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Deadline: Tuesday, November 29

“Words have appeared in visual art since classical times, but until the modern era their use was generally restricted to a few specific functions. In the early twentieth century, the Cubists Braque and Picasso began using words in their paintings and collages in entirely new ways, and their innovation was quickly adopted by other artists. Words, phrases, and sentences were subsequently used by visual artists for a variety of purposes — to refer to popular culture, to pose verbal puzzles, to engage with philosophy and semiotics, and for political and social commentary. Throughout the century, the use of language in visual art was dominated by conceptual artists, and the increasing role of language over time was symptomatic of the fact that visual art was progressively intended less as an aesthetic product, to be looked at, and increasingly as an intellectual activity, to be read.”

From: Language in Visual Art: The Twentieth Century by David Galenson

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Read the chapter in our text on Language. Consider what you’ve read, making notes to record your own ideas, and reflect on the examples by other artists the text provides. Do some brainstorming and idea generation along with some preparatory sketches. Begin painting as soon as possible. Consider how you can make a meaningful contribution to the ‘conversation’ about language within a visual arts context.

Size: No restriction

Medium: No restriction

LINK

Complex ideas can’t always be made simple

FULL ARTICLE

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR PRESENTATION

(NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST)

• EXPLAIN HOW THE PAINTING ADDRESSES THE THEME AND ANSWERS THE TERMS OF THE PROJECT

• DISCUSS THE USE OF COLOR, SPACE, SCALE, COMPOSITION, MEDIUM, ETC. IN THE PAINTING

• WHAT TECHNICAL CHALLENGES DID YOU CONFRONT? EXPLAIN

• HOW DOES THE SUBJECT EFFECTIVELY DELIVER THE CONTENT?

• DOES THE PAINTING INVITE INTERPRETATION ON A NUMBER OF LEVELS, DOES IT HAVE ‘LAYERS OF MEANING’? EXPLAIN

• WHAT PASSAGES IN THE TEXT WERE PARTICULARLY INFORMATIVE?

• WHAT OTHER ARTISTS DID YOU LOOK AT?

• WHAT OTHER READINGS DID YOU DO?

• DISCUSS YOUR STRATEGY FOR GENERATING YOUR IDEA

• DESCRIBE THE PREPARATORY STAGES FOR THE PAINTING? SKETCHES, THUMBNAILS, NOTES, DRAWINGS, ETC.

• WHAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (BOOKS, IMAGES, ETC.) DID YOU USE?

• DID YOU USE THE INTERNET AS A SOURCE OF IMAGERY? EXPLAIN

• HOW DID YOU CHALLENGE YOURSELF?

• HOW DID YOU PUSH YOURSELF INTO NEW TERRITORY?

• WHAT OTHER IDEAS AND APPROACHES DID YOU CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING A FINAL DECISION?

• HOW DOES YOUR PAINTING CONTRIBUTE TO THE ‘CONVERSATION’ ON THE THEME OF PLACE?

• WOULD YOU DO IT DIFFERENTLY A SECOND TIME? EXPLAIN

• DOES THIS PAINTING SUGGEST OTHER WORKS YOU COULD DO ON THE THEME OF PLACE? EXPLAIN

• WHAT ARE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE PAINTING?

• WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT?

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.

Visual Arts Program Facebook Page

Due Date: Thursday, October 9, 2010

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.

Check out the link on the right of this page and take the Free Rice Art Quiz. For each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program.