A New Basic Teaching Mode for Artistic Disciplines under the Information Age

Abstract

What is basic? Requirements on basic artistic education vary from ages: in the agrarian age, the visual demand for capability of imitative reproduction needed stronger realistic creation ability to lay a better basis; in the industrial age, given the detailed division of sectors, a diversity of basic requirements was raised to facilitate commercial manufacturing; in the information age where we exist at present, unprecedented cross-border integration has been witnessed in various industries and cultures, leading to the deviation of basic requirements from those in previous ages. Therefore, we need a new basic training mode under the general background of new creative & entrepreneurial chain, and training shall be implemented from the core of “training on cognition, development of aesthetic analysis, and elaboration on logic of fine art”. Popular expressions of “BIG DATA”, “Big Data”, “Digitalization” and “Mediatization” are exactly typical characteristics of the age which is now going through information explosion. Regardless of the correctness of such a craze, each of us has actually been involved in this torrent and is hardly possible to stay out of it. Meanwhile, big data and big information are intruding into and changing our lives unexpectedly at an amazing speed. CG (Computer Graphics) has been rapidly popularized and developed in the digital field, and can be considered as having changed all design-related visual languages and existing in every sector of work and life; thus, it has further brought about an adjustment of the entire human educational regime, including reflection and deliberation on basic training for cultivating artistic design talents. What is basic education supposed to be for cultivating design talents under the current situation at this information age? Is there any value of the existence of sketching, known as a core course in the basic education system for design majors and the first course for freshmen who major in design? If so, what are its cultivation mode and system supposed to be? How can we tell its essential difference from the original exam-oriented education? What are its key goals of training? Why does such training have coherency and systematicity with the subsequent curriculum arrangement in sophomore and junior years and in internship and graduation project? Is it substantially divorced from social sectors where graduates are employed? Given similar problems emerging in recent years, is there a need for the reform of sketching systems adopted in all-level educational institutions and universities? How does the reform work? What kinds of design talents are expected? What design qualities are required for designers dealing with information media?Considering aforesaid questions, the author has set the basic teaching mode of arts adopted in the first-line university education for 10 years as a basis, which is essentially different from the original sketching system (including design sketch tutorials and other attempts in recent years).