advice to young artists in a postmodern era chapter ONE Talents, Intelligence, and Art

This was a great chapter, I loved how the author starts out with an image or model of how we currently perceive intelligence in comparison to one another. He shows that we shouldn't judge one another on the same levels of intelligence, because whilst you may be good at English and writing, someone else may struggle in that but excel in math. Or take a mechanic, he can tell you all the parts on a car, he can look it over run some tests and fix the problem. Your doctor is the same, he simply looks at, knows, and heals people bodies, yet most times we believe that Doctors are smarter than mechanics. hm. We generally place a higher emphases on 'book-smart' people than those who are 'street-smart' without giving a thought that both people are smart in different areas. Just because those areas are different doesn't mean that the 'street-smart' person is any less intelligent than the 'book-smart' person. Often times the book-smart person has a knack for memorizing while the street smart person has learned these lessons of life first hand.
Next the author discusses how despite learning impediments such as dyslexia, one can persevere and overcome these learning setbacks. By creating a learning pattern and sticking to it you can train your brain to still itself and allow you to concentrate not only on what the text is saying but also on what it means. He observed that many times when a student allowed themselves to do this than they would surpass their 'normal' classmates in reading and understanding and would become better artists because of it.  I love the image he provides in the form of the cross country runner running even though he is 'pleasantly tired' and even when he is 'very tired' and to continue till it 'becomes so painful they can not run anymore' and even then 'they must run some more.' It shows that in learning you must press on. Even when you think you have learned it you must continue to learn and continue to learn, you must press yourself beyond what you thought were your limits and set new limits. He speaks of the importance of coaches or teachers in every big-league player, or well known artist, or successful politician...they wouldnt have gotten that chance without their coach or teacher. From here he moves on to discuss the meaning of the word 'genius' and how it is loosly tossed around by young artists. He explains how postmodern artists do not use nor accept the word genius in regards to an artist, instead they deem society and culture to sculpt the art. It is interesting how he speaks of the arrogance of Piccaso claiming to be a genius at the age of fourteen, yet when his art of that age is observed, it is of nineteenth century senior level student works. He compares a young artist latching onto a specific style before exploring many others is akin to a premature marriage and settling for 'pretty good' and not 'damn good'. The end of the chapter covered the quest of not seeking the answer but of determining what infact is the question. Interesting Chapter over all.