ART 399 – Independent
Study: Advanced Painting – 3 Semester
Hours
Spring 2012
Meeting times
TBA
Bethel
University
Instructor: Jason Cole
Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8-9am, 11am-12pm, 1-3pm - Friday:
8-9am, 11am-12pm, 1-2pm
E-mail: colej@bethelu.edu
Course
Prerequisites/Co Requisites:
ART
201
Course
Description:
Advanced Painting addresses
thematic and conceptual development in painting through individual
problems. Late Modern and Postmodern
ideas are emphasized with particular stress given to honing critical abilities,
raising conceptual and technical skills, and increased self-discipline. Students are pressed to increase their
familiarity with a variety of styles, find their own personal “aesthetic language”,
and develop their ability to work within a broad range of mediums.
Course
Goals:
The student will:
1) Experiment with
a variety of mediums, including acrylics, oils, and mixed media on paper,
canvas, panels and/or non-traditional surfaces.
2) Find creative
ways to solve problems that correspond with concepts explored by a variety of
contemporary artists.
3) Maintain a
sketchbook to be used for personal exercise of in-class techniques, research,
and as a depository for ideas and notes.
4) Develop skills
of observation, personal expression, and abstract thinking.
5) Produce a body
of work to be submitted for critique.
Relationship
of this Course to Content Area Knowledge and Skills:
This course is not used to address TN
Matrix knowledge and skills.
Text:
None
Course
Objectives:
The student will:
a) Develop
problem-solving skills.
b) Strengthen
self-disciple.
c) Develop
perceptions and articulation of contemporary ideas and concepts in painting.
d) Observe,
research, and learn from the work of other artists.
e) Gain the
ability to articulately express and defend his/her ideas.
f) Develop and
enhance his/her proficiency in the vocabulary of the artist.
g) Actively engage
in constructive critique.
Units
of Study:
See attached
“Advanced Painting Problems”
Required Reading:
Various
articles, websites, and printed materials that will be provided by the
instructor.
Suggested Reading:
Mayer, Ralph. The Artist's Handbook.
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking, 1985.
Abts,
Tomma, and Valérie Breuvart. Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting.
London: Phaidon, 2003.
Stephenson, Jonathan. The Materials and
Techniques of Painting. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1989.
Powell, William F. Color Mixing Recipes:
for Oil and Acrylic: Mixing Recipes for More than 450 Color Combinations.
Laguna Hills, CA: Walter Foster, 2005.
Methods Of Instruction:
Lecture,
discussion, in-class work, outside assignments, sketchbook, critique.
Course Requirements:
1) A personal sketchbook/journal is an
important requirement of this course. It
is a depository for ideas, visual observations, and written responses to
anything (in-class or outside). Include
research of paintings and painters of special interest, techniques, subjects,
methods, media, processes, master studies, reproductions, etc. Thumbnail sketches of intended compositions,
experiments with materials, small-scale test versions of intended compositions,
and any visual stimuli—found material, snapshots, Xerox prints, etc.—should
also be included in the sketchbook.
Throughout the book, YOU NEED TO
WRITE! Write down your ideas, comments on thumbnails, comments on research,
thoughts about each problem (why you chose it, how you plan to solve it, what
are the challenges, etc.), prose, poetry, song lyrics, observations, and notes
on comments made during one-on-one meetings and critiques. Don’t do anything without writing something
about it. Share the good, bad, and ugly.
The Sketchbook will be reviewed at every one-on-one meeting and will be graded at midterm and finals.
The Sketchbook will be reviewed at every one-on-one meeting and will be graded at midterm and finals.
2) From the list
of problems attached to this syllabus you
are required to choose four problems to work on over the course of the semester. You will work on the series of paintings for
each problems on your own time and submit them to the instructor. These assignments will be submitted in the
following order:
a. Problem #1: Week of January 30
b. Problem #2: Week of February 27
c. Problem #3: Week of March 26
d. Problem #4: Week of April 23
A Final Portfolio of all four series will be
submitted during finals week.
3)
A typed
artist’s statement to accompany each submitted series is required
for the course. The artist’s statement
should cover why you chose the problem, what artists you researched, and what
choices you made to solve the problem and why.
4)
You are
required to meet with the instructor at least once a week for one-one-one
meetings. The day and time of these weekly meetings
will be determined by the student and instructor. Bring your current in-progress work and your
sketchbook to every meeting and be ready to discuss the work you’ve completed
in the past week. Critique
will be held one the due date of each series.
Attendance Policy:
o
There
are no excused absences. If you miss FIVE weeks of one-on-one you will
immediately fail the course. Five
absences means too much information and work has been missed for anyone to
legitimately pass the course.
o
If
you are unable to submit an assignment on its due date because of an approved scheduled university
extracurricular activity, contact me BEFORE
THE EVENT to work out a new due date.
If the work is turned in on this date, there will be no late penalty.
o
If
you are having trouble with the course or have outside problems that are
affecting your performance please talk to me about it so that we can work out a
solution. Do not wait until it is too
late. I will be glad to help you in any
way I can.
o
Lateness
is not acceptable. Always arrive on-time
at the predetermined date and time each week.
If an impediment to arriving on-time occurs, contact me BEFORE THE SCHEDULED TIME so we can set
aside another meeting time that same
week. Three late arrivals to meetings
will count as an absence.
Methods of Assessment/Evaluation/Grading System:
Each assignment
will be collected on a specific due date and time. Persons
not handing in work on time will be penalized one full grade. (See the exception rule above.) The work will be graded and returned as soon
as possible. At times it may be
necessary for me to hold some of the work for exhibitions or
photographing. In cases like this, I
will notify you.
Sketchbooks
will be graded at midterm and finals. It
is expected that you are making extensive use of your sketchbook throughout the
semester to practice and drill yourself on skills as well as experiment.
Final grades
reflect accomplishment in three areas:
o
Portfolio
(50%)
o
Sketchbook
(25%)
o
Artist’s
statements (5%)
o
One-on-one
meetings participation/preparedness/attitude (20%)
Final grades
will be determined by:
o
Completion
of all assignments.
o
Consistency
of effort
o
Development
of skills in seeing and thinking.
o
Presentation
and craftsmanship.
o
Participation
in critiques and discussions.
o
General
attitude.
Individual
assignment grade definitions:
o
A - Excellent.
Assignment is completely and creatively fulfilled. No significant problems.
o
B - All aspects
of assignment are completely fulfilled and well done. A few problems remain to be solved.
o
C - Work
fulfills the requirements of the assignment to the letter and is generally
successful. Work is completely
finished. Craftsmanship is acceptable. Some problems remain to be solved.
o
D - Work is not
yet completely finished or has obvious technical or conceptual flaws.
o
F - Unacceptable
in technique or craft or concept (or any combination of these).
o
X - Assignment
not handed in. This assignment may not
be re-submitted.
Final letter
grade definitions:
o
A – The student
earning an A has shown great effort and near-perfect success in all aspects of
the class. Only students absolutely
excelling far above expectations will be awarded this grade.
o
B - A very good
job. The person earning this grade has
worked very hard; has pushed his/herself to go beyond the mere fulfillment of
each problem and has shown strong advances in technical and conceptual skills.
o
C - The student
earning a C has fulfilled the requirements of the course, has a positive attitude,
worked hard, shown growth in skills and thinking, and did an overall good job.
o
D - Below
par. This grade indicates that the
student has obvious difficulties with basic drawing skills and/or trouble in
fulfilling the requirements of the class for some other reason.
o
F - This grade
indicates a severe problem in one or more of the following categories: lack of interest, bad attitude, failure to
complete assignments, excess lateness, or absence.
Clinical/Laboratory/Field Experiences:
None
Critical Thinking Statement:
Critical
thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to
improving it. In this class we will
raise vital questions and problems, formulate them clearly and precisely;
gather and assess relevant information, by using abstract ideas to interpret it
effectively.
Materials &
Supplies
Varied
depending on parameters of individual problems and the student’s preferences.
Month And Year
Of Syllabus Revision:
January
2012
Bethel
University is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students,
including those with documented disabilities.
If you have a diagnosed disability or fi you believe that you have a
disability that might require reasonable accommodation in this course, please
contact Sandy Louden. Bethel University
Policy states that it is the responsibility of students to contact instructors
to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, experiences
and assignments.
Advanced
Painting Problems
(Choose Four)
(Choose Four)
The Grid
The practice of
laying a grid on top of a image, then painstakingly copying each part of that
image into the corresponding cell of a blank grid seems old-fashioned in these
days of pervasive photocopying and electronic image manipulation. Nonetheless, the underlying idea of
transferring information from one grid to another has a long history in both
mathematics and art. Particularly, this
process has seen resurgence in the past three decades as artists such as Cluck
Close and D-L Alvarez have created works that not only use the grid as a means
of transferring and enlarging an image but also maintain the actual grid
structure as a means of accomplishing abstraction.
For this problem,
each painting in the series must be based on a photograph. An overlaying grid will be drawn on the
photograph and an aspect-corresponding grid of a larger scale will be placed on
the surface to be painted. How you then
translate the information within each square of the original grid into its
corresponding square on the painting is up to you. THREE IMAGES.
Considerations:
1.
Color and mark-making choices become
very important in this problem, because they can enhance the way the grid
operates within the composition.
2.
Consider approaching each square of
the grid as if it were its own small composition within a large series of
images.
3.
Artists to look at: Chuck Close, D-L
Alverez.
Postmodern
Portraiture
During the “Modern”
era of art history, many of the traditional genres of painting were increasingly
considered irrelevant or “dead” as artists sought more and more to break old
established rules of art. Classic
portraiture was one of the victims of this mass murder of tradition. However, with the rise of Postmodernism,
artists have begun reexamining traditional formats, which has led many of these
artists back to portraiture and all the various concepts that can be explored
within the genre. Though there is no one
identifiable “style” that exemplifies portrait painting in the postmodern era,
there are a few characteristics that can be pointed out: experimentation with multimedia,
appropriation, references to art history, a blending of cultural influences,
the use of text, and lowbrow influences.
For this problem, you
will create a series of portraits that will explore your own unique collection
of influences. The series must also
utilize at least THREE of the characteristics listed above. THREE IMAGES.
Considerations:
1.
What concepts will you communicate
through your series of portraits?
2.
Who will you choose as sitters and
WHY?
3.
Artists to consider: Chuck Close, Jenny Saville, John Currin, Zak
Smith, Brian Alfred, Elizabeth Peyton.
Multimedia
Contemporary painters
often struggle against single-mindedness.
Since, in postmodern thinking, multiple cultures can be represented
within a work of art, and since lowbrow influences are just as valid as
high-art influences, it logically follows that this kind of thinking should
extend to actual materials, as well.
Many contemporary painters use more than one material within a single
work; combining drawing, oils, acrylics, ink, collage, assemblage, etc. Often times these materials are even applied
to non-traditional surfaces such as plastic, untreated wood, found
objects—anything BUT canvas.
For this problem,
create a series of multimedia paintings that experiment with no less than THREE
materials. If you choose to work on a
non-traditional surface, this can count as one material. FIVE IMAGES.
Considerations:
1.
What do the unique qualities of each
medium applied to the surface add to the overall effect of the painting once
multiple materials are made to coexist within the same composition?
2.
Materials have certain associations
that are inherent. How will you make use
of this fact?
3.
Artists to consider: Zak Smith, Hayley
Tomkins, Vik Muniz, Wangechi Mutu.
Impermanence
It is the opinion of
many postmodern artists that just about everything that can be done in painting has
been done. The sentiment that painting
is “dead” has led many artists to search for new elements that have not historically
been expressed in painting. One of the
solutions to this problem has been “impermanence”. What does that mean? Well, historically, paintings have been made
to LAST. The craftsmanship and qualities
of the materials used to produce a painting are meant to give that painting
permanence—to seal it frozen in time for generations to come. Any decay or change that happens to paintings
of the past has generally been unintentional.
Many contemporary painters say, “What if we intentionally build into our
work things that will change over time?”
For this problem,
create a series of paintings that utilize materials and/or processes that
produce images/compositions that can change/degrade/decay over time. THREE IMAGES.
Considerations:
1. What
materials can you use to create change (oxidation, decay, thermo-sensitivity,
etc.) within a painting?
2. What
is interesting about artworks that change?
Is it the ability to showcase the beauty of “decay”? Is it merely the fascination of knowing that
the work will look different, and therefore communicate different meanings, as
time passes? Is it the collaboration
between artist and nature?
3. Artists
to consider: Valerie Hegarty, Vik Muniz,
Dan Dempster, Damien Hirst, the “Actual Art” movement artists.
Appropriation
Here are a few terms you
should familiarize yourself with first:
·
Appropriation -
an artistic concept, most prevalent in postmodern art, in which an artist uses
an image already in existence and places it in a new context in order to give
it new meanings.
·
Pastiche -
a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of
previous work or an artistic composition made up of selections from different
works.
·
Pluralism -
a postmodern movement in art that assumes the cultural context of art should be
all-encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's wide variety of
cultures and artistic styles, and that diverse cultural and stylistic
influences can coexist in a work of art.
So, as you can
possibly guess from these terms, this problem is all about using preexisting
imagery (stuff that’s already out there for the world to see) and
re-contextualizing it. Every image
carries with it certain associations and cultural meanings. Appropriation is the process of taking that
already existing imagery and placing it in a new context so that the old
associations are changed or even subverted.
This is the approach you will explore in this problem. FIVE IMAGES
Considerations:
1. What
type of imagery will you appropriate, and WHY?
2. Most
appropriation is meant to make us rethink our old ideas/feelings about the
original image. So, what ARE the
associations that people have with the imagery you’ve chosen?
3. How
can you change the image in order to change these associations?
4. Artists
to consider: Michael Ray Charles, Ron English, BANKSY, Fernando Bryce, Joy
Garnett.
Multiples
Throughout the
history of art, there has been a human fascination with repeated motifs. Our eyes and minds seem to take pleasure and
comfort in pattern. The rhythmic
repetition of an image can become a beautiful visual analogue to poetry or
music. It is also a means by which an
artist can hone his/her skills and develop a visual language or shorthand. In other words, repeating the same image over
and over again invariably leads the artist to discover ever more efficient or
economic methods of creating that image.
Through this process, the artist can quickly discover the forms,
brushstrokes, specialized marks, and bodily movements that are the most
pleasing to him/her. More recently, the
use of multiples in art has taken on a new meaning for some artists: the
commodification of art. Some artists
attempt to draw attention to how art has become a mere money-making commodity in
certain subcultures by mass-producing their work. For some, this approach is meant to make the
work “meaningless”, and for others this is meant to point out how, once
something is repeated many times there is a “perceived importance” by the
audience.
For this problem, you
will create a single composition which you will then copy multiple times. These paintings will be done on SMALL scale
paper or other small surface. All images
in the series will be the exact same size and will contain the same
composition. You may change colors,
mark-making, or materials from one image to the next, but composition and scale
will remain consistent throughout.
TWENTY IMAGES.
Considerations:
1.
Each time you finish a composition,
take what you learned from it and apply it to the next.
2.
Don’t repeat any approach or technique
that you discover is not working or is slowing you down in one image when you
move on to the next one.
3.
Are you discovering a personal
aesthetic “language” as you work?
4. Artists
to consider: Wayne Thiebaud, Lisa Barthelson, Shepard Fairey, Space
Invader.
Book or Story Illustration
Many contemporary artists have begun to elevate story illustration to the
level of fine art. Most famous of these,
perhaps, is Zak Smith’s large series of multimedia illustrations entitled “What
Happens On Every Page Of Gravity’s
Rainbow”. As the title suggests, the
series consisted of several hundred images, each of which is Smith’s attempt to
interpret what he read on each individual page of his favorite novel. This work ended up in the Whitney Biennial in
2004. (PS: That’s a really big deal!)
For this problem, you will need to choose a book or story WRITTEN BY
SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOURSELF with which you have a personal connection. I will need to see the physical text. You will then create a series of
illustrations that will comprise your own personal interpretation of that
text. SIX IMAGES
Considerations:
1. Is it necessary that the audience perceive a sense
of narrative within each image?
2. Will your interpretations be literal or figurative?
3. Remember that this book or story should hold some
personal significance to you. How will
you communicate your feelings about this text to the viewer?
4. Artists to consider:
Zak Smith, William Kentridge, Ben Tour.
Lowbrow
The book Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild
World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art has the following to say about
what art historians have labeled “Lowbrow Art”:
Lowbrow
art and the cultural forces that shaped it are varied and complex. We can, however, identify some of the
defining elements. The single most powerful
influence on lowbrow art is cartoon art, whether it’s the work of Disney or Tex
Avery, Robert Crumb or the irreverent artists who created MAD magazine. Many lowbrow
artists have either created underground comic books or worked on offbeat
animated cartoon TV shows like Ren &
Stimpy. Cartoon art significantly
shapes lowbrow art stylistically and philosophically…A wide variety of
twentieth-century underground, fringe, retro, and outsider subcultures are also
big influences. Many images seen in lowbrow
art first appeared as part of biker, skate, surf, tattoo, graffiti, hot-rod,
and other subcultures. Mainstream kitsch
culture, including ‘60s sitcoms, Japanese toys, vintage board games, roadside
signage and architecture, ‘80s blockhead advertising imagery, tiki culture, and
much more, is also important…As it has evolved, lowbrow has tended toward two
distinct styles, one more illusionistic and one more cartoony. They can be seen as originating with the work
of two early lowbrow artists: Robert Williams and Gary Panter.
In other words, Lowbrow art focuses on pop and underground cultural
iconography rather than “highbrow” subject matter. It is usually representational and flirts
with the blurry border between fine art and illustration. It descends directly from the Pop Art
movement of the ‘60s, but has moved into even more kitschy territory and is
often FAR more cynical and sarcastic than Pop ever was.
For this problem, create a series of paintings that showcase your own set
of “lowbrow” influences. Try your hand
at illustrational image-making based on cartoon art, tattoo art, magazine
advertisements, movie posters, etc. SIX
IMAGES.
Considerations:
1. What lowbrow influences personally resonate with
you?
2. How can you appropriate those influences in order to
communicate new ideas, rather than just merely copying from them?
3. Artists to consider: Robert Williams, Gary Panter,
Kalynn Campbell, Owen Smith, Anthony Ausgang, Liz McGrath, Glenn Barr, DANGER.
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