art journal

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A. Objectives: The art historical canon privileges the Western perspective and is incomplete. Most of what we study in this chapter is based on Western art (Europe and North America). It tends to leave out artists and voices from other regions we’ve studied (Middle-east, Africa, South America, Oceania, Asia, Australia, and indigenous, non-white, non-CIS-gender populations). Our task – find an artist which fills in that gap. How-to:Choose a w ork from a time period covered in class this week, but from a region we didnt discuss or didn’t discuss enough (see above)  Not sure how to find a work we havent discussed together? Here are just a few ideas to start, and Im happy to help you find something more specific:

  • (NYC)
  • (London)
  • (Contemporary Art)
  • (LA)
  • (NYC), (Bay Area), (London), and many more modern & contemporary
  • Art Museum Folk and Outsider art (Baltimore)
  • (Santa Fe)
  • Regional and local museums (like ). Most cities have at least one, in the US and abroad.

Choose a work and include this info in your journal:

  1. Metadata: artist name, title of the work, date(s), place, collection if any, medium, size, any other relevant info to help us understand the work better
  2. Image(s) of the work. Do we need to see multiple views to understand it?
  3. Why should we study it? Reference at least 2 pieces we discussed in class. How does your selection engage with the critical conversation from those pieces, and take it further? What is the critical value of your piece? (Here you should take at least 2 paragraphs to 1. Solidify the content in your mind and 2. Prove to me you know it)
  4. Why did you choose it? Your personal aesthetics – why does the piece resonate with you? (Here you should take at least 1 paragraph. Consider addressing visual elements like composition, shape, space, time, color, value, line, texture, focal point, sound, interactivity, material, place, etc.)

B. This chapter deals with the aftermath of WW2. Find another work that does this – preferably from a non-Western point of view. Or, find a work that seems to be a reaction to the “splitting of the atom” and the age of nuclear power.  Choose a work and include this info in your journal:

  1. Metadata: artist name, title of the work, date(s), place, collection if any, medium, size, any other relevant info to help us understand the work better
  2. Image(s) of the work. Do we need to see multiple views to understand it? If so, include those.
  3. Why should we study it? Reference the text on the post-war era / nuclear era, and other artworks we have studied/discussed. How does your selection engage with the critical conversation from those, and take it further? What is the critical value of your piece? (Here you should take at least 2 paragraphs to 1. Solidify the content in your mind and 2. Prove to me you know it)
  4. Why did you choose it? Your personal aesthetics – why does the piece resonate with you? (Here you should take at least 1 paragraph. Consider addressing visual elements like composition, shape, space, time, color, value, line, texture, focal point, sound, interactivity, material, place, etc.)

C. Make an artwork: this is a more open-ended version of the assignment, so if you have questions or want to run an idea by me, please feel free! Along with the work you make, please include a brief explanation telling us how it is a response to the reading and discussion material. As a disclaimer, there is a good chance this option will take a little longer- but you may also find it quite interesting and rewarding. So what could you make?

  • You could draw a replica of a work you see in the chapter – just spending time “recreating” a work helps us become more aware of composition, value, line, etc – all the choices the artist made.
  • You could make an altered version of a work you see in the chapter – consider how the two new versions of Magritte’s pipe (on page 9) add to and change the meaning. This is great because you can be really flexible about the materials you have around the house.
  • You could generate your own work, based not on an example pictured in the chapter – but based on an idea from the text. Maybe there is a concept you want to reflect upon visually. Or a question based on the reading that you could try to communicate via a work of visual art. If you need ideas for fairly “quick” and thought-provoking art-making prompts, you may want to check out this website, called “The Art Assignment”: