Assignment 12

Look back to Assignment 1 in which you gave your personal definition of Art. Write one paragraph in your sketchbook and readdress how this definition has evolved now that you have gone through an intensively wonderful art filled month of art.

Assignment 10

Beautiful Losers:
Please answer the following questions in your sketchbook:

1. What do you think " the art of getting over" means?

2. What do you think the difference between commercial art and fine art is?

3. What do you think an artist losses when their work enters the commercial market?

4. What is Graffitti to you?

5. When do you think Graffitti is accecptable?

6. How has this movie developed your idea of the act of making art?

Assignment 9

(Project #2 Preparation worksheet)

Part 1:
Think about which of your subjects you might want to explore during this project. On a separate sheet of paper address the following topics.

1. Which of your subject matters would you like to work with on this project?

2. List this subject matter’s four subcategories.

3. State which of your subcategories you would like to focus on for this project.

4. Now brainstorm on the chosen topic, make a diagram (similar to assignment 5.) Use this abstract thinking about your subcategory to help guide you in the next steps.

5. Make a list of at least 5 possible readymade objects. Think about and list the possible significance of the readymade objects in your brainstorm list. Finally, edit your choices down to two.

6. Write at least two sentences about your readymade objects
relevance to your subcategory.

7. Write at least two sentences explaining why your final choice is the best out of your list of possible readymade objects.

8. Next, think about how you will change this readymade form through a series of steps to create a sequential variation. It is important that the methods of variation you choose inform the ideas you are interested in exploring, providing context and content to your whole sculpture. The series you create is not a list, a grouping or a story, but instead a sequence with a distinct progression.

9. Brainstorm ideas of how you might present the final project to a group of peers on Thursday. (Consider a base or armature, and background)

10. Come up with three possible titles to share with your group.

Part 2:
-Acquire enough of your chosen readymade object to experiment with.

-Experiment with your objects. Try manipulating them in different ways. For example if your object has multiple parts you might play with mechanically disassemble and reassembling them into a different form. Or perhaps you selected a piece of fruit that can be cut, sliced, shredded, and peeled, these new apple pieces can than be rearranged into a different form relating to your subcategory.

-Document at least five stages of your objects transformation and bring them to class on Thursday. (Print images in the format of a contact sheet, bring your digital camera, or the actual ready-mades to class.)
*Some parameters to consider are:
-Individual form, overall sequential form, number of stages, scale, color, addition, subtraction, mutation, orientation (rotation or relative position), arrangement, rhythm, spatial relationship, environment, and presentation.

-The changes you make to your readymade objects can be additive or subtractive, but are limited to the use of the ready-mades and their potential parts. At this stage, the only additional materials can be coloring agents (paint, ink, etc.) and adhesives.

-Take pictures of each of your experiments and bring copies to class on Thursday, June 24th, 2009.

You will not be allowed to participate in class without this material and will be asked to leave.

Assignment 8

Choose one of the artists from the list below and select 5 pieces that you like. Adhere the photos in your sketchbook and write a paragraph for each image describing what you like about the work and what you think the artist is trying to translate to the viewer. Please include the title of the piece next to the appropriate photo. Thanks!


Mark Dion
Damien Hurst
Eva Hesse
Barbara Kruger
Egon Schiele
Kiki Smith
Jeff Koons
Felix Gonalez-Torres
Philip Guston
Christian Boltanski
Edward Hopper
Eric Fishcl

Assignment 6

Composition, which is the structure of a picture and separate from both subject and style. Composition is essentially an abstract design. It is the selection and organization of line, shape, value, texture, pattern, and color into an aesthetically pleasing arrangement embodying such principles of design as unity and variety, balance, emphasis and subordination, proportion and scale, and rhythm. The final desired effect of a composition is a sense of unit. It has been suggested that good composition supports the image so discreetly that it is never noticed.

1. Please read The Art of Composition. (Which I gave to you in class)

2. Find 5 photographs by William Eggleston that when you saw it, instantly you were drawn to it. Print these pictures and place it in your sketchbook. Next to your image write at one paragraphs in which you analyze the composition of your photograph. Try to determine what makes your selected image work.

The Art of Composition link: http://www.empken.com/tutorials/composition.pdf

William Eggleston's website: http://www.egglestontrust.com/

— (Click on Monographs to see images from his various published books.)

—Do a Google image search of his work.

Assignment 4

After watching several of the Art21 videos please write a paragraph (5 sentences) for each of the artists that was highlighted today. In this paragraph tell me why you think that artist was paired up with a particular theme.

Janine Antoni — Loss and Desire
Tim Hawkinson— Time
Kara Walker — Stories
James Turrell — Spirituality

This assignment should be done in your sketchbook and is due at the 1st sketchbook check.

Assignment 3

At this point you should have two subjects with each having 4 subcategories, these are the areas you will diagram for this assignment.

No particular format of diagram is required, but there are several formats that have been successful that might be used. See samples below. The content of the diagram must be a list of words, symbols, etc. that deal with the following –emotions, colors, objects, and /or memories that you associate with each of your subcategories. (feel free to add more)

You will have a total of 8 diagrams when this assignment is completed.


**Do not continue if you have not completed Assignment 2 (complete assignment 2 immediately)

Due: Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Examples of note taking / diagrammatic styles
1. Graphic Organizer----Utilizes spokes or arrows for subcategories that radiate from a central idea or concept.

2. Cause and Effect---Effective use of arrows that point out that one event led to another which led to another which led to another.

3. Formal Outline----This is the most common format using Roman numerals for general concepts and a series of letters and numbers to break the information into subcategories

4. Informal Outline---Concepts and explanations are clustered using boxes and bullets; looks like a formal outline minus the letters, numbers, and Roman numerals

5. Pictoral--- Notes dominated by sketches, charts, maps or graphs that are labeled and segmented.