WEEK 8

There will be a field trip next week on Nov. 18th, but the class is meeting on campus as a regular class. We leave together from LaGCC. Please bring your sketchbook, student ID, and Metro Card. More details TBA via email.


Videos from today's class [The class watched short videos 1-6 below and discussed each one thematically. You can finish watching them all in less than an hour, so email me a one-sentence comment for each video if you missed class this week; please follow the links by clicking the titles]:

1. Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Behind-the-scenes Tour with the Director [12:26]. Performative aspects of Picasso. European Modernism. School of Paris. African Art influences.
2. African Icons by Peter Schjeldahl, the New Yorker [3:00]. Objects of desire for Europeans. Highly priced and auctioned objects. Ritual objects created for ceremonies in African tribes.
3. Audio Guide 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405 for "David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy" by the Whitney Museum [total: ~9 mins]. Non-Objective Art. New idea of constructing sculptures in the sculpture tradition. Influences from Cubist paintings.
4. September 11 Memorial Opens in N.Y. [3:33]. Probably the King of "Art in New York." Representing a loss of human bodies. Architecture, design, and a monument. Names. Interactions with communities.
5. Praça Cantão, Favela Painting Project [7:21] in the Design with the Other 90% Cities@the UN by Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. A possible relationship between art and a community.
6. The Fashion of Arthur McGee [7:05] by the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum. An example of "Artist Interview." Arthur McGee is the first Black Fashion Designer and he talks about how he made his career in the all-white fashion industry.

Optional Reading
"Artworks: Money" will be on blackboard.

Materials for the 9/11 Memorial Park field trip will be on blackboard.

"Design with the Other 90% Cities"@the United Nations by Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York.

Arthur McGee Website.

Two Essay Assignments
1) David Smith@Whitney Museum
250 words: one double-spaced page essay, due: Nov. 23 or Dec. 2 (in class).
#The class cannot visit this exhibition as a group because the Whitney Museum opens after 1:00PM on Friday. Admission is free with your LaGCC ID.

2) The 9/11 Memorial Park
250 words: one double-spaced page essay, due: Dec. 2 (in class).
#The class WILL visit this memorial on Wednesday, Nov. 23 as a group (CUNY Friday Schedule). I reserved a group ticket.

Final Project:
Artist Interview. Essay and oral presentation. Details TBA.
250 words: one double-spaced page essay with photos and 2-3 min presentation, due: Dec. 9 (in class).

Extra Credit: TBA.

A Few Notes:
1: This class writes much better on paper than on blog, so I decided to assign more essays in a traditional manner, which can become part of your ePortfolio.

2: There was an in-class survey during the Nov. 11th class regarding the rest of the course contents.

3: The midterm and art projects:
I returned the midterm essays so that you can post revisions on your ePortfolio at a later time. The midterm average is high and I recommend you complete the egg "contemporary" and still life "new york city" art projects, along with MET drawings and explanations on blog, if you have not already. There were students who did not check emails in the beginning of the semester and did not know about the art projects, so I am taking late studio assignments this time. I am providing basic painting materials if your budget is extremely tight, so please email me or schedule an appointment with me for this.