12 Comments

1. Crit said . . .
   

   Wow! That is amazing. D’Arcy the cynic said “maybe it was trained” and my response was “even so, you couldn’t train someone like Larry (the dog) to do that.”

   Posted April 18, 2008 at 5:59 am | Permalink
2. Julie said . . .
   

   D’Arcy’s probably right. My mom says definitely the elephant was trained and it doesn’t even know it’s drawing an elephant. She read an article long before she ever saw the YouTube video. In fact, I should have checked with her before I posted it because my mom loves stuff like this. If anyone would know the truth, it would be her.

   Posted April 18, 2008 at 7:10 am | Permalink
3. Aunt Sara said . . .
   

   Yes but the elephant was trained in the photorealistic style, but evolved her own deconstructivist minimalist aesthetic. Before she trunkated her efforts, she used to make peanuts.

   Posted April 18, 2008 at 8:07 pm | Permalink
4. hubby said . . .
   

   Okay, need some help here–time to crank out a new aphorism:

   what we already know

   1) you CAN’T teach an old dog a new trick,

   2) you can lead a horse to water, but you CAN’T make it drink,

   and now apparently,

   3) you can teach an elephant to paint, but you CAN’T…what?

   But seriously, what *is* it that’s happening when a kid makes their first intended artistic ‘work’?

   What’s the difference between a trained, but-unknowing elephant, and an elephant that *intends* to represent its kind? Clearly, a lot–but what, exactly?

   Posted April 18, 2008 at 8:08 pm | Permalink
5. Julie said . . .
   

   Sara… um, no comment. ;)

   Steve, also, what about that in-between stage where kids scribble randomly and then make up a title based on what it sort of resembles? Like “Polka Dots & Long Things” or “It Has Cookies”?

   Posted April 18, 2008 at 8:15 pm | Permalink
6. Aunt Sara said . . .
   

   Well, Steve, considering that you had a one-year-old child who regularly drew faces, you are a good one to be asking this question. (Or was he even younger?) Maybe, as a culture, we just need to acknowledge that young children (and, apparently, some animals) have the ability to recognize an abstract two-dimensional arrangement as a representation of a three-dimensional thing. Not all of them can produce such an image, but they know it when they see it.

   Same thing with language. Remember our brilliant niece using sign language before she could speak?

   Since this is a book blog, I’ll mention that Temple Grandin has written about the animal (and autistic) way of seeing and interpreting meaning. She believes that mainstream human brains think in words, while autistic people and animals think in images.

   Maybe this is a matter of training the elephant to use a paint brush, but the trainer also may be channeling some underlying impulses into a new outlet.

   As for your aphorism question, in a funny coincidence, I have just put in a bid on eBay for a game where the players provide the second half of an old saying or proverb. I intended it for use in my classroom, but maybe I’ll bring it to camp. We can put the whole family to work on completing your “teaching an elephant to paint” insight!

   Posted April 19, 2008 at 8:11 am | Permalink
7. Julie said . . .
   

   Nope, we never had a one-year-old who drew faces. We had a three-year-old who drew construction equipment. With lots of dials, gauges, switches, and levers. :)

   I’ve read that book by Temple Grandin. I thought it was extremely interesting. I know I think in words almost exclusively; often I even “see” my thoughts in print, complete with punctuation. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to be illiterate. I don’t know how people think, if they can’t read. Though obviously they do.

   The game sounds neat. Are the answers supposed to be funny, or accurate?

   Posted April 19, 2008 at 8:59 am | Permalink
8. Aunt Sara said . . .
   

   The game is called “Wise and Otherwise,” and is played like the Dictionary Game (aka Balderdash). Each player makes up an answer and the real answer is mixed in. People vote for the answer they like best and points are awarded if someone votes for your made-up answer or if you vote for the correct answer.

   The sample from the box:

   It’s not easy to put pants on…
   … over your head.
   … the day after the feast.
   … a cat.
   … a snake.
   … in the middle of a stream
   … everyone in the village.

   Link on Amazon here.

   (The correct answer is: “It’s not easy to put pants on a cat.” An old Irish saying, apparently.)

   Posted April 19, 2008 at 9:54 am | Permalink
9. Julie said . . .
   

   OMG, Sara, you HAVE to bring this!

   Posted April 19, 2008 at 10:20 am | Permalink
10. Julie said . . .
    

    You know, we could probably make up our own.

    Posted April 19, 2008 at 10:20 am | Permalink
11. Crit said . . .
    

    The thing that is interesting is that I read an article in National Geographic (Mar or April) about animal intelligence. There was one bit about elephants’ ability to self-recognise. If you give an elephant a mirror and paint a spot on its head, it will touch the spot with its trunk, something which only some apes and dolphins share with humans.

    So I’d be more ready to admit that the elephant has some idea of what it is doing.

    Posted April 19, 2008 at 6:25 pm | Permalink
12. Julie said . . .
    

    Oh, I’m glad. I will tell my mom. :)

    Posted April 19, 2008 at 10:45 pm | Permalink