STEP 1:
Read the articles linked in Libguides under essays.
READING REFERENCES
*All Readings are linked in Libguides under Essays
Culture Wars: Then…and Now Institutional Critique
Readings:
1. Itzkoff, David, “Video deemed offensive pulled by Portrait Gallery,” New York
Times, 1 December 2010. Available from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/arts/design/02portrait.html
2. Cotter, Holland, “Critic’s Notebook: David Wojnarowicz’s ‘A fire in my belly’” and “As ants crawl over crucifix, Dead artist is assailed again,” 9 and 10 December 2010, New York Times. Available from: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/critics-notebook-david- wojnarowiczs-a-fire-in-my-belly/?scp=1&sq=david%20Wojnarowicz&st=cse and http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/arts/design/11ants.html?scp=6&sq= david%20Wojnarowicz&st=cse
3. Rosenberg, Karen. “A voyeur makes herself at home in the Louvre,” 8 December 2011, New York Times. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/arts/design/nan-goldin-scopophilia- at-matthew-marks-gallery-review.html
Visit website for timeline regarding controversy in government funding:
4. http://www.franklinfurnace.org/research/essays/nea4/neatimeline.html
“Post” Identity
Readings:
**1. Jones, Amelia. “Post black bomb.” Tema Celeste (March/April 2002): 52-
55.
**2. “Introduction” to Thelma Golden’s Freestyle exhibition catalogue
3. Cotter, Holland. “The topic is race, the art is fearless,” New York Times, 30 March 2008. Available from: http://nytimes.com/2008/03/30/arts/design/30cott.html?pagewanted=all 4. Press release for “Andy Warhol Retrospective at Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LA MoCA)” Archived copy available from: http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa253.htm
4. Cotter, Holland. “Everything About Warhol but the sex,” New York Times, 14 July 2002. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/14/arts/art-architecture-everything- about-warhol-but-the-sex.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
5. Solomon, Deborah. “Kehinde Wiley puts a classical spin on his contemporary subjects,” New York Times, January 28, 2015. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/arts/design/kehinde-wiley-puts-a- classical-spin-on-his-contemporary-subjects.html?_r=0
View + Read:
7. Look at images and read press release for the 2002 exhibition, Piss and Sex
Paintings and Drawings at Gagosian Gallery, NYC: http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/september-19-2002–andy-warhol
Relational Aesthetics: Now and Then (Happenings, Fluxus, Situationists)
Readings:
**1. Bourriaud, Nicolas. Relational Aesthetics. Dijon, France: Les Presses Du
Reel, 1998. Only pages 1-24.
2. Bishop, Claire. “Antagonism and relationship aesthetics,” October 110 (Fall
2004): 51-79. Available through e-journals:
http://www.mitpressjournals.org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1162/016228
7042379810
3. Saltz, Jerry. “The long slide: Museums as playgrounds,” December 4, 2011, New York Magazine, Available from: http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2011/museums-as-playgrounds/
**4. Schjeldahl, Peter. The art world, “Up in the air,” The New Yorker, November 21, 2011.
Visit:
5. Solomon R. Guggenheim’s website on its retrospective of Maurizio Cattelan’s
work: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-
york/exhibitions/past/exhibit/3961
6. New Museum of Contemporary Art’s website on its exhibition, “Carsten Höller: Experience” http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/449. View documentary videos and slides.
View(/Listen):
7. Hennessy Youngman’s (Jayson Musson) video Art Thoughtz: Relational
Aesthetics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yea4qSJMx4
8. Peter Schjeldahl of the New Yorker’s audio slide show of Maurizo Cattelan’s retrospective, November 21, 2011: http://www.newyorker.com/online/multimedia/2011/11/21/111121_audioslidesho w_cattelan
New Media Art
Readings:
1. “Introduction” from Jana, Reena and Mark Tribe. New Media Art. Köln;
London: Taschen, 2006. Available from: http://bit.ly/xDOzwd
2. Weiner, Jonah. “The artist who talks with the fishes,” New York Times, 29
June 2013. Available from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/the-artist-who-talks-with-
the-fishes.html?pagewanted=all
3. Cornell Lauren and Kazys Varnelis. “Down the line” Frieze 114: September 2011. Available from: http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/down-the-line/
4. Bishop, Claire. “Digital divide,” Artforum. Sept 2012. Available from: http://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue=201207&id=31944 [you will need to create a username/password to access the article.]
5. Obadike, Keith. Interview by Coco Fusco. “The Tale of an Online Black Sale.” September 24, 2001. Available from: http://blacknetart.com/coco.html
Visit:
6. “Collect the World” tumblr (concept and book):
http://collectheworld.tumblr.com
STEP 2:
Choose a contemporary artist (from the textbook or outside of the textbook) working within one of the four themes:
Culture Wars: Then…and Now Institutional Critique
“Post” Identity
Relational Aesthetics: Now and Then (Happenings, Fluxus, Situationists)
New Media Art
STEP 3:
Please complete a formal analysis, interpretation, and critique based on your chosen theme and artist:
A. When developing your critique please remember the following points:
* Art criticism is responding to, interpreting meaning, and making critical judgments about specific works of art.
* Art critics help viewers perceive, interpret, and judge artworks.
* Critics tend to focus more on modern and contemporary art from cultures close to their own.
B. When developing your formal analysis please remember the following points:
-Four levels of formal analysis, which you can use to explain a work of art:
1. Description= pure description of the object without value judgments,
analysis, or interpretation.
* It answers the question, “What do you see?”
* The various elements that constitute a description include:
1. Form of art whether architecture, sculpture, painting or one of the minor arts
2. Medium of work whether clay, stone, steel, paint, etc., and technique (tools used)
3. Size and scale of work (relationship to person and/or frame and/or context)
4. Elements or general shapes (architectural structural system) within the composition, including building of post-lintel construction or painting with several figures lined up in a row; identification of objects
5. Description of axis whether vertical, diagonal, horizontal, etc.
6. Description of line, including contour as soft, planar, jagged, etc.
7. Description of how line describes shape and space (volume); distinguish between lines of objects and lines of composition, e.g., thick, thin, variable, irregular, intermittent, indistinct, etc.
8. Relationships between shapes, e.g., large and small, overlapping, etc.
9. Description of color and color scheme = palette
10. Texture of surface or other comments about execution of work
11. Context of object: original location and date
12. Analysis = determining what the features suggest and deciding why the artist used such features to convey specific ideas.
* It answers the question, “How did the artist do it?”
* The various elements that constitute analysis include:
1. Determination of subject matter through naming iconographic elements, e.g., historical event, allegory, mythology, etc.
2. Selection of most distinctive features or characteristics whether line, shape, color, texture, etc.
3. Analysis of the principles of design or composition, e.g., stable,
repetitious, rhythmic, unified, symmetrical, harmonious, geometric, varied, chaotic, horizontal or vertically oriented, etc.
1. Discussion of how elements or structural system contribute to appearance of image or function
2. Analysis of use of light and role of color, e.g., contrasty, shadowy, illogical, warm, cool, symbolic, etc.
1. Treatment of space and landscape, both real and illusionary (including use of perspective), e.g., compact, deep, shallow, naturalistic, random
2. Portrayal of movement and how it is achieved
3. Effect of particular medium(s) used
4. Your perceptions of balance, proportion and scale (relationships of each part of the composition to the whole and to each other part) and your emotional
5. Reaction to object or monument
6. Interpretation = establishing the broader context for this type of art.
• It answers the question, “Why did the artist create it and what does it mean
* The various elements that constitute interpretation include:
1. Main idea, overall meaning of the work.
2. Interpretive Statement: Can I express what I think the artwork is about in one sentence?
3. Evidence: What evidence inside or outside the artwork supports my interpretation?
4. Judgment: Judging a piece of work means giving it rank in relation to other works and of course considering a very important aspect of the visual arts; its originality.
* Is it a good artwork?
* Criteria: What criteria do I think are most appropriate for judging the artwork?
* Evidence: What evidence inside or outside the artwork relates to each criterion?
* Judgment: Based on the criteria and evidence, what is my judgment about the quality of the artwork?
C. When developing your interpretation please remember the following points:
Barrett’s Principles of Interpretation
1. Artworks have “aboutness” and demand interpretation.
2. Interpretations are persuasive arguments.
3. Some interpretations are better than others.
4. Good interpretations of art tell more about the artwork than they tell about the critic.
5. Feelings are guides to interpretations.
6. There can be different, competing, and contradictory interpretations of the same artwork.
7. Interpretations are often based on a worldview.
8. Interpretations are not so much absolutely right, but more or less reasonable, convincing, enlightening, and informative.
9. Interpretations can be judged by coherence, correspondence, and inclusiveness.
10. An artwork is not necessarily about what the artist wanted it to be about.
11. A critic ought not to be the spokesperson for the artist.
12. Interpretations ought to present the work in its best rather than its weakest light.
13. The objects of interpretation are artworks, not artists.
INSTRUCTIONS
Writing Requirements:
* Length must meet at minimum three (3) pages.
* Please note: The full length of written content MUST be three pages long, not including any author information (such as written in the upper right by MLA style)
* Provide three (3) sources for your entry minimum.
* Wikipedia and other non-academic websites will not be accepted for this criteria.
* Acceptable sources may be located from the following:
* their textbook
* Academic and scholarly journals
* org
* Museum websites – such as those linked on this page: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums-us.html
* The sources above are merely suggestions of where credible sources could be found, and should not be mistaken as always acceptable. Please use proper academic discretion to determine if your source is appropriate. If you have any questions regarding this, please review this website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/01/(Links to an external site.) or speak with your local librarian.
* Cite academic articles, books, or other research at sources of your conclusions.
* Citations may be written in APA or MLA style. Refer to the Ivy Tech Writing Guide for examples of citations commonly used.
* In-text citations and a full resource(s) citation must be included.
* See the citation resources in “Resources” area for information specific to art citations.
* Thoroughly address all aspects of the prompt.
* Use proper terminology as presented in the textbook.
Plagiarism: Please review the syllabus statement regarding academic honesty and plagiarism.