04 Nov Paper 1

Paper 1; additional notes regarding the instructions:

Image selection:

Contemporary visual culture:
Re: contemporary:  Your image should be ideally be from the 21st century (2000-
the present).  Provide Images

Select an image that will provide a good opportunity for visual analysis (i.e.: there are a lot of things to say about it).  If you are at a loss for selecting a subject, here are a few suggestions:

Think about the types of images you are most frequently exposed to; or, better yet, images that you actively seek out and enjoy the most.  Writing about something familiar and interesting to you may help.

Think about the recurring themes & subjects we have seen and talked about so far: Art, politics & power: Technology & art; Art, portraiture & gender roles / cultural norms, etc. (see longer list in the notes below).  Select a theme that you are most interested in or believe is highly relevant to our culture, and think about contemporary images that relate to that theme.

Content / what you will write about:

Your intro needs to briefly identify your subject and its meaning & present your
thesis. 

The bulk of the paper will briefly address the following (see notes below):

Formal, iconographic & stylistic analysis
Form & Content
Historical & cultural context
Commentary

      In addition, at whatever point it seems appropriate to do so, you are to make three art historical references.  In other words: you are to very briefly note (in a few sentences at least)  particular connections (or contrasts) between your contemporary subject and a specific work of art from the historical period we have covered so far (or a significant recurring the in subject, style, composition, or
theme, etc.. Or – anything else you believe is particularly relevant or interesting. 

For this, you may select any works of art from the chapters we have covered so far.  Or, you may also refer to works that are not in the text, provided the work of art you are referencing is from the cultures & eras we have covered so far (Europe, Early Renaissance-High Renaissance, Late Renaissance, and Mannerism).
Notes:
Formal analysis:  The formal elements are simply the visual ingredients of any image or object:  composition, shape, color, value, lines, etc.  When appropriate, you will want to draw attention to those that are playing an active role in communicating meaning when you are discussing content.  (See the textbook intro for more on the formal elements).

Iconographic analysis:  Identify, describe & interpret the pictorial elements and symbols (i.e.: the things depicted in the image).  This is what you did, when you did an iconographic analysis of The French Ambassadors painting (The guys with the beards & the distorted skull).

Stylistic analysis:  Does style contribute to the meaning?  Is the images
style (appearance) idealized?  Realistic?  Both?  Or abstract?  Or expressive? 
Etc. 

Composition:  Remember: composition is organized perception.  The image maker has organized and placed everything in a very specific way in order to convey meaning.  Does your image use composition to convey meaning?  Or influence the way that we look at it?  If so, describe how.  For example, with Van Eycks Arnolfini Portrait (the husband & wife):  The husband was placed near the window and the wife was placed near the bed (symbolically expressing gender roles & cultural norms).

Form & Content:  Form = subject, and what we see (subjects, poses,
expressions, formal elements, etc.).  And content = what we think and feel about what we see.  In other words, the meaning of a work of art, and our reaction to it. Does the form influence the meaning of the image?  For example, remember the two sculptures we saw in the intro lecture.  Both were stone sculptures depicting the same subject:  a human male and female embracing each other.  Yet the realism of one vs. the abstraction and geometry of the other made one seem more sensual, and the other more timeless.  Form influences content.

Historical & cultural context:  How does your image reflect the time & place we live in?  What does it emphasize?  Is your image promoting & reinforcing cultural beliefs and behaviors?  Or challenging them?  Or both? 
    For example: Van Eycks Arnolfini Portrait : promoting gender roles &
cultural norms.

Commentary:  Your own subjective thoughts and feelings may be relevant
here.  For example:  Why did you select the image?  Do you like it?  Hate it? 
Resent it?  Because its funny?  Should we embrace it?  Or reject it?  Why do
you think its important enough to analyze and interpret? What does your
subject say and/or imply about our culture?

Themes in the Renaissance / Post-modern era (our era)
 
Sacred events in the natural world / drama & emotion
Public art as decoration 
Politics, power, & propaganda
Technology & art 
Nature, Agriculture / domination of the land, the environment
War, soldiers & defense
Death & burial / afterlife
Portraiture; Status & wealth
Gender; gender roles 
Beauty, the nude & the human form 
Etc.

Paper # 1 rubric

A. Is your thesis clear and strong?  In this case, this simply means: Have you selected a
good subject for this paper?  Thesis:  have you briefly & accurately summarized the
meaning and/or message of the image?

B. Are your observations, assertions and interpretations substantial? (substance =
interesting, relevant, important, and meaningful).

C. Have you illustrated your points with clear and accurate references to your
subject (i.e.: describing what you see)?  Have you demonstrated the knowledge and
perspective you have gained through the coursework and your research? (i.e.: has
this paper offered information, insights, analysis & observations that go beyond what any
reasonable person could conclude in simply looking at a picture of your subject?)

D. Has the artwork / image remained the focus of your paper, or have you gone off
on a tangent? (i.e.: stay focused & no filler)  Are your ideas clearly expressed and
organized?  Did you follow all directions regarding the writing and submission of your
paper?