art 120: issues and influences                              winter 2012

syllabus     schedule+homework     preparation     vocabulary list
final assignment           readings           speakers           galleries

 

WEEK BY WEEK SCHEDULE, READING & HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

Please note that reading and homework assignments are being updated with current information every week.

 

TO SUBMIT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE Dropbox

 

Week One: INTRODUCTION

W January 4 Introduction to the course: Syllabus, requirements, grading
F January 6 What is Contemporary Art?

Homework: Purchase textbook and index cards. Familiarize yourself with course materials and online tools, including, e-reserves and Dropbox. Download, print and read full syllabus, schedule, and SOA student info packet from course web site. Note important dates and deadlines and make a schedule for the quarter.

Required Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 3-7

Week Two: WHAT IS ART

M January 9 Why is that ART? What is ART for? PDF
W January 11 Looking at art: Description and Interpretation PDF; Looking at Art handout PDF
F January 13 Guest speaker: Klara Glosova, artist, curator, writing tutorial: citations and referencing PDF; Chicago style handout PDF

Homework Writing Assignment: Consider a definition for ART. Due: Sunday, January 15, 11pm
- Create a set of criteria ART must have that distinguishes it from other things and activities. Be sure to consider your set of criteria from both the point of view of the maker/artist, as well as that of the audience/receiver. Your definition should look more like a checklist of clear, concise sentences.Think about it as if you were to write an outline for a larger paper on what art is. Important!: Make your set of criteria well-rounded. Include examples from lectures, readings, where possible. Be careful to reference sources correctly. PDF format only! Remember, dropbox will close at 11pm! You will need to bring a hard copy for peer review on Wednesday, Jan18th.

Site visit: View the following two TED talks online:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html
and JR on Use Art to turn the world inside out http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html

Required Reading (go to UW Library E-Reserves): note: you can find both readings in the "Looking at Art" folder
Describing Art, Terry Barrett, Criticizing Art, Mayfield Publishing 2000
Principles of Interpretation, Terry Barrett, Criticizing Art, Mayfield Publishing 2000

Supplemental Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 9-35

Week Three: PARADIGM CHANGE: STRATEGIES, MATERIALS AND PROCESSES IN CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART

M January 16 HOLIDAY: No school. MLK Day
W January 18 SNOW DAY (UW SEATTLE SUSPENDS OPERATIONS FOR THE DAY!) Interpreting art. See pdf for take home exercise. PDF
F January 20 SNOW DAY (UW SEATTLE SUSPENDS OPERATIONS FOR THE DAY!)

Homework Writing Assignment: Snow-week gives us a good chance to work on revising last week's writing assignments. So, it is the homework for this week. It is not optional. Everybody must submit assignment on Sunday. See DROPBOX HW#2 description for details. Due: Sunday, January 22, 11pm

Site visit: no site visit this week due to snow.

Required Reading (please do them in advance, even though we won't get to this topic before Monday, the 23rd.):
Adrian Searle: Untitled 1993, excerpt, and Bruce Hainley: Self-portrait as Untitled, excerpt, Tom Friedman, Phaidon press, 2001
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 9-35

Supplemental Reading:
Marcel Duchamp: The Richard Mutt Case, The Creative Act, Apropos of Readymades
Supplemental Research: watch artist, Oliver Herring, create work "Spitting Food Dye..." on art21-YouTube http://www.youtube.com/art21org#play/uploads/28/0mbtV83ZhhM

Week Four: SPACES / PLACES

M January 23 Paradigm change: Duchamp. Art / Craft; Process / Product Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review today!!! PDF
W January 25 Objects in space, Site specificity, The monument Quiz#1 PDF
F January 27 Guest speaker: Leo Berk, artist; Review of description and interpretation; Writing workshop:Essay basics PDF

Homework Writing Assignment: OBJECT?SUBJECT? Attention! In order to do this week's writing assignment, you must do the site visit first! Watch the video at the Henry. Pick a One Minute Sculpture from the video you'll be analyzing for the purpose of this paper. Do it yourself, and to document it, take a picture/video of yourself doing it. (You'll need a friend to help you with this part).
In the essay, - consider this work formally (how do you understand/describe the object as a 3D construction?) - and interpret it (what is the artwork about? what does it do? how does it function? How does it fit in with a certain tradition in recent art? What's the role of the viewer/artist? Who is the viewer/maker?). In your interpretation, be sure to use information from this week's lectures.
1 page essay in PDF format + documentation: Photograph: 1 JPG (less than 2MB) uploaded to dropbox as a separate file or Video: low res Quicktime format only (max. 60 seconds) uploaded to dropbox as a separate file or URL link to the same on Youtube or Vimeo. Due: Sunday, January 29, 11pm in the Dropbox Bring a hard copy for peer review on Monday, Jan 30!!!
Site Visit: Erwin Wurm: One minute sculptures at Henry Art Gallery. In the lobby, you'll find a project titled: Test Site. Test site displays a video and offers you a participatory experience.

Required Reading:
See readings from last week + Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 151-173
Watch video of artist, Maya Lin discussing her work "Wave Field" http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/11/07/arts/design/1194832296918/maya-lins-wave-field.html

Supplemental Reading:
Revival Field, Mel Chin, Land and Environmental Art, Jeffrey Kastner editor, Phaidon Press 1998

Week Five: TIME / NARRATIVE

M January 30 Earthworks Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review today!!! PDF
W February 1 Time embodied PDF
F February 3 Time represented PDF Quiz#2 Writing workshop:Essay PDF

Homework Writing Assignment: Time-based experience
Attention: In order to do this project, you must first visit the Olympic Sculpture Park!
Create a subjective map of the Olympic Sculpture Park that describes/embodies, in some way, the time-based nature of your visit in the park. This can be done through, for example, focusing on a type of sensory perception; on the subjective experience of the passage of time; recording of changes in atmospheric effects during your visit; interactions with the landscape or with fellow visitors; or whichever other way you devise and conceptualize this project.
You are to submit two things:
1. a documentation of the project (visual: jpg only! or video / sound: small Quicktime file only)
2. a reflective essay, in which you describe the project you did; interpret what happened, was was created, what was the time-based element; and how what you've done fits in with contemporary uses of time in art.
Make sure that your essay gives a complete picture of your project to someone who was not there or cannot see the documentation. In a way, the essay will thus become your documentation of the project. Bring a hard copy for peer review on Monday, Feb 6!!! Due: Sunday, February 5, 11pm in the Dropbox
Site visit: Olympic Sculpture Park (free entry)

Required Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 111-139
- watch on YouTube:
William Kentridge: Felix in Exile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF5cngcXqSs;
Automatic Writing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvK7A84dlk&playnext=1&list=PLBC73455ABECD703E&index=13

Supplemental Reading:
Additional Sources:
- Odegaard Undergraduate Library Media Center (DVD’s):
Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides
Fischli & Weiss: The Way Things Go
William Kentridge
Matthew Barney: Drawing Restraint
- Odegaard Undergraduate Library Stacks (books):
graphic novels and comic books (Megan Kelso: Squirrel Mother, Artichoke Tales; Art Spiegelman)
Megan Kelso: selected stories from Squirrel Mother on e-reserves

Week Six: SPIRITUALITY

M February 6 Spirituality, Vanitas PDF Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review today!!!
W February 8 The sublime, Iconography; Manipulating meanings; Quiz#3 PDF
F February 10 Guest speaker: Mandy Greer, artis; Writing workshop: Descriptive art review PDF: Basic Questions to cover when writing about art; PDF: Petah Coyne; PDF: Danto;

Homework Writing Assignment: You have a choice this week: Either choose an artwork/project by guest speaker, Mandy Greer (from her presentation) or choose Wolgang Laib’s Pollen from Hazelnut at the Henry.
You are to write an art review for Art in America on the chosen artwork. Be sure to describe the artwork, analyze it formally, and interpret it to your readers. In your interpretation, take the following concepts from this week into account: iconography, ritual/ritualistic practice, vanitas and the sublime. As an art critic, you are responsible for broadening your readers view by drawing comparison between this artwork / artist’s practice and those of the relevant artworks / artists studied in class. Bring a hard copy for peer review on Monday, Feb 13!!! DUE: Sunday, February 12 11pm in the Dropbox
Site visit: Wolfgang Laib in the exhibtion Pollen and Paint: Laib, Homer, and the Natural World at the Henry Art Gallery. Attn: Exhibtion opens on Sat. Feb 11.

Required Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 273-297, 302-306

Supplemental Reading:
Wolfgang Laib's Mystical Revolution in Idiosyncratic Identities, Donald Kuspit, Cambrindge University Press, NY 1996
Modest Propositions by Margit Rowell in Wolfgang Laib A Retrospective, Klaus Ottman, American federation of Arts and Hatje Cantz Publishers 2000
The Art of Having a Lofty Perspective, Michael Kimmelman, The Accidental Masterpiece, Penguin Press 2005

Week Seven: IDENTITY & the BODY

M February 13 Identity as a construct; Situational & performing identity Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review today!!! PDF: Identity
W February 15 Hybridity, Essentialism, Personalizing history, The BODY:Performing bodies PDF: THE BODY
F February 17 Materials and forms, Gaze Quiz#4

Homework Writing Assignment: DEBATE on THE BODY
Imagine two artists, Stelarc and Janine Antoni, having a debate about the contemporary role of the body, with the help of a moderator, you. What would they discuss?
As a moderator, design 3 questions around which each of these artist could build their arguments. What points would each make?
What artworks of their own would they use as examples to support their points? Where would they agree? Where would they disagree with each other?
Warning: Before you create a hypothetical dialog between the artists, examine both artists’ works and ideas in depth. See lecture, site visit, and supplemental reading. As preparation, compare and contrast the strategies used by each to present the body both as a physical, biological entity and as a metaphor.
As a moderator, you are to introduce both artists, and frame the debate (introduction); pose the questions (discussion/debate), and conclude the debate (conclusion). The format is a one page transcript of the debate. Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review on Wednesday, Feb 22!!! DUE: Sunday, February 19th, 11pm
Site visit: Online Research
http://lynnhershman.com/ for Roberta Breitmore (under Performances/Installations)
http://www.pbs.org/art21/index.html for Kara Walker, Kerry James Marshall, Do-Ho Suh, Cindy Sherman (videos, interviews, slideshows)

Required Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, on Identity: pp 37-39 (end of J. Luna), 42-46 (until Diversity), 50-52, 54-55, 65-69; on The Body: pp 73-87 (until sexual bodies), 90-93 (Gaze only), 95-101, 102-107.

Supplemental Reading:
Roberta Breitmore, The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson, edited by Meredith Tromble, U. of California Press 2005
Mona Hatoum interviewed by Janine Antoni, Mona Hatoum: Domestic Disturbance, Laura Steward editor, Mass MOCA and SITE Santa Fe 2001

Week Eight: PUBLIC / PRIVATE

M February 20 HOLIDAY: No school. President's Day
W February 22 Final Project is being presented Bring a hard copy of last week's homework assignment for peer review today!!!
F February 24 Art in the public space PDF Quiz#5

Homework Writing Assignment: Final Project REVISION & SAMPLE PAGE DRAFT - PDF handout: preparation for the final project
To do:
#1. Revise, re-write and expand the homework assignment with the lowest points (1 1/2 - 2 pages in lenght)
#2. Create a sample page for final presentation. Sample page must include fully developed revised essay, images, image credits, and writing (essay)
#3. Start developing a plan for the overall structure and content for your blog/booklet. Possible formats may include: a collection of essays with an introduction and a closing essay; a graphic novel/comic book complete with essays, a textbook, an interactive book, a blog, etc... Make the format creative but also fitting your content. Prepare to present layout of your final format by drawings & notes, mock-up layout, etc. If your format is a blog, you must set up the blog and provide the URL.
For examples on formats, see information posted on the bottom of the Final Assignment page.
DUE: Sunday, February 26 11pm in the Dropbox Submit #1-2 only. You'll be bringing#3 to your consultation next week.
Site visit: Susie Lee at the Frye Art Museum

Required Reading:
Themes of Contemporary Art, pp 173-176, 179-187
Richard Serra, from the Yale Lecture, Art in Theory 1900-1990, Charles Harrison, Paul Wood editors, Blackwell Publishers 1992
Transcript of a Hearing to decide the future of Tilted Arc, Arguing About Art, Alex Neill, Aaron Ridley editors, Routledge 2002

Supplemental Research:
Janet Cardiff Walks
Iinstallations in the Unilever Series at the Tate Modern
Interview with Krzysztof Wodiczko at the PBS ART21: http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/wodiczko/clip2.html

Week Nine: INSTITUTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ART, ART MUSEUMS; REVIEW & CONSULTATIONS

M February 27 Curatorial Issues. Museums and exhibitions. Guest speaker: Robin Held, Frye Art Museum
W February 29 Consultations GROUP #1 Atherton - Kravik (Bring 4 copies of sample chapter + notes, sketches and/or mock-up for final product)
F March 2 Consultations GROUP #2 Lam - Yu(Bring 4 copies of sample chapter + notes, sketches and/or mock-up for final product)

Homework Writing Assignment: This week you are working in compiling, revising, expanding on and connecting each of the assignments to form a comprehensive whole. For the final format you need to consider a general introduction chapter/entry and another one for closing thoughts/conclusion. These are to be at least 1/2 page (250-300 words) in length. You can submit it as a single pdf or one pdf for each part.
In the intro: Present what this collection of essays is set out to accomplish. Why is this interesting? For whom? What is contemporary art?
In the closing: Summarize what you've learned about contemporary art. Did it change your view of art? How? Why should the reader care about contemporary art? How does it fit into our lives and contemporary culture?
You may use HW2 (essay version of the definition of art) for either the intro or for the closing. Of course, you'll need to expand and revise it to fit the way you are using it.
This assignment is not going to be graded. However, it must be submitted on time in order to get credit for it. DUE: Sunday, March 4th at 11pm.
The dropbox is staying open for the rest of the quarter so that you may continue uploading revised essays for review in advance of your consultation session. Due: Sunday, March 4, 11pm
Site visit: Susie Lee at the Frye Art Museum

Required Reading: Donna De salvo: Notes on Curating pg46-48; Robert Storr: ICI - Questions an Answers pg164-166; Thelma Golden: Mama said... pg72-74; Robert Storr: Show and Tell pg23-26; Ingrid Schaffner: Wall Text pg164-167, What makes a Great Exhibition?, Reaktion Books, 2007

Supplemental Reading:Money, Markets, Museums, Cynthia Freeland, But is it art? Oxford University Press 2001
Lee Rosenbaum: The SAM: A Work in Progress, The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2007

Week Ten: REVIEW & CONSULTATIONS

M March 5 Consultations GROUP #1 Atherton - Kravik (Bring 4 copies of sample chapter + notes, sketches and/or mock-up for final product)
W March 7 Consultations GROUP #2 Lam - Yu (Bring 4 copies of sample chapter + notes, sketches and/or mock-up for final product)
F March 9 Final Review Quiz#6 (see vocab list from weeks 8 and 9) PDF

Homework Assignment: Final Project in PDF format Due: Sunday, March 11, 11pm IMPORTANT!!!: The link to your art120 Final Blog must be posted at this time. Printed BOOK projects are due at noon on Monday, March 12th, in collection box next to room ART328J.



Finals Week: PRESENTATIONS OF SELECTED BOOKS and BLOGS
TH March 15   8:30-10:20am classroom: SMI 304

download handout of schedule (pdf)