In Class Assignments + Final Project
#1 Advertising Image/Detournement
Using an appropriated image from any source (scanned magazine ad, video still, web image) create a mock ad or poster utilizing Photoshop and Illustrator. Consider what we covered in our discussions with regard to early poster propaganda, collage, detournement, and the utilization of mass media a means for commenting on it.
#2 Web Assignment
Generate a mock web site with a total of six html pages (including your index page) that you link together logically. Additionally, you should create links to at least three outside web sites from within your site, taking into consideration global links, and the importance for a viewer to navigate from any one page to any other page within your site. You will be expected to have the site posted live for us to view on the Internet. The site can be playful, or a mock-up for something your more serious about. Explore creative navigational strategies, and experiment with options for having the viewer engage the information on your site. *** Assignment due either TH 3/20, or TUE 4/1.
#3 Paper
Write a five page paper (double-spaced 12pt. font, normal margins) on an individual artist, or a collection of artworks within a curated exhibit or “group show.” The paper should analyze and critique the various strategies employed by the artist(s) and or curator(s), as well as the over all themes examined within the work(s). The motive for the assignment is to have you confront art you find interesting (or are curious about) that exists within a public forum (gallery/museum). Discuss the strategic methods used, approaching the work with a critical eye, all the while placing emphasis on whether or not those strategies are succeeding or not. Some examples for consideration might be the relationships the works have to one another within the gallery as a stragegy; the physical space itself as a strategy; the choice of media as strategy; any written information accompanying the work (statements, titles) as a strategy, and so on. Emphasize how effectively the work communicates, the methods by which it does so, and the success by which these methods accomplish the goals of the exhibit. *** Due either TH 3/20, or TUE 4/1.
#4 Video Project
Utilizing as your primary source, found, archival, and appropriated video and sound, and if you like, including some of your own original media, create a 3-5 minute video work with sound. The purpose of the assignment is to get you familiarize you with Final Cut Pro and to have you experiment with archival or found footage as source material. You can create a narrative, non-narrative, poetic, experimental, or documentary-style work, the choice is yours, just be creative as you consider some of videos and films we have viewed to date. *** Due 4/29.
Final Project
The concept for your final project is determined by you. There are no constraints other than your project should utilize some strategies that resolve the themes, issues, or goals relevant to your ideas. You are required to meet with me two times to discuss the project details as defined in the “Course Information” section of the syllabus — once during the beginning or mid-point of the class, and once at the end of class some time before the final project due date. Since each project is an individual process, the value of meeting with me to discuss your ideas and progress is all the more important. The project should be manageable given time constraints and available resources, not exceeding what you can realize within the overall framework of the class. ***Due 5/15.
Extra Credit
Read Oscar Wilde’s forty nine page essay “The Critic as Artist: With Some Remarks on the Importance of Doing Nothing.” Write an eight page paper that gives an in-depth review of the positions taken by Ernest and Gilbert. Make arguments for or against their positions, taking into account any relevance these points have for a contemporary reader. For inspiration I suggest “Oscar Wilde’s lasting significance” By David Walsh, including his response to a reader’s criticism of the same essay. ***Due 5/15.