a blog to accompany the art survey course at Wheaton
Your five small drawings have come together to recreate this image, Man of Sorrows, 1951 by Marion Perkins, which is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. To see or download a larger image created from your gradient drawings, click on the detail above or on the (super-big!) full image below. Or to download a full-size pdf file to print on your own laser or inkjet printer (on 49 letter size pages) and assemble over break, click here.
Referencing some of the background information you’ve learned about one of these artists (or from further research you do), reflect on how the artist represents or expresses her identity in one of these specific works: Lick and Lather by Janine Antoni 1993, Do-Ho Suh’s Some/One 2003, a Portrait by Kehinde Wiley, Shahzia Sikander’s Hood’s Red Rider 1997, Felix Crying by William Kentridge 1998, and Chicago native Kerry James Marshall’s Untitled (Painter) 2010. As usual, clicking on the images will make them larger.
Consider the artist’s identity as it is influenced by and a reflection of her race, gender, sense of place, religion, individual and cultural background. Does the artist reveal or conceal identity? Does the work speak more about the artist’s identity or invite its audience to engage their own? Consider the work’s form, media and installation.
Artists dissatisfied with the injustices around them often express their desire for change by representing their ideals through the worlds they create. Consider two (2) of the following works in light of the cultural milieu in which they were created. Ground your response with details about the individual artists that you have learned from the reading, and be specific in your description of the works’ shared formal qualities (what it looks like) and/or construction (how it was made) by using some of the following terms/ideas in your post: cubist, pointillist, primitive, contour, planar, surface, and cropping. The works are: a detail of Models, by Georges Seurat, 1887; For the Love of God, by Damien Hirst, 2007 (hear the artist speak about the work here); The Yellow Christ, by Paul Gauguin, 1889; Guitar, cardboard construction by Pablo Picasso (with an African mask he owned); Beat the Whites with the Red Triangle by El Lissitzky, 1918; and Henri Matisse working on his chapel in Vence, 1951 (watch this trailer to an interesting documentary, and the whole thing on Netflix if you have time). As usual, click on the images to see them large.
I have decided to go into the city next Tuesday, the 14th (as originally proposed on the syllabus). You are not required to go on this day, but you must find your way at some point to a museum, gallery, or public artwork, to write your short paper. Depending on the interest, we can go to either the Museum of Contemporary Art (which is free on Tuesdays) or the Art Institute (which is $12). Because of timing, we won’t have class at 8:30. Instead, I will plan to meet anyone interested in going at the College Ave station to catch the 9:57am train, which will get into Chicago at 10:50am. We can take the 3:40pm train back to arrive at college ave at 4:30pm, but if you need to get back before then, you can always catch the 2:40 (getting in at 3:30) if you need, or stay later if you want to enjoy dinner in the city. Train tickets are $4.50 each way, and I would bring some money for lunch or a packed one from bon appetit. We’ll walk from the station to one of the museums, so wear comfortable shoes.
Paper Instructions: Your task for the final paper is to spend significant time, around thirty (30) minutes, in person with a single work of art. It will seem difficult at first, but try to slow down your pace, and look deeply and intently at the piece.
1. Take notes. Make sketches. Be as specific and descriptive as possible of what you see. Use plentiful adjectives and active verbs to enrich your writing. Consider the formal elements and principles of design. What is the line quality like (eg. sinuous and delicate or rough, jagged?) Is form created through the depiction of shapes and planes or by build up of texture and mass? Are brushstrokes or the bites of a chisel evident, or have surfaces been smoothed out or “licked”? Does negative space flow in and around the volumes, or is it trapped, dense and solid? What hues have been chosen, and what is their specific quality (value, intensity, or saturation)? How have the elements been composed or arranged in relation to one another, the location, and the audience, and in what manner or style has the subject been visually executed? How does this contribute to the feel or possible meaning(s) of the work?
When you think you have seen everything there is to see, put your pencil down and close your eyes. When you open them, look at the piece again. Look at the title if you haven’t already, and any additional information which might help to give some further context for the piece.
2. Next, interpret the work in light of at least one of the major themes we have been studying in our text: the Earth as Art, Representations of the Divine, Pilgrimage, the shifting role of the artist in relation to her patrons, the idea of Utopia and Dystopia, and the Spirit World and the Inner Mind. Refer back to a specific work we looked at either in the text, in class, or online in the blog.
3. And finally, end with some concluding thoughts. The entire paper should be between 500-750 words and fit on a single page (make your type smaller or single spaced). Better to be short and interesting than rambling and incoherent. On a cover page, include a color image of the work and your name. Due in my box (2nd floor of Adams) by 4:30pm on Thursday, February 23rd, but you may bring it earlier to me if you like.
* For those of you who are unable to make it to the field trip or to one of the Chicago museums on your own, you may choose a work that is at another local gallery or museum, like one of the wonderful shows at the Chicago Cultural Center. You might also consider an outdoor piece of sculpture and its context (another FREE alternative), as Chicago is a wonderful city for public sculpture. Also, Benedictine University in nearby Lisle has a wonderful collection of contemporary religious works throughout its campus, and in the architecturally significant abbey: St Procopius. (Above images are: sculpture by Richard Serra and book design by Dieter Roth on display at the MCA, and works from the Art Institute: portrait from Fayum, Egypt and paintings by Balthus and Pierre Bonnard; and below: a 19th C quilt from New England and Nigerian ancestral altar, both in current Institute shows).
Here are some more detailed instructions for the collaborative manuscript project that we are beginning to undertake. More to come as we progress:
1) Think of some significant moments in your personal or family history. Choose one that has a particular and memorable location. In 25-100 words write this story. The more poetic and succinct the better. Separate one short line from the whole. This might be a quote, or climax, or denouement… something that sums up the memory or perhaps expands it to your present context, etc…. Please add your story as a comment to this post.
2) Next, think of a path you have memorized having traveled it repeatedly. It should be a route that is not simply a straight line, and that returns to its starting point (to make a loop). Make a drawing of this path from memory as a map, as accurately as possible. If possible, look at a satellite or internet map source of this same path to see how you did.
3) Gather visual references (or create your own!) that connect with your narrative. Organize these elements into a compositional structure that flows naturally from the story. Let complexity build slowly and meaningfully.
Incorporate several visual ways of bringing order and richness to your piece: line, rhythm, balance, scale, texture, value, color (ie. limited palette), pattern, framing, layers, transparency, grid, diagram, contrast, emphasis…. For inspiration from those who have gone before, click here. Final size of the page should be 8×10 inches. Convince me/us that you have considered every square inch of the composition. This does not necessarily mean you have to “fill” all the space, but that you have thought about and taken care with the whole. Enjoy yourself in the making! Your pieces are due on our last scheduled class, when we will share and celebrate them.
Here too is a link to a pdf of images organized around the foundational design principles that we looked at in class (warning: very big file). You might refer to it as you begin to think about ordering/composing your piece.
Please remember to engage with / fill in the paper I gave you today, dealing with the idea of pilgrimage. And again, remember that the most important thing is that you try to create a stepped gradient from box to box (so that the first box is roughly 10% gray, the second 30%, third 50%, fourth 70% and the last 90%). Hold your paper up to these and squint to see how they match up. The tendency will be to not go dark enough. Use whatever media you like: pencil, pen, marker, collage, paint, mud, etc…. If you accidentally lose your sheet, there are more on the whiteboard ledge in the class room, or you can print one from this pdf.
(examples above are by former students Susan Jones, Amber Stenberg, and Edward Meadors)
For some of the images we looked at in class, here is a pdf.
Compare and contrast two of the representations of gods/rulers in this post (the Venus of Willendorf, detail of a Cycladic idol ca. 2500BC, Egyptian sarcophagus of Horkhebit c.590BC, Claus Sluter’s Head of Christ, late 14th century Dutch, from the Well of Moses, Baptism of Christ, 6th century mosaic from Ravenna Italy, and Marc Chagall’s White Crucifixion, 1938). Be specific, descriptive and poetic as you consider the formal (material) and compositional qualities of the pieces in relation to the culture and religion in which they were produced (ie. the texture of Venus’ hair was likened to cornrows in a previous semester). Use some of these terms in your response: free-standing, relief, additive, subtractive, abstract, and naturalistic. Click on the images to view them in greater detail. For images we viewed in class, click here.
Choose two of the four works in this post to compare and contrast (the ancient Nazca Line Monkey in Peru, Untitled photograph by Francisco Infante-Arana, Andy Goldsworthy’s Fused Icicles (click here for a good video clip), and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels 1973-76). Click on some of the links to find out more. Then think about the process used to create them (number of people required, time and energy taken, location, materials, etc…) and how this process relates to your understanding and interpretation of the works’ meaning(s). Consider at least two of the following concepts in your response: figure and ground, orientation, structure, sublime, minimalism, temporal vs permanent and collaboration. Click on the images to view them in greater detail. For a pdf of images we looked at in class, click here.
And a few video links for your enjoyment:
Ned Kahn: the artist who works with visualizing wind on the surface of buildings.
Patrick Marold: sculptor who made the LED windmill project.
And finally, James Turrell at his Roden Crater
Compare and contrast the formal qualities of two of the six artworks in this post: Leonard Baskin’s woodcut Man of Peace 1952, Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence (click here for a good video about Serra), and Alexander Calder playing with one of his mobiles (click here to watch Calder perform his circus!); Harrison Xinshi Tu’s calligraphic painting Asking the Heaven, Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton (the same artist who created the überorgan and more!), and Lucien Freud’s oil painting portrait of a baby (click here to listen to Freud talk about his work), without making value judgments about their content or subject matter. Consider the medium utilized and include references to at least three of the following: line quality, shape, mass/volume, space, texture and color. You might also consider that you’re looking at photographs of the original artworks online, and experience of the work in real, physical space could be a vastly different experience (ie. seeing the impression of the wood block on the paper or walking through Serra’s torqued spaces). Click on the images for larger versions.
For a pdf of the images we looked at in class yesterday, click here.
Hello. This is the blog to accompany our Art Survey course, where you will be required to post a weekly response to the assigned reading or questions I specifically pose here. To make sure everything is working, please leave a 3-5 sentence comment answering the following question: Which of the portraits of Christ above do you most identify with and why? Before you choose one, please spend at least one (1) minute looking at each one. Then, try to be descriptive of what you see (ie. what is the pose like? the gaze of the eyes? the technique or media?). You can click on the images to see them larger. Alternately, if there is another image you want to point us to, please provide a link.
OR
Craft a short reflection to the work of Vik Muniz in the film Waste Land. Here is a link to a short interview with the director, Lucy Walker, on the Tavis Smiley show.
Click here to download the course syllabus and calendar.
