphone.
However I saw the Earth lying in bed. You can see the rotund Earth lying in bed, covered by a quilt; the Earth is sick. From the student’s perspective, we can feel the piece’s many meanings.
5. If children want to become artists, what advice would you give parents? What can children start to learn now?
I will use a phrase to answer this question. “I hope you can become a musical family rather than musicians.“
Musicians live difficult lives. You must leave your spouse and kids behind, and constantly travel around the world to perform until you become famous. You may earn money and fame, but you may lose other things in the process. So I think not everyone needs to become an artist or a musician. If you have the talent or calling, you can pursue this career path.
From the perspective of art, I feel that everyone, in every part of life, only needs to focus on what is beautiful, thus reducing conflict and friction between people. Don’t focus on everyone’s ugliness, because in every society in the world, we’re the same, no matter whether it’s a natural disaster or a personal dispute. In actuality, love naturally exists in one’s heart. Furthermore, I personally have found those who have been in touch with art from a young age, have a greater respect for others. Through appreciation of the arts, they come to understand respect. I think this is very important.
