The Escolinha de Arte de São Paulo: from March, 1968 to June, 1971. Third chapter: experience with television

Abstract

This last chapter of the visual essay on the Escolinha de Arte de São Paulo (EASP) presents a case study with a seven-year-old son of Ana Mae Barbosa and student of EASP. In 1968, Frederico suffered from a severe hepatitis and at the same time had to be operated of appendicitis. The medical doctors discussed in the presence of the child the seriousness of the case, mentioning the danger of death. The child had to be isolated with his mother for more than a month in a room attached to the laundry in the basement, with no other contact in order to avoid contamination of his two years old sister.  He could not stand even to go to the toilet and so was most of the time watching television. Education often suspected of image value accepting it only as illustration or class expression. At that time, much was discussed about the educational and training dangers of television for children, as today the dependence on computer and mobile phones is discussed. The visual pedagogy was taking its first steps and Frederico’s case were one of the first case studies. Soon after watching a movie on TV that the child himself chose, his mother encouraged him to draw something from the movie. These drawings, made in two months, form the narrative that we present. It is to the reader's interpretation about the transformations in the child's drawing after the television experience. For our part, we consider that the qualities of the drawings widened toward a richer narrative and a more complex graphics movements. Our visual narrative is divided into five phases: the first with drawings by Frederico during classes at EASP before becoming ill; the second is when he was admitted at the hospital for operation and drawings immediately after the surgery; in the third place we have drawings made during isolation and recovery. In the next moment we have drawings a week before being discharged. We end with a drawing made in the return of the child to school in EASP. We considered that this one was made with aesthetic concern.