Art & architecture Topic > Art Museum Paper

Paper details MUSEUM PROJECT: OVERVIEW OF ASSIGNMENT: When viewing a work of art, you always have the right to your opinion. It is important, however, to question why your specific attitudes towards any direct work of art have evolved. For this essay, you will investigate the process that results in the conclusions that you make about art, and examine your own personal set of criteria that is beinc used to judge or interpret works of art. You will also be asked to step back for a moment and look objectively at each work of art in pursuit of the value that the work has in the context of Art History and society. For this assignment, you will be completing a 4-5 page paper that discusses two works of art that you find in the Museum. You will need to browse through the galleries and artworks provided in the catalogues of images in order to find artwork for the paper. You will then address the listed issues when you discuss your research. OBJECTIVES: 1. To apply formal and contextual analysis to works of art. 2. To identify and explain art vocabulary in a work of art. 3. To assemble a list of characteristics of art that determine whether or not an artwork is successful. 4. To explain the social, cultural, and historial value of an artwork regardless of personal taste. PROCESS: 1. Walk through and explore the Museum. Take note of works that you respond to. Are you standing in front of some works more than others? Do any works offend you or challenge you? Do you find yourself staring at any particular works more than others? As you complete the Museum Attendance Assignment, you should start to notice these trends. 2. Select an artwork that evokes a strong personal response. This can be an artwork that you like' or feel a strong connection to. Take a picture, print it out and include thi in the appendix (end of your paper). 3. Select an artwork that evokes an equally strong response, but in a challenging way. This is a work that you may °dislike. Take a picture, print it out and include this in th appendix (end of your paper). 4. Write a paper responding to your different points of view in viewing both artworks that addresses the issues below. 5. This is not a research paper. This is more of a reaction paper in which you are applying what you are learning in the course. While you may do some minor research, (E perhaps you translate a title that is in a foreign language), you are expected to come up with your own interpretations of the work and use all of the concepts correctly. ESSAY TOPIC: Please address the following criteria when constructing your essay. Although there is not a required paragraph structure, papers are generally clearer when these items are presented in in this order; 1. Thoroughly explain why you have selected each artwork. Describe in as detailed a manner possible, what sort of emotional or psychological response you had. Explair your initial response to each work as well as the response you had after looking longer. Describe how your response did or did not change with time. 2. Describe, analyze, and interpret each work of art. Separate this analysis from your emotional response. Pretend you are an Art Historian and try to be as objective as possible. Refer to our guidelines for critique from class in doing so. Use the critical process template to brainstorm, and ultimately craft a critical analysis. Papers are generally stronger when a paragraph is dedicated for each step of the process. 3. Judge each work based on your own emotional response (criteria #1), AND based on the analysis (criteria #2). Remember that you are entitled to your own opinion, but your opinion can only become a judgment when you thoughtfully include concrete observations of form and content. Since each judgement for each artwork is work 10% each for the paper, this should be in a paragraph format and thoroughly explained. 4. After you have judged the work, examine your own opinions and biases in order to establish your own philosophy of looking at art. Address the following when doing so; • Does artwork have to be beautiful for you to appreciate it? Can art be beautiful and visually unappealing to you at the same time? • Do you respond more to form or content? How do your responses change as you look beyond form to examine content in a piece? • Explain your personal view on technical skill and time taken to produce art. Do you require both of these elements in order for an artwork to be successful from your perspective? 5. Finally, discuss the artwork that you were challenged by and address its function and importance as a part of a museum's collection. Why do you think it has been included? What is its purpose historically, socially, or culturally? How has it enriched the world in spite of your personal opinion? After being challenged by this work of art, do you like it when artwork challenges you or asks difficult questions? Why or why not? TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: 1. This is not a compare and contrast paper. For clarity, it is suggested that you discuss one artwork at a time. Complete the entire critical analysis for one artwork (description, analysis, interpretation, and judgement) before moving on to the next artwork. 2. It is imperative that you cite each work of art properly. Include the Mist title and date for the works you discuss. Artworks are italicized. The textbook captions can help serve as examples for how to cite. Be extremely careful about referencing and using sources. Your essay must be in your own words. If you are citing information, put direct quotes in quotations and follow MLA format. Citations and paraphrasing of researched material should only be used in very small amounts if used at all. If you are using an excess of researched material, you will not be given credit for ideas that are not your own. If you are paraphrasing, you must cite the information as well in parenthesis. It is not required or expected to research more information. The paper is expected to be your own personal response to the work. 3. Back up all opinions with concrete evidence and written descriptions. Scrutinize the artworks. Describe works of art as though the person reading the paper will not have the image attached. Although observations may seem obvious to you and superfluous to include, they are vital to the reader when they attempt to understand your point of view 4. Include print outs of the images in question. Make sure that you include them at the end of your paper. There is no need to print these in color.