Hard Knock School of Art

HARD KNOCK SCHOOL OF ART

By Terrell Dickerson

Picture this: My mother in the kitchen washing dishes and 3-year-old version of me sitting in front of the television watching Sesame Street, that’s where it all started for me… kinda. The colors, the shapes, the sounds captured my mind in a transcendental way and I was cognitive of what was consciously and subconsciously occurring.

Terrell Dickerson, In 5G We Trust (image courtesy of the artist)

When I was 7 years old, the social worker at the grade school I was attending called my mother and asked her to have me scheduled to take an aptitude test because I was precocious, maybe even gifted, and so my mom understandably did so. Test day arrives, finally,and I go in with the mindset of "let’s just get this over with, I’ve got a bike calling my name.” I walked in the school and an instructor leads me to a small room where there was a chair, a desk with a timer, a test and pencil on it.

I sat down, the instructor started a timer and I started the test. The timer rings 25 minutes later and in walks the instructor, catching me doodling on a piece of paper, because I had finished the exam a lot faster than expected. He collects the test and escorts me to the office where my mom was waiting. A week later the results came and I scored great, a few points from gifted, but way above average. In my heart of hearts I knew I could’ve scored even higher, but that little rebel inside me was saying “screw you and your test, you morons don’t have a clue!”

That same rebel exclaims to himself anytime there’s trash, paint, magazines, scissors or adhesive in my presence." You are a genius! You are socially enlightened. You are a collage of consciousness. You exude PTSD in oil on that seven foot piece of plywood you found in the alley.”

Why? Well in the wise, minimal words of Andy Warhol: “Because I can.” My internal reasoning is “why not?"

COMMUNITY VOICESSPRING 2019 ALLTHEARTSTL.COM