Welcome to ART 100!Summer 2015

agenda 6.16.15

administrative matters: how does this class work?

any questions?

on Compass: what is art?

what will we learn about in this class?

specific questions for today's class:what is art? what makes something art or non-art?what is folk art? how is folk art different from fine art?

agenda 6.16.15

how does this class work?Compass

submit assignments and papers

take exams

find readings, weblinks, and course powerpoints

Collaborate [synchronic/live sessions]

syllabus

• calendar/due dates

• requirements

what is visual culture?

casting a wide net: anything we apprehend through our sense of vision

including vision itself—what it is, how it works

range of possibilities

• natural world

• scientific imagery

• design

• art

• advertising/commodity culture

• places and spaces

“The Wave,” at Coyote Buttes, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona, USA

possible topics for visual culture

how do we collect and display the natural world?

how are designers and artists inspired by natural forms?

Beaty Biodiversity MuseumVancouver, BC, Canadaatrium with blue whale skeletonopened 2010

Andrew McConnell, photograph of blue whale skeleton, Beaty Biodiversity Museum drawing of whale vertebra

Andrew McConnell, Vertebrae Staircase, 2013

All components of the staircaseare identical modules.

Slight modifications to the module are required at the bottom and top stepwhere they are bolted into the floor.

interior structure of module withsteel components

When all the connections are made, continuous structural spirals run through every vertebra at the two connection points, reinforced by structural foam and steel rods.

Brian JUNGEN, Shapeshifter, 2000White polypropylene plastic chairs. 57 x 260 x 52 inches National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Brian JUNGEN, Cetology, 2002Vancouver Art Gallery

designed byPoul Henningsen,1958,manufactured byLouis Poulsen

PH Artichoke(English)

PH Kogle(Danish, etc)

Random Lightdesigned byBertjan Pot(2001) forMoooi

dwr.com

Hugely dramatic, light as a feather and distinctly Dutch, the Random Light (2002) by Bertjan Pot began as a modernist craft project of sorts. After making attempts at knitting fiberglass as a means of creating structure, Pot turned to coiling epoxy-dipped fiberglass around a large balloon in varying patterns. Once the balloon was popped, the dramatic globe shape remained, becoming a buoyant pendant lamp for an entryway, dining room or lounge area. The light bulb is visible at the center of the globe, creating an all-over glow with minimal glare when lit.

Random Light - Small #6620

$642.00 - $686.00USD

Random Light - Medium #6621

$1,232.00 - $1,298.00USD

Random Light - Large #8707

$2,270.00 - $2,418.00USD

what is visual culture?

design brand identity

graphic design

product design

designwright (Adrian and Jeremy Wright) for Lexon

Scholz & Friends packaging design, 2010

spaces and places

real and imaginary

Johannes VermeerGirl with a Pearl Earringc. 1665-1666oil on canvasMauritshuis, The Hague

visitors to the Frick Gallery photographing the work, summer 2014

Wangechi MUTUborn Nairobi, Kenya, 1972

came to US in 1990s

BFA Cooper Union, NYC

MFA, Yale

lives/works Brooklyn, NY

large-scale collages pieced together from found imagery

Wangechi MUTUPin-up2001ink, acrylic, and collage on mylar

Wangechi MUTU Riding Death in My Sleep, 2002. Ink, collage on paper, 60 x 44 inches (152.4 x 111.76 cm).

Marcel DZAMAname is pronounced (Zah-mah)

born 1974, Winnipeg, Canada

drawings, constructions and films

studied art at University of Manitoba

now lives/works in Brooklyn

Marcel Dzama, If you can't bring good news, then don't bring me any, 2012. Ink, gouache, graphite, and collage on paper.

Marcel DZAMAEight Strong Winds, 2005.50x34 inches

Malala will have her revenge, 2013, Ink, gouache, and graphite on piano scroll, 22 1/2 x 32 inches (57.2 x 81.3 cm)

if all of these things can be visual culture, what is art?

does that question even matter?

John Singleton COPLEYMrs. Ezekiel Goldthwaite1771oil on canvas50 1/8 x 40 1/8 inches

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/mrs-ezekiel-goldthwait-elizabeth-lewis-32756

Ammi PHILLIPS Lady in a gold-colored dressProbably New York, Connecticut, or Massachusetts, 1835–1840 Oil on canvas 33 1/2 x 28 1/4 in.

http://folkartmuseum.org/?t=images&id=1582

Ammi PHILLIPS (1788–1865) Girl in red dress with cat and dog Vicinity of Amenia, New York 1830–1835 Oil on canvas 30 x 25 inches

John Singleton COPLEY

(American 1738-1815)

Head of a Negro, 1777-8

Oil on canvas

21 x 16 1/4 in.

James Hampton1909-1964

born in rural South Carolina

moved to Washington, DC to live with his brother; worked as short –order cook and janitor

served in WWII in a segregated unit, 385th Aviation Unit, maintaining air strips on Saipan and Guam

returned to Washington, DC worked as a janitor for the GSA

“Director, Special Projects for the State of Eternity”

gold and silver aluminum foil, Kraft paper over mixed materials

180 pieces in overall configuration: 10 1/2 x 27 x 14 1/2 ft.

Includes plaques, tags and notebooks in a not-yet deciphered language.

James HAMPTONThe Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly circa 1950-1964

posted on the wall of Hampton's garage

"Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Proverbs 29:18

possibly made the first piece as early as 1945 in Guam

in 1950, rented a garage and built a special staging area inside

collected castoffs/junk from his job and all over the city to make this environment

Howard FINSTER

(1915-2001)

born Alabama, one of 13 children

“born again” at age 13 and followed call to become a Baptist minister

Howard Finster · Howard Finster, Man of Visions. 1988, Wood Sculpture with paint, 13.00 x 8.38 x 3.5 inches.

Howard FINSTERGeorge Washington in Another World1987oil on panel58 ½ x 47 inches

Howard Finster, Florence Nightingale

Paradise Garden, Pennville, GA

bought 4 acres of inexpensive land, which he began to clear and drain after purchasing.

Began planting, as well as building walkways and structures, mostly made of concrete with embedded objects. Many sculptures and structures, including a chapel he called the “World's Folk Art Church.”

installation view, Howard Finster, Paradise Garden at the High Museum