DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Studio Project: Walking Through Our Modern Arcades

 

COURSE:

HUMN 3165-001

INSTRUCTOR:

Roberta Jean Molyneux-Davis

SEMESTER:

Spring 2013

PHONE:

719-691-1433 (Message)

PROJECT DUE:

May 7, 2012

E-MAIL ADDRESS:

molyneux_davis@yahoo.com

 

Premise: Nineteenth Century Paris shaped Modernist thought. In multi-layered project, you will compare elements of your community with the culture, history, visual culture and literature of Nineteenth Century Paris. You will use a walking journal recorded throughout the semester to produce a studio-based work of art, thereby displaying your own inventiveness through your interpretation of the time period.

 

Practice: In the course of our daily lives, how do we record our perceptions, how does the past shape our present, and how do these influences affect our thinking processes? Keep a walking journal throughout the semester (30 minutes each week for a total of 10 entries) where you record sketches/ideas/perceptions, assimilating the course reading material with your own observations from our community. Once you have completed the readings, fill in the first two columns of the Journal Timesheet, which provides the theme for each of your entries. The journal will provide the springboard for your final studio art project as well as your artist’s statement. Your final studio project may be visual, digital, audio or performative art.

 

Objectives:

  1. You will focus on the major values and concerns of 19th Century Paris presented in readings each week, using the Key Concepts as a lens through which you view your community.
  2. You will organize your thoughts and observations by recording your sketches/ideas/perceptions during the walks as you reflect upon the visual art, history and culture in 19th Century Paris.
  3. You will demonstrate your inventiveness in a creative visual, audio, digital or performative studio art project, relating the created material back to the Key Concepts introduced throughout the semester in a written artist’s statement that adheres to English conventions, including spelling, punctuation and grammar.
  4. You will exhibit insight into the various ways Nineteenth Century Paris has influenced your modern community, articulating your visual literacy and improved analytical and critical thinking skills.

 

Materials:

  • Notebook: Your choice — lined, graphed or plain sketchbook (I personally prefer a small, lined Moleskin since my artistic medium is poetic prose).
  • Whatever you will need to complete your own proposed work of art. (In addition to recording my thoughts in poetic prose, I like shooting images with either video or a camera as I walk).
  • Sometimes revisiting the simplest materials you have on hand (a guitar you have tucked away in a closet, a box of crayons, a set of Legos you haven’t touched since childhood) can provide new insight when combined with your own creative interpretation.

 

Key Questions: As you walk around your community (30 minutes each week), record your sketches/ideas/perceptions, keeping in mind the following questions:

  • How did 19th Century Parisian artists/authors perceive/represent other cultures in their work?
  • How did 19th Century Parisian artists/authors perceive/represent gender issues in their work?
  • How did 19th Century Parisian artists/authors perceive/represent class issues in their work?
  • How do you respond to these same issues?
  • How do you see your fellow community members respond to these same issues?

 

Procedure:

  • Complete the attached sheet before embarking on your walk each week, allowing you to gather your thoughts: DUE April 9
  • Record your sketches/ideas/perceptions in a journal during each 30 minute walk (10 entries total): DUE May 7
    • Respond to the Key Question listed above
    • Record significant sights, textures, sounds, smells, memories, emotions that seem relevant to the week’s topic
    • Write a proposal for your art studio piece (one paragraph describing what medium you will choose and the subject of your art piece + material supply list): DUE April 16
    • Complete Studio Art Project: DUE May 7
    • Complete a one to two paragraph Artist’s Statement, briefly explaining how your art reflects the culture/history/art/literature of 19th Century Paris: DUE May 7
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.