Discussion 3: Explore Diverse Art (Formal Analysis)
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Deborah Butterfield, Rory, 1992, Assemblage
Overview
The way an artist manipulates form (medium, visual elements, design principles) in a work of art directly impacts the content, or how the work is understood by the viewer. Moreover, great masters such as Donatello, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh often pushed the boundaries of materials to explore creative approaches that were very different from prevailing trends.
Many artists after World War II also became disenchanted with conventional approaches to making art. They couldn’t see themselves painting something as banal as a vase of flowers or a reclining nude after witnessing the atomic bomb, global destruction, and the death of millions during the Holocaust. As a result, artists began to look for new materials and approaches to help them celebrate their personal identity and better express how they felt about the world. New content called for a new expressive approach.
Assemblage
Assemblage was the most important new approach, but it was not a medium in the traditional sense. Assemblage artists work extensively with found, recycled, and discarded materials. Pablo Picasso, Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Conner, Betye Saar, and Edward Kienholz, among others, are all notable artists who worked in Assemblage.
To help inform your Discussion post, please watch this short video about Assemblage:
Your Assignment
In this Discussion, you will write and post a 550-750 word Formal Analysis (also referred to as Visual Analysis) in which you describe and examine the form of a work of art, especially what the medium and composition contribute to its visual power and meaning. Learning how to correctly write a Formal Analysis is a key skill you will develop during this course.
This is not a research paper, but is a paper based on your own observations and original thought. I want you to learn to write about art because it forces you to think critically about what you see, what is visually evident, then examine your thoughts and articulate them clearly. Clear writing issues from clear thinking!
This Discussion is worth 100 points. Please read the instructions and Grading Rubric before you begin.