AH 353 Journal Questions Spring 2006
1. Select one of the artworks we discussed in class and explain in your journal entry whether you think your selection is a work of art - or not a work of art. To answer this question thoughtfully, you will need to write up your definition of art, and why/how your piece fits this definition - or not. Think also about bad art. Is your piece good or bad art? How can one tell the difference? What criteria might you use to distinguish good art from bad?
2. Read "State of the Art" by Barry Gewen (New York Times Book Review, December 11, 2005) and read chapter 1 of Freeland's But Is It Art?. Summarize briefly the main points both authors make and write about the following questions: what use is aesthetic theory (like that of Kant or Hume) in today's art world? Or in today's broader cultural milieu? Should "good taste" be revived, and if so, who should be the arbiter of good taste?
3. Apply aesthetic theory as developed by Immanuel Kant and David Hume (discussed in Freeland ch. 1) to either Willem de Kooning's Woman and Bicycle or to Robert Rauschenberg's Bed (photos in Hopkins, ch. 2). What is the role of beauty in art? Of "purposiveness without a purpose"? Could these pieces be thought to embody an anti-aesthetic ideal? What does that say about the development of contemporary art?
4. Read up on the continuing protests against the Danish cartoons that lampoon Mohammed and try to explain both sides of the issue - Western European and Islamic. What is going on in this mutual misunderstanding? If you were advisor to the European Union, what would you suggest? If you were advisor to the entire Muslim world, what would you say? How is it that art becomes such a focal point of cultural and political conflict?
5. Look at Jasper Johns' Painted Bronze (Ale Cans) of 1960 (click here: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/J/johns/ale.jpg.html and compare the art work to Marcel Duchamp's infamous Fountain of 1917 (click here: http://www.beatmuseum.org/duchamp/fountain.html). How does Johns' work show the influence of Marcel Duchamp and his "readymades"? How does Johns turn the "readymade" consumer item into art? Is either an "original"? Compare both of these works to Sherrie Levine's Fountain/After Duchamp, 1991 (visit http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/kuspit/kuspit4-20-1.asp) . Is Levine's work an original? If so, or if not, what is the role of originality in contemporary art? To read more on Duchamp's Fountain, see http://www.sfmoma.org/MSoMA/artworks/1466.html.
6. Read Freeland, ch. 2, and consider Freeland's discussion of the theories of art formulated by Plato and Aristotle's in relation to the art produced by Thomas Kinkade. On p. 35, Freeland writes that "many people still prefer art that 'looks like' their favorite scene or object..." Is this what is really happening in a Kinkade? Pick a Kinkade, put the image in your journal, and discuss. Now compare this idea to the Brillo Boxes of Andy Warhol (http://www.warhol.org/museum_info/press%20room/Brillo%20box.htm). They look like the real thing (minesis) but are not always received as art. Why? And what of Duchamp's Fountain? How does it fit into the concept of art as mimesis (imitation) and the very definition of art?
7. Read Lucie-Smith, chapter 5, and attempt to define Minimalism by selecting examples of Minimalism in art and discussing them. How and where does Minimalism fit in the development of Modern art? How does it contrast with Pop Art? Look again at "State of the Art" and consider Michael Fried's argument that Minimalism isn't concerned about the art itself, but with the circumstances under which it is theatrically viewed. Do you agree? Why or why not?
8. Read Chapter 3 of Cynthia Freeland's But Is It Art and discuss the role of the "primitive" in art of other cultures and its effect on both Modern and Contemporary Art. Select examples and discuss.
9. Think about Prof. Murray's discussion of environmental art (earth art) last week and Andy Goldsworthy's work in Rivers and Tides. What exactly is environmental art? What are the economic and social conditions of its creation? Is the art form new to Contemporary Art? How do art works like Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty relate to their environment? Might environmental art better described as site-specific art? And finally, if the art is designed to be ephemeral, how is its memory preserved and what is its legacy?
10. Read Chapter 4 of Cynthia Freeland's book But Is It Art? on Money, Markets, Museums and think about art as a business. How do museums shape the market for contemporary art? How do they influence the price of art? Who decides which artists get to exhibit in museums? Finally, who pays for the museum exhibits, especially the "blockbuster" exhibitions of recent years? And who profits from them? Can contemporary artists really compete with the old masters of the past when it comes to drawing the public into museums?
11. Visit the Whitney Biennial's web site www.whitney.org/biennial and (1) read the introduction to the show, (2) look at works included in the show, and (3) read about individual works in the show, and (4) read some reviews of the show, ranging from formal published reviews such as http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/arts/design/03bien.html or http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0610,saltz,72370,13.html to the informal, such as http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2006/03/whitney-biennial-2006.html or http://miamiartexchange.typepad.com/maex_art_blog/2006/03/whitneys_bienni.html. Then sit back and think. What are your impressions of the Whitney Biennial 2004? Put yourself in the role of one of the 3 curators of the show, and try to imagine selecting art work for inclusion. What sort of criteria do you think the curators were following when selecting the artwork? Can you tell how quality and originality is assessed? Do you see "good art" in the show? Do you see "bad art" there too? What's the difference?
12. Read Freeland chapter 5 and think about Feminist art. What is its historical meaning and relevance? Pick a piece of Feminist art from the 1970s, put a photocopy or digital image of it in your journal, and discuss it as an example of Feminist art. What are its meanings? Next, think about Postfeminism. What is it? How has Feminism morphed in the 1980s and 1990s? Do you see this as a positive or negative change? Select an example of art by a woman artist from the 1990s or later, illustrate your journal with it, and discuss it - is it Feminist, Postfeminist, or something else? Does the artist's female sex, or gender identify, influence the creation of this art?
13. Read Lucie-Smith chs. 6-9 and examine the question: what is the role of controversy in Contemporary art? Select an example of a controversial artwork and discuss.
14. Read Freeland chapter 7 on Digitizing and Dissemination and think about today's reliance upon mass media and the internet. Go to the Louvre site, discussed in the text: http://www.louvre.org/louvrea.htm (English site), and explore how famous images like the Mona Lisa and the Nike of Samothrace are "displayed" on the web. Then Visit the site for the Museum of Web Art (for not so famous images): http://www.mowa.org/. How does a web site like this change our definition of a museum? What would Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, and Jean Baudrillard think about such a collection?
