Respond to an Artist’s Work from “Art 21”

Description

http://art21.org/artists/

General requirements: Choose an Artist from the provided link. You may have to watch more than one video or read many descriptions to choose someone you want to talk about. Talk about 2D artworks. (We have not discussed time-based media or 3d media in this class). My recommendation is to watch a few full episodes and enjoy the process! This documentary series is great! Some of my favorite videos are from “Season 4 and 5” if you choose to navigate the ART21 art series in this way. Required Format: One Page minimum double spaced 12pt font. Include your name, our class, the artist and piece chosen in the header Edit for grammar and spelling

Paragraph 1: Name of the Artist from “Art 21,” and the piece in question. You may discuss a piece in the video or look up additional Art by the artist. If you cannot find the title of the piece you want to discuss from the Art 21 documentary series, please list the time in the video in which it appears. For Example: (Kerry James Marshall, Painting in Video at 12:21) Who is this Artist? Where do they come from? Write a brief biography.

Paragraph 2: Write a Formal Analysis of the artist’s work, describe the work you have chosen to talk about using our vocabulary list from class. In terms of design, does this piece have gestalt? Do all pieces of the project contribute to the whole? Note:

A Formal analysis is a specific type of visual description. Unlike ekphrasis, it is not meant to evoke the work in the reader’s mind. Instead it is an explanation of visual structure, of the ways in which certain visual elements have been arranged and function within a composition. Strictly speaking, subject is not considered, and neither is historical or cultural context. The purest formal analysis is limited to what the viewer sees. Because it explains how the eye is led through a work, this kind of description provides a solid foundation for other types of analysis. It is always a useful exercise, even when it is not intended as an end in itself.

Paragraph 3: Write an Ekphrasis of the Artists work. The goal of this literary form is to make the reader envision the thing described as if it were physically present. How does it make you feel? What is the subject of the artwork? Can you describe the artwork in a way that makes us feel that we are seeing it through your eyes even though we are not present with you? the piece might mean? How does the design of the piece contribute to what you believe For more information on formal analysis or ekphrasis visit: https://writingaboutart.org/pages/formalanalysis.html https://writingaboutart.org/pages/ekphrasis.html Vocabulary List Shape / Form Shape implies spatial form and is usually perceived as two-dimensional. Form has depth, length, and width and resides in space. It is perceived as three-dimensional. Value Value refers to relative lightness and darkness and is perceived in terms of varying levels of contrast. Texture Texture refers to the tactile qualities of a surface (actual) or to the visual representation of such surface qualities (implied). Space / Perspective Space refers to the area in which art is organized. Perspective is representing a volume of space or a 3-dimensional object on a flat surface. Pattern Pattern refers to the repetition or reoccurrence of a design element, exact or varied, which establishes a visual beat. Rhythm / Movement Rhythm or movement refers to the suggestion of motion through the use of various elements. Proportion / Scale Proportion is the size relationship of parts to a whole and to one another. Scale refers to relating size to a constant, such as a human body. Unity Unity is achieved when the components of a work of art are perceived as harmonious, giving the work a sense of completion. (see GESTALT)

Emphasis

Emphasis refers to the created center of interest, the place in an artwork where your eye first lands, or keeps returning too. Balance Balance is the impression of equilibrium in a pictorial or sculptural composition. Balance is often referred to as symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial. Ways to achieve balance: 1. Symmetry,inwhichbothsidesofacompositionhavethesameelementsinthesameposition, as in a mirror-image, or the two sides of a face. 2. Asymmetry,inwhichthecompositionisbalancedduetothecontrastofanyoftheelements of art. For example, a large circle on one side of a composition might be balanced by a small square on the other side 3. Radial symmetry, in which elements are equally spaced around a central point, as in the spokes coming out of the hub of a bicycle tire. Gestalt: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. An artifacts meaning is greater than its individual components (paint, canvas, brush; or tire, paint, metal, respectively).

In viewing the “whole,” a cognitive process takes place – the mind makes a leap from comprehending the parts to realizing the whole. If the parts are realized more than the whole than gestalt is not realized. The design is broken. The Elements of Art (also known as the Principals of Design) are the fundamental pieces used to create a new unified whole.