julie mehretu

Posted here are some of the videos we watched in class on Tuesday, February 1 about contemporary artists Julie Mehretu. The last video in this post is 43 minutes long; it is of Mehretu talking about her work at the University of Michigan. We did not have time to view it in class, but you may want to take a look at it on your own.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

student blog list and small groups

 

Click here to see the student blog list for Drawing III ~ Spring 2011.

This list will be available throughout the semester under the Pages Tabs at the top of the blog, on the home page.

On the spreadsheet you will find the student's name, blog url, and blog title.

Colors denote small groups. Whoever has the same color as you is in your small group. There are four groups of four and two groups of three.

Each week, in addition to your own weekly reflection on your blog, you will be expected to read, engage with, and comment on at least two other members' blog posts from your small group. If you are in a group of four, make sure you are alternating your comments to keep the number of comments equal throughout the semester. These comments could include continuing a conversation that has been started on the blogs between you and other small group members. The idea is to create a dialogue within a small group dynamic and allow those in your small group to be contact points for you during the semester, to be those that best know your work and ideas, and who will feel comfortable giving honest feedback.

Mapping

click here to access the slide show "Drawing III: Mapping"

I have put the slide show on the Blue Drive. Click on the above link to access it. You may have to enter your Stout email username and password to be able to view the Power Point presentation.

Reading for next week

Click here to go to the new Google Group for Drawing III. On the group page you will find links to articles you need to read:

Jeremy Wood, MY GHOST A map of all my travels in London over the past 10 years
image from http://www.gpsdrawing.com/

For Tuesday, Feb. 1 read:
Editorial Preface: Art in C'Art'ography
Editorial Special Issue on Art & Cartography
Mapping in Contemporary Art
and the Ljungberg article on Julie Mehretu

For Thursday, Feb. 3 read:
GPS Tracings (also see website http://www.gpsdrawing.com/) 
Mapping Letters Interactive Design
and Walking the Line

syllabus • spring 2011

Drawing III • Spring 2011
Micheels Hall 287

ART 300-001
Tuesday/Thursday • 2:30 – 5:30 pm

Final Exam:

Tuesday, May 17, 10:00 – 11:50 am



Amy Fichter
Associate Professor

Applied Arts 306B

Office hours:

Mondays, 12:10 – 2:10 pm

& by appointment

ext. 5335

fichtera@uwstout.edu

PreRequisites
:
Students must have completed Drawing I (ART 100) and Drawing II (ART 200) before participating in Drawing III (ART 300).



Course Description/Objectives:

• In this course you will assume the role of contemporary artist that uses drawing as his/her primary medium.
• You will look at drawings made by other contemporary artists, read about their processes and work, and explore how your work exists within that dialogue.
• You will learn what it means to conduct research in the field of visual arts.
• You will create drawings and discuss them in order to develop a burgeoning artist’s voice. What is the artist’s role in society today? What issues concern you? How can you use drawing to communicate complex thought/artistic understanding?
• During the first half of the course, you will create drawings based upon instructor-guided assignments.
• The second half of the semester will be dedicated to student-directed visual/creative research that results in a small, but consistent, body of work that is made up of a reasonable but challenging number of drawings (will vary according to scale, medium, intent, etc.).
• 
In addition to drawing, you will also participate actively in written and verbal communication about drawing. This will happen through weekly blog posts and comments as well as through class critiques.
• You will also be expected to document your research throughout the semester. This can happen through blog posts, a sketchbook, or another relevant method. This will include such things as recording source material, keeping track of ideas, experimenting with imagery, showing your thought process as the semester progresses. A presentation-worthy version of this will be handed in/exhibited at the end of the semester.
• You are expected to spend six hours per week outside of class on work related to this course.

Evaluations & Expectations:

I expect you:

• Be in class. Class time will be reserved for showing examples of contemporary artists’ work, discussion of reading material, group critiques, and for drawing. Any research for drawing needs to be done outside of class. Being absent or not working on drawings during class will count against your final grade.
• Finish all assigned drawings, projects, research documentation, and writing assignments.
• Create a final body of work based on your conceptual and visual concerns.
• Engage in meaningful discussion about your own and other students’ drawings.
• Participate in the end-of-semester class exhibition (including installation and take-down).
• Blog assignments/weekly reflections.

Attendance
It’s important that you are in class—the class happens because all of you are here working together.

Let me know via e-mail if you can’t make it to class.

Rely on your classmates to show you drawings and notes you may have missed.


After 3 absences, your grade will be lowered.
After 7 absences, you will fail the class.



Grading Policy

Your grade will be based on the quality and thoughtfulness of your drawings, written assignments, class participation (including participation in the end-of-semester exhibition), and research document.

Your grade will also be affected by such “subjective” qualities as these:

1. Are you present?

2. In mind as well as body?
3. Open to suggestions?

4. Helpful in class discussions?

5. Awake during class/lecture time?



For most of the semester I am your coach/advocate. I will encourage, support, and challenge you in order for you to become a better artist.

During midterm and final grading (and in other critique sessions), my role shifts from advocate to judge. It is then my job to give you a fair and accurate gauge of where your work and class participation fit within the standards and expectations of the university and of the larger art & design professional community.

Save and document all your drawings from the semester.



Materials:
Materials will vary by individual. The following materials represent possible choices for drawing surfaces/substrates and drawing media.

Each student will need some kind of digital camera for gathering source images.

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Surfaces & Substrates
Drawing papers (sheets or rolls)
Watercolor papers
Printmaking papers
Commercially tinted papers
Illustration boards
Prepared paper surfaces (gesso, blackboard spray, etc.)
Photographs and photocopies
Frosted mylar and acetate sheets
Vellum
Canvas and other fabrics
Glass and Plexiglas
Acrylic medium sheets (handmade)
Metal
Raw and prepared wood
Wall surfaces and found surfaces

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Media
Graphite pencils
Graphite sticks
Graphite powder
Silverpoint
Charcoal pencils
Carbon pencils
Vine charcoal
Compressed charcoal
Powdered charcoal
Conte crayon
Colored pencil
Colored pencil sticks
Chalk pastels
Chalk pastel pencils
Oil pastels
Ink
Ink wash
Ink pens
Watercolor
China markers
Litho pencils
Litho crayons
Acrylics/acrylic washes
Gouache
Mixed Media
Oil paint washes
Wax
Coffee and tea washes
Dirt, mud, and clay
Smoke and/or soot
Photocopy toner
Rust
Body fluids


Additional Materials for Drawing and Related Processes
Erasers—Pink Pearl, kneaded, plastic, and tube erasers
Sandpaper
Steel wool
Odorless solvents
Mineral spirits
Colorless blender
Metal sppon
Bone folder
Burnishing tools
Cotton fabric
Cotton balls
Drafting/masking tape
Scissors/x-acto knife
Gloves/safety glasses
Digital inkjet glossy photo paper
Acrylic gloss medium



Text:
Art Lessons: Meditations on the Creative Life by Deborah J. Haynes
Available at Instructional Resource Services

Art Education Artifacts:
The course objectives of this course meet:
•Wisconsin Standard 1: The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches.
• UW Stout School of Education Domain 1a: Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy.
• Wisconsin Standard 9: The teacher is a reflective practitioner.
Portfolio Artifact: best work as determined by student and professor
• Art education students will be required to reflect in writing on this artifact.
• Art education students will be required to upload papers and digital images of their studio works into their e-portfolios.

emulation project

When we return from spring break, you will be presenting your Influences & Sources paper to the class (Tuesday, March 30).

The next project (after working with the figure in class next week, March 16 and 18), will be a project in which you emulate one of the artists from your Influences & Sources paper.

Uta Barth Emulation by SkeenaalleyGirl on flickr

Emulation Project
Choose one artist to emulate from your Influences & Sources paper.
Emulate means to "match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation."

What I'd like you to do for this project is to get into the mind of the artist. Research him/her as much as you can--through reading, looking at videos, reading reviews of their work, looking at as much of their work as you can find. Imagine becoming that artist.

Create a drawing in which you almost embody that artist. Pretend to be them and to be making their choices. Work with a similar subject matter, theme, medium, scale, etc. Do not copy a pre-existing work, but make a new work as your chosen artist might make it.

We will work on this project in class April 6 and April 8. You will be expected to work on it outside of class between March 30 and April 6. Mid Program Review is April 1 so there will be no Art & Design classes that day. Critique will be April 15 (Advising Day is April 13, so no classes that day, either!).

Feel free to make an appointment with me during those times when we are not meeting due to the MPR and Advising if you'd like me to give you feedback on your drawing.

After this, there will be two more projects due during the semester, plus our end-of-the-year show in Gallery 209. Stay tuned for details!

myers-briggs type analysis

If you have not already done so, you need to create a blog post that reflects upon our work in class this past Tuesday (9 March 2010), taking the Myers-Briggs personality test/type indicator. Do this by next Tuesday (16 March 2010).

Write a minimum of two paragraphs that address the following questions. If you've already blogged about the experience, add to your post or create a new one in which you answer any of these questions you may not have addressed.

1. Name and describe your type.
2. Read your type's description and write what you find especially true to yourself within that description and what you find only partially, or not at all, descriptive of you.
3. How do the strengths of your type influence the work you do as an artist/designer, especially as related to Drawing III this semester? What weaknesses of your type do you need to remain aware of in order to overcome them when needed?
4. How may your type affect the choices you make in regard to subject matter?
5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your type in a group setting such as critique? What does your type have to offer the class in a critique setting? What weaknesses need to be addressed in order for you to be a successful participant in critique? (Remember, participation during critiques makes up a part of your grade. If you are not participating to your fullest potential, this will be reflected in your grade. If you need to participate through writing and commenting on blogs, you need to take the initiative to do so.)

influences and sources

one of my artistic influences: Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945), Woman with her Dead Child (1903)

Influences & Sources:
Research and write a paper that explores, discovers, and finds connections between the artists and ideas that drive your work as an artist/designer. This is primarily a discovery paper that uses source material to aid in that process. Sources should be noted.

This paper should be 8 - 10 pages, double-spaced. You will present the paper during class on March 30. Plan to present for 4 minutes with 1 minute for questions and answers. The presentation should include visual sources, especially for artistic influences, but visuals will be helpful for the other influences and sources as well.

Before writing, read the chapter titled "Writing" in Deborah Hayne's Art Lessons.

Write about each of the following influences and sources:

I. Artistic Influences & Sources
Out of many artists you have studied or seen, which ones truly resonate with you and your aesthetic sensibilities? What about them and their work do you find compelling? What does their work offer you; how does your work differ?

II. Influences & Sources from outside the art world
These influences and sources should include other areas of study and thought that give insight into what you make and who you are as an artist? What do you care about beyond your art-making practice? What fascinates you? What have others written that connect with your work? Examples include science, music, literature, popular culture, film, etc.

III. Personal Influences & Sources
This does not mean "personal" as in private, but rather "personal" as defined as "of, affecting, or belonging to a particular person rather than to anyone else." What in your experience as a unique person has affected or might affect your work as an artist/designer? Examples may include or be similar to (or vary broadly from) such topics as childhood experiences/stories, family interactions, siblings, place you've lived, institutions you were/are a part of, places you've traveled, etc.

As an example, see my paper here.
My paper is missing its sources; I apologize. I link to it here not to give you a blue print for what your paper should be, but to give you an idea of the quality of writing I'm expecting. This paper should be thoughtful and thorough. It should aim to make connections between each of the three areas of influence. It will serve as a reference for the rest of the semester as you make more work and we engage in more critique sessions.

I Myself Have Seen It: Photography

I Myself Have Seen It: Photography & Kiki Smith: Henry Art Gallery

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critique: march 2, 2010