Final Post Due Wednesday December 12 by noon.

Congrats! You have successfully completed your first semester of college as an art major.  I have one final post for you to complete before you leave for break. After reading Chapter 9 answer the following questions:

1. Why is art hard (according to the book)?
2. What is art hard (according to you)?
3. Through this first semester in drawing and design you have been learning techniques and terminology that will give you a foundation to start working in a variety of mediums and subject matters as you progress through your college career. Reflect on the semester in terms of what have you learned and the experiences you have had in all of your classes.
4. The book talks about the only work you can do convincingly is the work that focuses on the things you care about.  After seeing some of the presentation by the professors, what are some of the ideals that you would like to communicate through your own artwork.  What types of media are you interested in learning more about?


Please post your final response by Wednesday December 12, 2012 by noon.  Also if you have any other posts that aren't posted, please publish them by the time and date listed above.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.  I look forward to seeing all of you next semester in 2013.
Nadya Preszler

Ch 8 Questions

Please read Chapter 8 and respond to 4 of the following Questions by Tuesday November 20 since we don't have class on the Wednesday before thanksgiving. Enjoy your friends and family and eat lots of turkey. Gobble, Gobble!

1. Are you an artist who sets clear goals and looks for measurable feedback? Is it the technical stuff you challenge yourself with? Are you “doing a perfect swan dive off of the low board?” Have you learned to see beyond the simple and measurable goals and set the challenge a bit higher for yourself?

2. What do you think about the statement “art that deals with ideas is more interesting than art that deals with [just] technique.”

   3.    “Art lies embedded in the conceptual leaps between pieces – not in the pieces themselves.” Do you see a conceptual difference in your work – piece to piece? (Think about the example of the craft of the 5 Stienway piano’s and the art of the 5 Beethoven concerti that can be played on them.)

4.  The authors speak of seeing as “To see things is to enhance your sense of wonder both for the singular pattern of your own experience and for the meta-patterns that shape all experience.” Throughout this process of becoming an artist – have you learned to see? Explain how you have or have not.

5.   Based on the reading… what is the difference between science and art? Do you see any similarities?

6.Are you an artist who views the world as happening ”out there,” or as one who views the world happening within yourself? 

7. Can you remember when, or even if has happened, you had the “lightning shift” from having to work very hard to understand the art making process to when it just happened? (P 110 – the French Language example.) 

8. Readers may wish to note that nowhere in this book does the C-word (creativity) appear. Why should it? Do only some people have ideas, confront problems, dream, live in the real world and breathe air?  What do you think about the fact that nowhere do the authors attribute successful art to the idea of CREA**VITY?

Assignment for Wednesday Nov. 7

I have been feeling generous lately and in the spirit of making your lives easier, we will only be reading an answering the questions from Chapter 7 for this week.  

Please read Chapter 7 and answer all of the following questions....

 1. Consider the system of academia… (problem for those who teach) It is a system that produces new artists while at the same time also producing ex-artists. Because of the time requirement making art demands, how could one continue to make art while maintaining a full time OTHER job ?

 2. Pages 83 and 84 discuss the students seeing what the instructor has done, the path they have traveled. Have you found (looking at all of the teachers that you have had, not just the art teachers) that seeing what they have done with their specialty inside and outside of the academic world has influenced anything about what you do or how you do what you do in that particular subject or any subject for that matter? (Long and confusing question, I know…)

  

3.  How can you continue to make art after you have stopped being a student and stepped into the great big world?

4. Are you, in any way, frightened about going into the arts as a profession because of the parental concern: Will there be any  “jobs awaiting their children upon graduation?” “Not as a result of anything they’ll learn from me!

5. To the critic – art is a noun. What is it to you? Explain your answer.

Remember Wed. Nov 14 we have guest speakers the senior art majors will be here, so think of questions you would like to ask them while they are here.

Ch 5 and 6 questions due October 17th

Please bring your laptops to class and Read Chapter 5 and respond to 4 of the following questions:

1.      “In the outside world, there may be no reaction to what we do; in our art work there is nothing but reaction… When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there staring, hands in pockets. But when you commit, it comes out like blazes.” Look back on your own work – choose one that feels like it is lazy, holding back – describe your memory of the process in making that work. Now, choose one that came out blazing… describe your memories of that creation!

2. What are your 3 leading nominee’s for “artist’s funk”?

3.  Have you ever had a routine set up in your life that you did everyday (or thereabout) that helped you get on with things? Did it ever happen that you changed your routine and had the outcome of your change turn out something other than positive? Tell me your story?

 4. How have the limits of your materials put limits on what you’ve been able to visually communicate with your art?

5.  Have you conquered the dilemma of reaching out to new and unfamiliar tools and embrace new possibilities? Have you ever even thought about it? If you have – how’s it going? If not – WHY?

 

 6. Are there any habits you have regarding the making of art that are not visible in the actual finished work of art? (ie: my brushes have to be a certain way, I have to work standing up [a la Ernest Hemmingway], I have to have music playing really loud…)

Please respond to 2 of the following questions from Chapter 6:

7. What are some of the ordinary problems the authors discuss regarding an artist’s place in the art world (place, production, etc…)?

8.  How has the work you have been producing stayed fairly close to, or gone very far from, the safety zone you may or may not have been comfortable working in? Is your work “guarded” so that you don’t get “eaten,” or are you “unguarded” in your work? Please explain your answers.

9.  What have you done to live in another person's world? What have others done to live in your world?

10. Is it yet wired into you to be competitive with your artwork? Are you driven to make the next work better than the last? When faced with a sense of defeat, or disappointment in your artwork, how have you been able to deal with or contended with it?

 

October 10 :To the Library, we go

Hi all,
We are headed to the library today to complete a computer assessment on finding resources.  Nothing required just bring yourself over to the library and meet in room 213.  I'll wait for anyone that didn't get the message in class and meet you there.

Remember all of the questions from the blog are graded so please click on the comment section below each post to respond to the questions. You have midterm to complete the questions from Chapters 1-6. 

Due October 17- You will need to Read Chapter 5&6 and answer the questions on the next blog post. Bring your laptops to class.  We are going to discuss registration for classes.

October 3, 2012

Class is canceled for Wednesday 10/3.  Sorry for the late notice. Please have your response to the chapter 3&4 questions ready for October 10. There has been an issue with an updated version of internet explorer and firefox not loading the website.  Try to update your internet browser or see the Help Desk in the computer center if it is still not working. 

Option 2 - go to the content section and type your responses and bring the printed versions to class.

Due October 10 - Next Wednesday we will meet in the Library room 213 for IDL.

Due October 17- You will need to Read Chapter 5&6 and bring your laptops to class.  We are going to discuss registration for classes.

Assignment for Wednesday October 3rd

1. We will have two guest artists present their work.  After listening to the presentations - write a paragraph on something you learned from the artists and 3 goals that you have for your own artistic journey.

Sara Christensen Blair: Graphic Design and Design on September 19.

Greg Blair: Art History, Sculpture on September 26.

2. Read Chapter 3 and respond to two of the questions that follow....

a.Perfection – Read the first paragraph on page 29 again and then answer this question:

    Which group would you see yourself a part of? The left side of the studio that produced a quantity of work or the right side of the studio that worked to produce the one perfect piece? Which approach to you makes the most sense? What does “perfection” deny you?    

b. What is it that all the other artists in the world have that allows them to successfully make their work that you need to possess so that you will in turn be able to make your own art?
c. Fears about making art fall into 2 families. What are those two families? What fears do you have about being an artist and  what do these fears prevent you from doing?

 3.Read Chapter 4 and respond to three of the following questions...

a. Knowing that if one does, in academia, steer your work in certain directions, the A grade can be yours. How do you deal with that thought/conflict when it comes time for you to create your own work? Do you consciously make decisions based on what you believe the academic standards might be (In better words: what you think the teacher wants to see.)?

b.  Do you think people understand your art? Does it send a clear message to your audience? Is there a clear message that you are trying to send? What, if anything, are you trying to say with your art at this point in your career? 

c. Consider this quote: “risk rejection by exploring new worlds, or court acceptance by following well explored paths.” Which direction do you follow? Why?

d.  What is it that you have learned from the art of the past? What can it be that you will try to teach those of the future with your art of the now? Is it too early for you to make any statement about the work of the now?

e.  When you look back in 5, 10 or 20 years to what you have produced today, will you be able to say that is is “your” artwork or that you re-produced art of art history? Did you follow your own artistic path?