Greg March 27: Public Art

In Greg’s class on March 27, we'll be discussing public art.

Read and respond to:

= “City timidity on public art” by Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe 2010.

= “The very public debate over Fred Wilson’s Indy sculpture” by Tyler Green, 2010.

http://blogs.artinfo.com/modernartnotes/2010/10/fred-wilsons-indy-sculpture-and/

= "Can public art help retain Boston talent?” by Greg Cook, 2011, based on Caleb Neelon's TEDxBoston talk (video above).

= “The Apartment at the Mall” by Greg Cook, 2007.

= “Public Art—Preparing for the Next Chapter” by Elizabeth Keithline and Elysian McNiff, Art New England, March/April 2012.

= “Art in the Streets” by Greg Cook, Art New England, March/April 2012.

Consider what makes good public art? How does it engage with and benefit the public, the community? What are the difficulties of making good public art? Where is the public in public art? How might we foster better public art in our communities?

Remember:

= Research papers are due March 27.
= Thesis shows begin April 8.
= Oral presentations start April 17.

Greg March 20: "West of Center"

In Greg’s class on March 20, we’ll be discussing the introduction to "West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-1977."

Remember:

= Spring break is the week of March 11.

= Research papers are due March 27.

Caroline's readings for March 6th and March 18th

Caroline's readings for March 6th and March 18th

1. Bradbury, Leonie, Absent/Present: Artwork as Network, 2013, catalog essay soon to be published
2. Deleuze, Gilles, and Guattari, Felix, A Thousand Plateaus, from Literary Theory an Anthology, 2nd edition 2009 pp378 - 386

Greg March 6: "Paint Things”?

In Greg’s class on March 6, we’ll be discussing hybrid abstraction based on readings about “Paint Things: Beyond the Stretcher” at DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln. Seeing the show is recommended, but not required.

Consider: What are the common aspects of this art? What is motivating the artists to make this sort of work?

Remember:

= Evening crits run through March 6.

= Spring break is the week of March 11.

= Research papers are due March 27.

Pictured: Katie Bell, "The Remnants," 2011, wood, acrylic, carpet, foam, plastic, plaster, and window blinds on wall, 7 x 11 feet,

Caroline's groups readings for Weds 27th March and Mon 4th March

Caroline's groups readings for Weds 27th March and Mon 4th March

1. Weil, Harry, Old Themes, New Vaiations: The Work of Kate Gilmore, Afterimage, vol 39. no 3 pg 6 - 8
2. Bagenal, C, Ravishing Beauty: The Aesthetics of Rape in Grace Ndiritu's Video Desert Storm, Afterimage, vol 39 no1 pg 63 - 65
3. Blackwell, Diane, Feminist Video Art as a Forerunner to Postmodernism, Theory Now theorynow.blogspot.com/.../feminist-video-art-as-forerunner-to.html

Greg Feb. 27: New Topographics and photography today

For Greg’s class on Feb. 27, we’ll be discussing New Topographics and photography today. Read the following essays:

= Introduction to “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” by William Jenkins, 1975.
= “LACMA traces photography’s New Topographics movement” by Leah Ollman, 2009
= “RISD’s ‘America in View: Landscape Photography 1865 to Now’” by Greg Cook, 2012.
= “Alec Soth speaks at MassArt,” 2009.

Look up photos by the New Topographics group and Alec Soth. Consider the following quotes from the readings:

= Lewis Baltz: “The ideal photographic document would appear to be without author or art.”
= Robert Adams: “Pictures should look like they were easily taken. Otherwise beauty in the world is made to seem elusive and rare, which it is not.”
= John Schott: “This work basically said there’s a new world to be seen, and it deserves to be looked at, whether you see it as despoiling the landscape or simply as a fact.”
= Alec Soth: “Facebook: 15 billion uploaded photos. At its busiest, 550,000 images each second being uploaded. So I’ve been struggling with that. How do I function as a photographer in that environment? … How do we deal with the fact that [photography is] such an easy medium? And vernacular photography is often as good as the photography we try to do."

Did New Topographics photography achieve its goals? What is its continuing influence in the conceptual approach, the deadpan look, and the cameras used by photographers like Alec Soth today?

Remember: Evening crits run from Feb. 25 to March 6.

Pictured at top: Nicholas Nixon "Southeast View of the Fenway Area, Boston," 1975.

Greg Feb. 20: From Disneyland to Installation art

For Greg's class on Feb. 20, we'll be discussing installation art from "Pirates of the Caribbean" to Christoph Buchel. Watch the video above, read the essays below and consider the following questions in your written response: What makes great immersive installation art? What are some ways that "Pirates of the Caribbean" as well as Christoph Buchel, Randy Regier and Shary Boyle use symbols and stories to create mood and meaning? How do they connect to history or current events or cultural mythology? What are the advantages or disadvantages of being immersed in the experience? What are lessons we can take from this sort of installation art and apply to painting, photography, sculpture, performance, etc. Is there a difference in quality or meaning between what Disneyland achieves and what "fine art" installations do? Did Disneyland invent installation art in America? Can you identify earlier examples? Better earlier examples? What makes them better?

= Christoph Buchel's abandoned "Training Ground for Democracy," from 2008 court decision.

= "Fire in the Night: The Pre-Eminent Attraction-as-Art" from Passport to Dreams, Aug. 21, 2011.

= Randy Regier's "Dime Star" from The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research, May 11, 2011.

= "Shary Boyle, beloved in Canada's art world, doesn't think she needs to leave the country to achieve international acclaim" by Mark Medley, National Post, Sept. 11, 2010. (More images here.)

Remember:  Our discussion group won't be meeting for a full discussion on Feb. 13. It will be a studio work day instead. But your preliminary list of exhibits that you are considering for your Research Paper is due on Feb. 13.

Also: Feb. 18 is Presidents Day, so there will be no classes that day.