Reply #10: I tell them the truth as I see it

[TallahasseeGrannie]

that in this culture, "art" has been confused with "shock."

I also explain that it all has to do with the camera being invented and the need for realism evaporated.

The last rung of Bloom's taxonomy is evaluation, and I encourage them to use it well. A simple reading of "The Emperor's New Clothes" is very helpful here, as well. And also checking out some of the latest runway fashion trends, with things like gargage cans on girls' heads, and men drapped in green garden hoses. We discuss the concept of pushing the envelope and how the extremes set the framework.

When I lived up north I took high school art classes to MOMA all the time and we had some interesting discussions in the busses on the way home. High school kids haven't learned to be tres' chic yet. Four more years in college, and they will be afraid to say the dung covered madonna is... crap.