Project 1: PLACE
Posted by mcoyne on September 10, 2009
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.
