|
All papers are due by the beginning of class in the Digital drop Box
on Blackboard. They are to be between 4-6 pages in length - any annotation
should comply with Chicago Footnotes style (see Diana Hacker, A
Pocket Style Manual, pp. 168-194).
Reaction paper - due Tuesday, September
6
• react to a self-portrait by looking at it for
15 minutes – write a description of the image, striving to give
character to the person you see before you, using all of the visual
information within (but only within) the frame of the work of art. The
preparatory work here involves looking - look at several self-portraits
before choosing one, think carefully about your choice, taking notes
to help you make a decision. Then, using LUNA, or the web databases
listed on the Our Artists on the Web
page, look at other works by your artist - you want to get a sense of
the range of both the subject matter and the style of your artist. Find
a painting that makes you curious, look at details, zoom in if possible
and try to detect brushstroke, or an artistic gesture. You want to be
visually familiar with your artist before you begin writing
this paper. A few words about writing description: by no means does
this writing call for you to describe the painting from left to right
and top to bottom - far from it. Instead, the description should make
all of the thoughts and emotions that you had palpable to the reader
- feel free to use metaphors, digressions, similes, narratives - whatever
it takes to give the reader a sense, your sense, of the character
of the artist in this self-portrait. Finally, really do take those 15
minutes to look at the self-portrait. As you will realize, 15 minutes
is a very long time to look at any one thing (especially in
our culture) - so turn off the IM, minimize all other windows, and allow
yourself to become completely absorbed by an image.
back to top
Original writing paper - due Tuesday,
September 27
• interact with an original writing by the artist
or of his/her time by isolating an issue within their writing –
write a letter to your artist addressing this issue, referring to other
works of art and self-portraits by the artist to do so. The writing
in question does not have to be extensive - it can be a series of quotes
embedded in an article, a letter pulled from a collection of letters,
a journal etc. republished elsewhere, etc. The key is that it be one
writing (i.e. you are not being asked to compare letters or comments
- just find the one that awakens your desire to write back to your artist).
You will want to consult the bibliography I have prepared for you (found
in Blackboard under Course Documents) to find an original writing -
if one is not readily apparent, do consult with me and I can point you
in the right direction. With this writing, you are expanding your familiarity
with your artist to include his or her words. It is often surprising
to discover what an artist is concerned about - your first challenge
may indeed be to pin down your artist's issues. The preparation here
will be reading through several original writings before choosing one
that you would like to write back to the artist about. Looking back
through images by the artist will establish a set of references you
can make to the artist. Remember that you are writing this in the format
of a letter - you are note developping an argument, per se, but rather
working out an issue, looking at it from all angles, and trying to respond
to your artist's concerns.
back to top
Biography paper - due Tuesday, October
25
• explore the relationship of biography to art
by examining an episode or circumstance in your artist’s life
that you wish to argue affected his or her art – be sure to draw
from both historical and visual evidence. The preparation here will
involve a bit of preliminary research. The Grove Dictionary of Art and
my bibliography will provide excellent biographical information - the
expectation is that you read the Grove entry and either two or three
articles or two or three chapters of a book, to obtain a concrete sense
of the artist's biography: chronology, artistic education, major works,
major events, death. Then comes a very important decision: what is the
role of biography in your artist's work, in your opinion? Is it causal
or incidental? do authors make too big a deal of it, or not enough?
does biography explain the art? if not, what does it do? This
is somewhat trickier thinking than before because it is calling for
your carefully considered opinion of this larger abstract problem. You
can more easily rise to the occasion (as I know you will), by again
looking at other works of art by the artist, considering the self-portraits
specifically in relation to the biography and refering to the facts
uncovered by your biographical research. If you have not alreayd come
to talk to me about your writing, you will want to do so at this point
- we can get the conversation started on this issue. At this point,
you should be using Chicago-style footnotes to document your research
(these will be discussed in class, not to worry).
back to top
Audience paper - due Tuesday, November
15
• identify an audience of the self-portraits
by examining the impact of the self-portraits upon its original viewers
– you may have to infer some of your conclusions based on evidence
not immediately found in audience testimonials. You and your artist
should now be on familiar terms - it is time to recontextualize him
or her. Again, as ever, your endeavor begins with looking at works of
art - examine the subject matter, think about the conditions of possibility
(patronage? market? art for art's sake?) for the production of these
images. Then turn to research to find out more about both the people
behind the images (the patrons, the buyers) and those before it (the
public, the critics). The Grove Dictionary of Art has good preliminary
bibliographies, and the one that I provide has references to this "greater
issue" aspect of artist research, but you may also want to do a
bit of your own research now that you know much more which issues of
the artist interest you. Our own library catalogue, the BHA (Bibliography
of the History of Art) and JSTOR will be excellent resources. We will
have a mini-research demo illustrating the use of just these three resources.
I also invite you to come speak with me ad you work out your ideas.
The goal is to find research that gives you a better sense of the big
picture, of how these works were produced, exhibited, and received.
The kind of writing that you are doing here is expository - you are
exposing facts that allow you to paint an interpretive picture of the
greater context of the artist. It is a good idea to choose one or at
the most two works of art as your centerpieces here.
back to top
Purpose paper - due Tuesday, December
6
• describe the purpose of your artist’s self-portraits
by re-reading all of your past essays, looking at the big picture (visual,
textual, biographical, and contextual), and arguing for your own conclusions
– as ever, be aware of a need to convince your reader by using
evidence. This paper will draw from your previous four papers. Through
your extensive looking, studying, reading, and writing, you have earned
the authority to make your own pronouncements about your artist's reasons
for performing self-portraits. Use descriptive language for works of
art, include original writings, bring in biographical information, assert
the historical context of the self-portraits - whatever it takes to
convince your reader that your interpretation of the artist's motivation
is the most productive for understanding your artist. You may wish to
do a little more research here, but really, the bulk of the preparatory
work will be thinking - talking with your peers, having a conference
with me, sketching out notes, trying out ideas, free writing, or anything
else that you do to come up with original thoughts and interpretations.
I can't wait to read all that you write.
back to top
|
