Info on ‘Place’

The PBS series, art:21, includes an episode on ‘Place’:

How does contemporary art address the idea of place? How do artists working today reveal and question commonly held assumptions about land, home, and national identity? The Art:21 documentary “Place” explores these questions through the work of Laurie Anderson, Richard Serra, Sally Mann, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, and Pepón Osorio.

More info can be found here.

Drawing and Painting MUCEP Wanted

I encourage anyone in VA3100 who is interested in being the MUCEP for Drawing & Painting to drop off a short resume to Linda ASAP or send it to me by email. Thanks.

Qualifications: must be able to work independently; be responsible, motivated, organized and take initiative preferably taken VA Introductory Painting; woodshop skills, including floor tools some photo, research and computer skills would be an asset.

Responsibilities: maintain still life materials and props; compile and post MSDS (safety) materials; maintain inventory of Painting & Drawing equipment; assist profs with: imagery for presentations, library & internet research, still life set-up, prep, modelling stands, etc. demos for classes; monitor solvent dumps | clean model cloths periodically; other duties as needed.

Project 1: PLACE

PAINTING ON THE THEME OF PLACE

Due Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009

In our course text read the introduction as well as the chapter on ‘Place’. Consider how the theme has been explored by artists in other media and how it might be productively dealt with in the medium of painting. As you read the text keep your Process Diary on hand and jot down ideas, make quick sketches or diagrams, and record thoughts or quotes that might inform your thinking or feed your imagination. Consider multiple approaches and don’t settle on the first idea that occurs to you. You might come back to it later, but the default solution is often not the best one. Do additional reading on the artists mentioned in the text and/or other artists to augment your understanding.

Challenge yourself. Push yourself into new territory. Avoid the temptation to repeat past successes. Take risks even if it means you might fail. The purpose of this course, after all, is to learn. Do some intensive brainstorming to allow for fresh thinking and the possibility of unlikely solutions and new conceptual linkages. Consider what the idea of ‘Place’ means to you, both as an individual or perhaps as a member of a ‘group’. Consider the limitations imposed by a literal approach. Try to find or create meaning on a number of levels. ‘Places’ can be any or all of the following: real, imaginary, mythical, remembered, and so forth. Consider working with a ‘place’ that you are not already familiar with…either a real place or and imagined one. What if you could go anywhere in the world to do your research? Where would it be? What would it be like? Consider the imaginary places that have appeared in literature. Remember, the ‘place’ does not have to be a physical ‘place’.

Assess the time that is available and how much time will be needed to complete the project as you conceive it. They should match. The scale, complexity and technical demands of the work need to fit the time that has been allotted for the project. Do not extend the research phase beyond what is reasonable thereby allowing insufficient time to complete the project as you envision it.

Part of the project includes preparing an 8-minute presentation to be delivered on the due date of October 8. Your work should be completed, set up and ready for discussion before class on that day.

Size: At least 32” on shorter side unless concept dictates otherwise.

Medium: Oil on canvas or multi-media with painting emphasis.