Texts: Sculpture Magazine and Readings on Course Site COURSE DESCRIPTION and LEARNING OBJECTIVES Art 13 will meet totally online this semester. We will use Course Site, our Art 13 Sculpture Blog and Zoom meetings. Set a schedule for yourself, come to all studio meetings and let me know if there are any issues that come up that prevent you from doing your best work, or if there are things about your current circumstances that I should know that would help me to be a better instructor for you. This course helps students develop an understanding of the interaction of forms in space. Using basic sculptural processes and readily available materials, students investigate three-dimensional ideas and decision making. There will be seven or eight projects throughout the semester, each one exploring both design principles and sculpture techniques with the end result an exploration of the possibilities of sculpture form, in a limited timeframe with out an appropriate studio. (Look at the interview with Gabriel Orozco on working with out a studio on course site.) https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s2/gabriel-orozco-in-loss-desire-segment/. Students will develop individual projects that expand the range from single objects to groupings while exploring the relationship of ideas to materials and construction techniques. In the three-dimensional realm you are a builder, a maker. You will work with temporary and permanent materials, giving shape and life to essentially inert materials. In Sculpture you learn how to initiate a dialogue between your ideas and concepts and the materials with which you choose to work. Analysis of problems and personal inquiry are encouraged as students develop vocabulary, technical skills, and critical awareness necessary for creative visual expression. PROJECTS: 1. The first assignment is a way for all of you to get to know each other, and is an assemblage/narrative called “My Favorite Things.” You are to assemble 5-8 objects that are meaningful to you and make a photograph of them to post on our this Blog. 2. The Second is a clay modeling project Clay form studies| A study to come up with an asymmetrical form made out of multiple smaller forms and understanding of space, scale and abstraction. 3. The Third project is again a modeling project but from observation, stressing proportion, accuracy and expression, is about seeing, and creating a three dimensional self portrait that is both accurate and expressive. 4. The fourth assignment introduces basic subtractive techniques and appropriating forms as a starting point for creating sculpture and to examine the basic principles of abstraction. 5. The fifth assignment will be a simple construction using paper or cardboard to build a planar design that implies both occupied and unoccupied space, the planes may be straight or curved and interlock to build a piece that can be viewed from many different vantage points. 6. The sixth assignment is an Installation Project: Full Transparency or “How I dealt with Social Isolation,” and will be composed of a figure or group of figures (not necessarily human) from clear packing tape that speaks to this sense of displacement we are all feeling right now. This piece may be personal, political, narrative, referential, humorous or even fantastic. 7. “More is More” deals with multiples, either constructed, cast or found, in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You will follow the inspiration of the artist Jasper Johns, who directs us to “take and object, do something to it, then do something else to it.” 8. The eighth assignment is one that will entail you going out and examining your environment, and recording it, manipulating it and collecting things you find. 9. In the final assignment, students will write a proposal and design this last work to express their i nsights about sculptural form and content. This project can use any materials and will be narrative, possibly formal and may take any form although there is a prompt on course site: “Measuring your History” or can be their “Cabinet of Curiosities.” FORMAT and PLANNING: Plan to work at least 9 hours a week, building, modeling, researching, photographing and posting. Class will meet virtually 2x a week, in small groups and as a whole during our regular studio time. Zoom meetings will last approximately 60 minutes but I will be available for small group or one on one work for the entire allotted studio time. We can also schedule time outside of class. Projects will have several steps, record all those iterations, and always remember to photograph work as you go along, step by step. https://artprof.org/courses/photographing-3d-artwork/ ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting accommodations, please contact both your instructor and the Office of Academic Support Services, University Center 212 (610-758-4152) as early as possible in the semester. You must have documentation from the Academic Support Services office before accommodations can be granted. CRITIQUES: Projects will be discussed by the class and instructor periodically throughout the semester. The attention and participation of each class member is expected. In a studio class the group critique provides us with a format to both focus on individual student's work and to make broad and generalized comments about recurrent strengths and weaknesses. In a group critique students learn to think critically and to deal with differing viewpoints as well as to develop a verbal literacy concerning the visual arts. You will post your work on our class Blog for comments. You will be expected to contribute to the discussion, and not simply wait to hear what we have to say about your particular piece. You will learn as much if not more through the dialogue as through the physical act of making sculpture. How actively you engage in the analysis of each other's work is a clear indication of how committed you are in learning how to use sculptural forms and materials expressively Critiques will be specifically geared toward developing critical thinking skills with regard for technical, formal, and conceptual issues. Please keep in mind that a critique of your work is not a critique of you as a person. Each project will be discussed by the class and instructor upon its completion. These critiques will occur on Zoom, where either the instructor will share her screen or each student will share their screen. There is a critique guide posted on CourseSite for your information. Also each student as part of their class participation should comment critically on each others work, a few sentences of how to improve the project, why the project works or doesn’t work are very helpful. (I like the piece although nice to hear is not helpful, why you “like” the piece is helpful.) REPORTS: Each student will give a presentation on a contemporary sculptor to the class. Reports will last 5 minutes and will start March 30 and continue through the end of April. Your date is assigned randomly, and the sculptors you select to research can come from the text chapters on Course Site, Sculpture Magazine [available on line through course site], or Art 21. GRADING: Each project must be completed successfully in order to receive credit for the course. Final grades will be based on individual projects, sketch-book drawings that you post, papers and reports and overall level of achievement, creativity and imagination. Remember that the way you photograph your work has a great deal to do with how the rest of us will perceive the piece. Grades will be posted on CourseSite. SKETCHBOOKS: Through out the semester keep notes, thumb-nail sketches and drawings for projects in one sequential sketch book. Sketches should be posted periodically along with your projects; it is a lot easier to work things out on paper first before you attempt to use materials. Think of your sketch book as a record keeper, a place for research and inspiration, a visual diary of your ideas and at the end of the semester and should be brought to every class; it will count toward 20% of the final grade, [more than any single project!] I am interested both in what you finish and how you get there. Record your ideas and process in the sketchbook, draw, photograph and paste images into your sketchbook. Perhaps even work out what you want to say about your pieces in the sketchbook before hand. The sketchbook is part of your studio materials kit, but pencils and pens are not. Use any material you write with to draw in your sketchbook. MATERIALS: Some materials are provided by the department though your lab fee and are included in the kit. Other materials are the responsibility of the students. Modeling clay, wire, some chipboard and tools are provided in your kit. Additional supplies are available online or at local suppliers. Try to make a suitable space to work and let me know if there are things with studio planning that I can help you with. Dick Blick, South Mall 610-437-5448 www.dickblick.com Cantelmi's Hardware -507 E. 4th Street -610 866-0532, 610 691-2995, M-F 6:30 -5, Sat.6:30-3 TENTATIVE CLASS/ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE SCULPTURE 1 (MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE) FEBBRUARY 2 INTRODUCTION course overview, FEBRUARY 4 My Objects FEBRUARY 9 CLAY MODELING/ABSTRACTION simple shapes FEBRUARY 11 CLAY MODELING/ABSTRACTION simple shapes FEBRUARY 16 CLAY MODELING/self portrait FEBRUARY 18 CLAY MODELING/self portrait FEBRUARY 23 CLAY MODELING/self portrait FEBRUARY 25 CLAY MODELING DISCUSSION MARCH 2 CLAY CARVING MARCH 4 CLAY CARVING MARCH 9 CLAY CARVING discussion MARCH 11 Paper Construction MARCH 16 Paper Construction MARCH 18 Paper Construction MARCH 23 WELLNESS WEEK ART 21 VIDEOS MARCH 25 WELLNESS WEEK ART 21 VIDEOS MARCH 30 INSTALLATION APRIL 1 APRIL FOOLS DAY INSTALLATION APRIL 6 INSTALLATION DISCUSSION APRIL 8 MULTIPLES APRIL 13 MULTIPLES APRIL 15 MULTIPLES DISCUSSION APRIL 20 ENVIRONMENTAL WALK AROUND APRIL 22 ENVIRONMENTAL WALK AROUND APRIL 27 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCUSSION APRIL 29 FINAL PIECE MAY 4 FINAL PIECE MAY 6 FINAL PIECE FINAL CRITIQUE MAY 10 EXTENSION DAY IF NEEDED, PAPERS IN, VIDEOS LOADED!
