Assignment Goals:

The theme for Chapter 10 is “Social Protest and Affirmation.” As you all now know, from examples in the textbook, art happens inside and outside the the whites walls of institutions like galleries and museums. And our chapter reading provides us with many examples of different issues that have been addressed by different artist’s when it comes to topics related to social justice and the affirmation of marginalized groups. This week I want you to keep in mind that artists are humans too. Things that matter to them are based on their first-hand  life experience(s). Now I realize that everyone’s life experience is a little different, but your goal is the try to put yourself in the shoes of the artists and try to see why they would make the kind of artworks in this assignment

Instructions:

1. Watch all the videos and read all linked content prior to crafting your response(s).

2. Address the questions in the Discussion Prompt

3. Provided embedded image example of artworks that help illustrate the point you are trying to make. 

A. Artist Within the Art World: In Response to his Personal Life Experiences and Environment

Kehinde Wiley

American artist, Kehinde Wiley, is a painter whose work utilizes the visual language related to 17th-19th Century Eurocentric Academic painting traditions (the Baroque, Rococo, and Romanticism among them) to explore the contemporary Black experience related to each of his subject’s personal style (particularly their clothing). In this video, Wiley discusses his background, work, process, philosophy, and art historical influences.

Please watch this 14 minute video about Kehinde Wiley’s background, work, process, philosophy, and art historical influences.

B. Artist as Educator:

Charles White

Keeping in mind that all artists are storytellers, please watch the video Life Model: Charles White and His Students, about Charles White who was an artist and educator at OTIS College of Art and Design in the late 20th century. As students, you are all part of an institutional establishment, but each individual within any establishment has the potential to create change from within.

As you watch the video, pay attention to how Charles White interacted with his students, who he felt art was for, and how he viewed the potential for a diversity of artists to carve out their own places in the  predominantly caucasian Eurocentric art establishment. Consider how a single individual can impact a larger community through their own work.

C. Artist Outside a Gallery(s):

JR http://www.jr-art.netLinks to an external site.

Using massive scale photography of the everyday underrepresented segment of society, JRàwork addresses poverty, politics and gender. Bringing social awareness to the public, JRàwork predominantly exists in the public space.

Prompt Guidelines:

Written Analysis – Post Essay Format (Due Wednesday):

Your analysis of these three artists should be evaluated in an essay format. Please refer to the Discussion Guidelines for more information.

Part 1: Answer all of the following general questions for each of the three artists:

Who is the audience for the for each of these individuals, everyone or a select few? Explain your answer.

How does/did the work of each artist relate to the issues covered in the chapter? Does their work address social justice or question the status quo? How so? Can you relate to their life experiences? If not, why do you think that is? Explain your answers.

Artists are all storytellers in one way or another, how did you respond to hearing the personal stories revolving around each of these artist’s lives? 

What role do our own experiences play in the “life” of the artistàartworks and careers? What I mean by that is, we all come to things from different places in life, so our reactions to everything are personal in some small way. Artists make work and release it into the world, after that the reactions to their work are constantly in flux. Feel free to share examples from personal experience(s) to help explain your answer. 

Part 2: Now that you¥ learned about these artists, chose the one artist, from these videos, whose work resonated with you the most personally. Find a specific artwork (and embed it in the discussion) that you feel best represents this message. Include the artist, title, size, and location (if it’s a visual artwork).

Address the following in your essay:

Artwork embedded, artist, title, size, location.

What is the message/goal of the art? Be specific. 

How effectively does the artwork communicate it message? Provide specific examples in you answer. Does the range (the number of viewers) of audience affect this?

Do you think the artistàsuccess in the artwork is directly related to the size of the audience that see it, since it is about protest? Be specific.

Grammar:

All writing must utilize complete sentences that form coherent, organized thoughts and ideas, utilize proper grammar, and be completed at a college level to earn credit. I realize we live in a world of texts, emojis, and tweets and they are totally fine in other areas of your life, but in a college classroom, they just don provide enough information to fully explore ideas. 

Reply(s):

You must Reply to a minimum of (4 )of your classmates per week. 

Peer Feedback Goals:

Make sure to respectfully comment on others’ choices while replying. Keep in mind that your personal reactions, to art, differ from other. people because reactions are subjective and based on your life experience; often we need more than one set of eyes to see the big picture. 

In the “Reply” window to a peer’s contribution provide feedback on what they have submitted for the current week.

Reply Format

1. Deep Dives: You must meaningfully reply in detail, I call these “deep dives,” to  two separate peers artwork (s). Use the following points when replying in a “deep dive:” These can be about 100-150 words each.

Complement: add to (something) in a way that enhances or improves upon what your peer(s) have contributed.

Connection: a relationship in which an idea is linked or associated with something else. Tell your peers how what they have shared is associated with an idea that comes from your own personal experience. How does it relate to your life and experience in this class?

Comment: a written remark expressing an opinion or reaction. This can be positive or negative, as long as your comments are respectful and empathetic to your peeràwriting.

Quotation: quotation(s) taken from a textbook or some other source are one of the best ways to validate a comment and solidify a connection. (You must always include citations) This just means that you are supporting your ideas with other facts from reliable sources.

2. You must to reply, in brief, to at least two other peer’s artworks. These “scratch the surface” comments can take the form of a simple sentence.

These can take the form of a superficial compliment, connection, or comment.

Group Discussion Assignment Grading and Assessment

Parameters

In order to earn full credit you must submit a total of 5 times per discussion assignment.

(1) Personal Post that includes a properly embedded image of your current project(s)

1. (2) “Deep Dive” comments addressed to individual classmate’s projects.
2. (2) “Scratch the Surface” comments addressed to other classmate’s projects.
3. Grading
4.  

Please select the “more” icon in the upper right hand corner of this page to show the grading rubric for this assignment. If accessing this course by using the Canvas Student App, you will not see the icon. Instead, please use the menu to locate the rubric.

Deadlines

Initial post (your written project essay) is due by WEDNESDAY at 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Response postings should be completed no later than SATURDAY at 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Tips for Success:

1. The key to a good discussion is interaction. Therefore, it is expected that you will log in and participate in the discussions on a minimum of two separate days per unit, but logging in more is encouraged.

Interaction is the key to a productive and meaningful discussion between you, your peers, and your instructor, so your goal and approach should be meaningful interaction rather than meeting minimum point requirements.

1. Please make sure that you are scrolling down and reading through all the submissions before replying. If you only reply to the top first two or three student’s posts that means they are getting a lot of feedback while other students are not getting any. Once a student has more than three replies, associated to the original post, move on and find someone else to reply to.

Please note that posting all, or the majority, of your replies on the last day of the discussion after 9:00 PM will be considered for point deduction since this greatly decreases the interaction and impact of your posts.