Professor Brianna Rigg Email: brigg@ucsd.edu Facebook group: VIS 1 fall 2012 Office hours: Fri 12:00-2:00pm, Mandeville B112 Room codes Mandeville 115A 0094870, 115B 0094870 Syllabus for VIS 1: Introduction to Art Making 2-DPractices “Learning from books and teachers is like traveling by carriage, so we are told in the Veda… ‘But the carriage will serve only while one is on the highroad. He who reaches the end of the highroad will leave the carriage and walk afoot.’ ” -Johannes Itten, The Art of Color, 1961 The problem of making an image on a two dimensional plane when the world exists in three or more dimensions has been approached differently throughout the history of art. How artists deal with this problem reflects the values, politics, and technology, of their time. Today, artists working in two dimensions due so with an understanding of art history and they respond to it in ways that can be reactionary, reversionary, or revisionary. But whatever ones tactics, history can never be fully shaken, that’s why it is good to have an understanding of history. At least then, we know where we stand. During the first half of the quarter, you will concentrate on developing a set of skills that will help you to better control the plastic elements of a two dimensional image; you will learn tricks to help you through the process of observational drawing, you will learn keys to color and composition that are based on how the eye acts naturally, and you will develop a vocabulary that helps you to better describe how you see an image. During the second half of the quarter you will use these skills to face the challenges posed to artists working today. That is, you will be challenged with the task of producing work that possesses agency, work that engages with the contemporary cultural climate. This should come to you naturally since you live in this climate. It could be that to produce a work of agency is as simple as finding an adequate way of expressing yourself through art. But it could also mean producing a work that holds a position, or asserts a point of view, and contributes to the expansive conversation that is contemporary art. Lectures are designed to equip you to deal with this challenge. In the first half of the quarter lectures will be organized around formal elements of picture making that correspond to your homework and in class exercises. The second half of the quarter will seek to define some of the main issues that concern contemporary artists. Analogous to the story of 20th century western art as it moves from the modern into the post-modern period. The assignments for this class will move from being constrictive to being more open ended, giving you space to create constraints for your work that evolve from your own concerns. We have a lot of hard work to do, but I hope that the experience of this class will be both fun and rewarding
Lecture 1: Line and Mark (9/27/12) Artists: Paul Klee, Gabriel Oroszco, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Janine Antoni, Mathew Barney, Lascaux Cave, Yves Klein, Helen Frankenthaler, Tim Hawkinson, Albrecht Durer, Eugene Delacroix, Jean Ingres, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Leon Golub, Kathey Kollwitz, George Grosz, Jackson Pollock, and Cy Twombly. Concepts: Mark making, contour line, positive and negative space, figure/ground relationship, and restating lines. Homework (details administered weekly): -Creative Assignment 1, self-portrait using a unique mark. -Chapter 1: The Drawing Process -Sketchbook assignments: observational drawing exercises. Lecture 2: Shape, surface, texture, pattern, light, and mass. (10/04/12) Artists: Jean Ingres, Veja Celmins, Takashi Murakami, Gabriel Orozco, R. Crumb, Henry Moore, Hieronymus Bosch, Johannes Vermeer, Joseph Mallord Turner, Jenny Saville, Lynne Foulkes, Mickalene Thomas, Yinka Shonibare, Marlene Dumas, Romare Bearden, and Andreas Gursky. Concepts: light and shadow, texture, pattern, distortion, hard and soft edges. Homework (details administered weekly): -Chapter 2, “The Artists Handwriting” in Keys to Drawing -Chapter 4, “The Illusion of Light” in Keys to Drawing. -Sketchbook assignments: observational drawing exercises Lecture 3: Color, composition, and design. (10/11/12) Artists: Raphael, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassette, Paul Gaugan, Vincent Vangough, Edgar degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Edvard munch, Patrick Nagel, Toshusai Sharaku, Alex Katz, Henry Mattisse, Aubrey Beardsley, Peter Doig, Paul Klee, WassilyKandinsky, Franz Kline, Amy Sillman, Hans Hofmann, Piet Mondrian, Jacob Lawrence, and Laura Owens. Concepts: Balance, symmetry, pivot point, golden ratio, rule of thirds, rule of attraction, color harmony and opposition, repetition and variation. Homework:(details administered weekly): -Read handout on color composition and design. -Creative Project 2: harmonies and disharmonies in color and composition.
Lecture 4: Point of view: how the viewer sees an image. (10/18/12) Artists: Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Eadweard Muybridge, Tintoretto, Massacio, Cezzane, Pablo Picasso, George Braque, Giocomo Balla, Chuck Close, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, and Wes Wilson, and Photosynth technology. Art Movements: Italian Renaissance, Impressionism, Futurism, and Cubism. Concepts: linear perspective, aerial perspective, cone of vision, and the advent of photography. Homework (details administered weekly): -Pages 70-80 of Chapter 3, “Proportions: Taking The Measure of Things”, and Chapter 5: “The Illusion of Depth,” in Keys to Drawing. -Creative Assignment 3: representing the passage of time. -Sketch book exercise: measurement. Lecture 5: The influence of Marcel Duchamp on contemporary art. (10/25/12) Artists: Edouard Manet, Rene Magritte, Hugo Ball, Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Johannes Baargeld, Man Ray, Francis Piciaba, Marcel Duchamp, Bruce Nauman, Piero Manzoni, Bridget Riley, Dan Graham, Monica Bovinci, Robert Rouchenberg, Richard Prince, Haim Steinbach, and Cindy Sherman. Concepts: Dada, chance, appropriation, performing the self, Conceptual art, and Op Art. Homework: -Creative Assignment to be administered by the TA’s. -Reading: “The Death of the Author” by Roland Barthes. Lecture 6: Subverting the simulacra: strategies of disruption and deconstruction. (11/01/12) “Where there is power, there is resistance.”-Michel Foucault Artists: Andy Warhol, Paul Pfeiffer, Félix González-Torres, Joseph Kosuth, John Baldesarri, Joseph Bueys, Martha Rosler, Thomas Damand, Barbara Kruger, Teresa Margolles, Santiago Sierra, Guerilla Girls, and Fred Wilson. Concepts and Thinkers: Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord, Walter Benjamin, and Jacques Derrida, Pop-Art, deconstruction, institutional critique. Homework: creative assignment to be administered by TA. -Read Suzi Gablik’s, “The Re-enchantment of Art.”
Lecture 7: The canvas expanded, radical positioning, and art in the social sphere. (11/08) Artists: Diego Rivera, Claes Oldenburg, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Elaanor Antin, Sophie Calle, Jenny Holzer, David Hammons, Adrian Piper, Thomas Hirschhorn, Gelitin, Jeffrey Vallance, Suzanne Lacy, Mel Chin, Jeremy Dellar, Zhang Huan, Francis Alÿs, Center for Land Use Interpretation, There Goes the Neighborhood. Homework: Creative assignment to be administered by TA’s. Lecture 8: The surreal, the uncanny, and the grotesque. (11/15) Artists: Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Frida Kahlo, Jim Shaw, Man Ray, Mike Kelly, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon, Dana Schutz, Orlan, Nigel Cooke, Jeff Wall, Gregory Crewdson, Neo Rauch, Paul Thek, and Damien Hirst, Concept and thinkers: the uncanny; Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan. Surrealism; André Breton. The sublime: Emanuel Kant. Homework: Creative project to be administered by TA Lecture 9: No lecture held on Thursday 11/22 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. There will still be section on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. Homework: final projects. Lecture 10: Beauty and Seduction. Artists: yet to be determined. Homework: Final Projects Final Projects Are DUE!!! MON/ TUE 12/4 and 12/5. Lecture 11: There will be no lecture held on Thursday Dec 6th. Instead you will be expected to come to Mandeville 115A and 115 B to hang your final project for an end of quarter solon style art show that will take place for one day only on Friday Dec 7th. The opening reception for the show will be on Friday evening from 5-9. You are encouraged to attend. Bring snacks, have fun, and suffer through the discomfort of displaying your work in public. Finals Week: We do not meet during the week of finals.
Grading Rubric: Participation 20%: Your participation grade will be evaluated based on your contribution to discussion, both in lecture and in section. It will also be based on your attendance record, your level of engagement during in class exercises, and your notes from lecture. Your notes from lecture should include drawings of slides shown in lecture: it is not important that you write down everything that is said in lecture, but preferred that you try to sketch the slides, and that you spend time in lecture looking at the images rather than looking down while taking notes. In class drawing exercises and short written responses done during lecture are a required part of your lecture notes. Creative Assignments 45%: There will be about 8 creative assignments due throughout the quarter. The specifics of each assignment will be given to you by your TA’s, The grading criteria for each creative assignment will also be determined by your TA’s. Final Project 10%: You will have two weeks to work on your final project. Your final will be an open assignment Observational Drawing Portfolio 25%: There will be several observational drawing assignments that you will need to complete both in and out of class. We will only be doing observational drawing for the first few weeks of class, after that you will be able to focus all your energy on your creative assignments. Your drawing portfolio will be graded all at once at the midterm. You will be graded on only 3 things; effort, improvement, and your assessment of your own work. Extra Credit: There will be several opportunities to earn extra credit throughout the quarter such as, going to artist talks and attending exhibitions both on and off campus. The value of extra credit opportunities will not exceed 3% of your total grade. The Rules: No laptops or other distracting electronic devices are allowed during lecture. If you are caught using these, you will be marked absent for that class. If you have special needs that require you to have one of these devices, please let me know. No Talking to your neighbors during class unless you have been asked to do so. Please do not start to pack up your bags Until Lecture is officially over. Attendance Policy pertaining to both section and lecture: 1 unexcused absence may affect your participation grade, 2 unexcused absences will affect your participation grade, 3 unexcused absences; you drop a letter grade, 4 unexcused absences; you drop two letter grades, 5 unexcused absences; you fail the class. Required Text: Keys to Drawing by Burt Dodson. First and second edition are both acceptable. There are copies on soft reserve in the library, and in the VIS section of the bookstore textbook section
Required Art Supplies: (20% off of Bookstore prices for the first two weeks the quarter.) -*8 ½ x 11 Sketchbook, your choice of Hardbound or Wirebound -*Drawing Essential Tools Kit -18 x 24 Mixed Media Pad -*Eraser 3 pack -Blending Stumps 3/16� -Sharpie Black Twin Tip Marker *Make sure you have at least these items for the first day of section.
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Your Choice of Color Medium: start with one of these two color choices. Oil Pastels: are cheap and come in an array of bright colors, they are also messy and will smear easily. But are great for making large, brightly colored work. The can also be blended to form new colors. Colored pencils: It is important to buy good colored preferably Prisma Colors to have success with them. These student grade Prisma Colors are inexpensive, and great for learning about colored pencil. Colored pencils are a slower and more deliberated medium than oil pastels. They are great for blending several colors together to make new colors. Colored pencils allow you to exercise a great amount of control over your work. Pentel Pastels 36 Colors Prisma Scholar Colored Pencils
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Creative Assignment 1: due in section on Monday October 1st, or Tuesday October 2nd. Create a self-portrait, an image that is a likeness of you, by using an unconventional mark-making technique that somehow represents you. Try to pick a mark-making technique that is as unique as you are. Find a way of making a mark that reveals something about you; your interests, your background, your personality, and your idiosyncrasies. Use this mark to create and image that looks like you. In order to create an image that looks like you, you will need to either look in the mirror, use reference photographs, or a combination of both. Please to not try to draw yourself from memory alone. If you choose to create a mark in such a way that your art piece cannot be brought to class, then document it using photography and bring in a print, or a JPEG of that image to class. The final catch is that the image you create must be a life size image of your entire body. Butcher paper is available at the bookstore if you need a piece of paper big enough. But remember that a mark is a collaboration between the mark making tool (a paintbrush or pencil ext) and the surface that the mark is made on (the paper). Since your assignment is to make an unconventional mark, consider what surface you will choose to make the mark on. The surface that holds the mark is as important as the tool that is used to create the mark, consider both when deciding how to approach this assignment.