Guidelines for Paper Assignment
This paper will be a critical examination of a work or group of works created by a particular artist within a particular movement. I can also be about a theoretical idea or the philosophy behind a particular movement (possible subjects might be Appropriation, Greenberg vs. Rosenberg, etc.). It should not only discuss the purely artistic problems and solutions (for example, composition, materials) but should also examine the work(s) in terms of its theoretical aspects (for example, the rise of popular culture, art as autonomous object, the expanded field, notions of identity and/or politics, etc.) Begin your paper with a description of the work of art. This should include such basic elements as: artist, title, date, medium, dimensions. You should also describe the work's composition subject matter materials and technique. This should serve as the introductory section/paragraph(s) of your essay. At this point you will need to research on the artist, the work, the movement and the dominant ideas of the time in which it was created. You will also need to think
about what types of theoretical concerns might have been in the artist's mind
when he created these images. For example, is the artist reacting to the past in terms of such ideas as appropriation? Is she/he thinking about the notion of identity, politics, gender, place, etc.? For example, let's say that you feel your
work is about Identity. In that case, you will need to do some research on the concept of identity itself. You might, therefore, first want to talk about the very nature of identity: Is the self a unified entity (for example, Descartes vs. Merleau-Pony and/or Lacan)? Or, for example, what is the relationship between identity and gender? Since this is an advanced level course, the idea of the paper is to help you learn how to integrate theoretical concepts with the works of art themselves. This is not an easy task so you will need to start to think about your subject early on in the semester. I am here to help you work out your ideas and in fact, you must check with me before you begin to work on your essay. The paper will be due the last day of class and should be approximately ten pages in length (double-spaced, 12 pt.) and should contain citations that are properly formatted in either MLA or Chicago style and must also contain a bibliography.