Education is revelation that affects the individual.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
The Education of the Human Race, 1780
Artist Statement
Lessing, a dramatist of the Enlightenment period, wrote this quote with the intention of citing reason and introspection (education) as a pathway to revelation, as opposed to dogmatic religion—much to the wrath of the orthodox German church. When we read this quote, we couldn’t help but think about education in an expanded, multi-faceted form. Education—from traditional schooling to life experience to reason and introspection—builds upon each other. We imagined these pieces of education layering, supporting, balancing, and eventually leading to that “ah ha!” moment of growth.
Design Museum of Chicago, Passing the Torch, 2020.
Great Ideas at ChiDM, 2018. Photo: The Office of Experience.
