April 12: No quiz - California State University, Sacramento



left-15240000Contemporary Art 112/212 Spring 2016TuTh 1:30-2:45 pmKadema 145Professor Elaine O'Brien Office: Kadema 190 Hours: Tu 6-7pm; Th 11am - 1 pm and by appointment eobrien@csus.edu visitor looks at Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads at Somerset House in London, 2011. The installation is at the Crocker Art Museum from January 24 – May 1, 201600A visitor looks at Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads at Somerset House in London, 2011. The installation is at the Crocker Art Museum from January 24 – May 1, 2016Course description:After a background survey of the 1960s and 1970s, this course moves chronologically and thematically from 1980 to the present. You will become aware of how contemporary art appropriates every art tradition from every time and place, how it reinvents the past for current situations and global contexts as artists engage in countless ways with their lived experiences. Readings, assignments, and lectures are meant to shed light on what lies behind the aesthetic and anti-aesthetic choices artists make that shape the look of visual culture today.Because contemporary art is made by every kind of person using every conceivable medium, because it is a product of our own global information age, characterized by fast, continual flux and border crossing, it is more challenging and necessary to comprehend than any other art in history. Indeed, contemporary art is not “history” at all. It is of the present; these artists’ era is our era. Your education in contemporary art, therefore, can help you comprehend your own place in life and in the history of art as it unfolds.Prerequisite: Art 1C, Art 109, or equivalent with instructor’s consent Learning Objectives: Gain knowledge about contemporary art in relevant historical contextsDevelop an understanding of why today’s art looks like it does, in dialogue with but distinct from the art of any other time Develop an understanding of the relationship between artworks and artists’ personal and historical situations Develop vocabulary for talking about art form and contentDevelop critical thinking skills and worldlinessGain an appreciation for the difference between an artistic intention and the critical reception and interpretation of art Learn to see the multiple interpretations of artworks as legitimate contributions to a discourse (a serious conversation), and overcome the notion that there is any one authoritative interpretationDevelop an understanding of the role of artists, artworks, and art institutions in societyRequired texts: Peter Kalb, Art Since 1980: Charting the Contemporary, 2014Subscription (required and free) to email newsletter, Hyperallergic, an excellent contemporary art blog. Recommended texts: Charles Harrison, ed., Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing IdeasKristine Stiles, ed., Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings Subscriptions to free email art news:Artforum () Art in America ()Art Review ArtInfo Newsletter: art magazines, including Artforum, Art in America, Parkett, October, and Art Journal are available in the current periodical shelves of the Sacramento State library.Other blogs you can learn from include Art Fag City, Rhizome, and Centre for Aesthetic Revolution. See left column my homepage for links.Contemporary artist videos: Art in the 21st Century SFMoMAArtnetCourse Requirements and Grade Basis:Bay Area Exhibition Review15%Contemporary Art Blog30%Quizzes (no midterm or final)55% Total 100%Participation: Good participation is how much you help others learn: a positive, questioning, engaged attitude toward the material and the class. This is evident in attendance, arriving on time (and not leaving early), attentiveness, and note taking. Good participation is noted on the roster next to your name where extra credit points (see below) are recorded. Poor participation is also noted on the roster.Note taking: This is a lecture-format class. Information presented in lecture contains the central concepts of the course and information included on exams. Cognitive studies suggest that we recall only 50% of what we heard and 20-30% of what we remember is incorrect. Therefore, taking notes is essential for success in college. Review these good suggestions for note taking: Class Policies:Attendance: Quizzes and circulated sign-up sheets give me a record of attendance.You are permitted two unexcused absences with no effect on your grade.Three unexcused absences reduce your grade by one letter. Each subsequent absence reduces your grade by a whole letter. Five unexcused absences result in automatic failure. Chronic unexcused lateness or leaving early (more than three times) can reduce your grade by one letter. Scheduled appointments, transportation problems, and job demands are not excused. Illness and family/childcare emergencies are excused with a note from your doctor or the student health clinic. Tell me about any situation that will keep you from class in person (not by email) so that I can understand the situation completely and excuse you. If you could not come to class for a good reason but have no documentation, see me in person during my office hours or by appointment to explain. I will probably excuse your absence. NOTE: Always feel free to email me if you think I can help you. However, an email about an absence does not excuse the absence. Electronic devices: Use of cellphones, laptops, any electronic communication device is not permitted. Please keep everything turned off and out of sight during class. Otherwise, I will ask you to leave the class and count you as absent. Large-screen laptops (not tablets) are permitted for note taking only where I can easily see the screen when I walk around the room: in the front row and the aisle seats of the first four rows only.Sleeping: A dark lecture room is soporific. Sleeping in class, however, means you are not learning and a sleeper lowers the energy level and morale of the entire class. If you fall asleep, I might wake you up and possibly ask you to leave class and count you absent. Eating or drinking: Not permitted.NOTE: See me during my office hours or by appointment (not before or after class) for questions that require my full attention, such as your progress in class, or personal situations that are affecting your performance. NOTE: Students can answer many questions about the class for each other. Exchange contact information with two students sitting next to you in class. If you have a disability and require accommodations, you need to provide disability documentation to SSWD, Lassen Hall 1008, (916) 278-6955. Please discuss your accommodation needs with me after class or during my office hours early in the semester.15% Bay Area Exhibition review (Due April 28): Note: Check the website for the museum or art space before you go for opening hours, free days, directions, parking advice, etc. Avoid rush hours or take the train. Check out : an inexpensive commuter bus between Sacramento and San Francisco. Visit one of the exhibitions below. You may choose another exhibition at a museum in the Bay Area or in another cosmopolitan city if you are travelling, but it must be approved by me first. Read and follow the directions in “Writing an Exhibition Review,” a scanned document available on the course website under “Readings.” To make sure you get all the information from the show you will need for your review, print out “Writing an Exhibition Review” and take it with you to the exhibition.Take a notebook and pencil with you. Pens are taboo in museums.Take at least six photographs in the exhibition and museum. At least one should be of you looking at the art you will write about. Have someone else take the picture. (*Do not take a selfie because it is too close). Take pictures of favorite artworks, signage, guards, other visitors looking at it, anything about the installation that you might mention in your review. Do you want to be a curator? Write about that. A video clip would be great to put on your blog. *Photographs are the gatekeeper requirement: Your paper will not be accepted without photographs. Ask at the information desk where photographs are okay. Flash is normally prohibited everywhere. NOTE: Check to be sure your photographs are good before you leave the museum. I do not accept photographs that are illegible. All photographs must be captioned with full identification of people, place, titles of artwork, and date. They must be inserted into both your print and online reviews with captions.Submit your paper in two formats: 1) posted to your blog, and 2) hardcopy. It must be clean and professional looking.Bay Area Exhibitions:San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, 560 South First Street, San JoseAny of the art exhibitions this semester: Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, BerkeleyArchitecture of Life (Inaugural show for the new museum)January 31–May 29, 2016 Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, 360 Kansas Street, San FranciscoJanuary 23, 2014 to March 29, 2014 College Art Museum, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613Can We Live Here? Stories from a Difficult WorldPhotographer Young Suh and writer Katie Peterson collaboration featuring photography, video, and performance.January 20 – March 13, 2016 Kevin Cooley: Golden ProspectsYerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San FranciscoDec 18, 2015 to Sun, Apr 3, 2016: check out the Yerba Buena calendar for other exhibitionsFor free, one-on-one help with writing in any class, visit the University Reading and Writing Center in Calaveras 128. The Reading and Writing Center can help you at any stage in your reading and writing processes: coming up with a topic, developing and organizing a draft, understanding difficult texts, or developing strategies to become a better editor. Students can sign up for up to an hour a week with a tutor by visiting the Reading and Writing Center in CLV 128. Students may drop in at any time, but please visit the Writing Center website for current “drop-in only” hours. We also offer tutoring for one unit of academic credit through ENGL121. For Reading and Writing Center hours and more information, visit the website at csus.edu/writingcenter 30%: Contemporary Art Blog: Create a public blog. Launch due February 9. Google?Blogger is easy and has the options for this project: you start, take a good look at prize-winning blogs like Art Fag City, Hyperallergic, and Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution to get a sense of how it is done. Use the articles as models for your own. Links for art blogs are on the homepage of my website on the left side.Select eight contemporary art exhibitions, lectures, videos and articles from the list below or that you find out about, and publish a blog entry for each one with captioned photographs, videos, links and any other educational content you want to add. Write for readers who are advanced art students.Eight articles is the requirement for the course, but feel free to add any other subject-related content that you think is interesting and important.Web log entry dates should span the semester from beginning to end, so start right away. I will look at your blog weekly and mark the roster when you add information. Your grade is lowered for starting late and not adding something weekly.Blogs will be reviewed in class on March 10 and May 10 and 12, the last two classes of the semester. I will grade your blog on the basis of the following criteria modified from “Google webmaster guidance for high quality blogs”:Do the articles provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?Do the articles contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other blogs in the class?How much quality control is done on content?Do articles provide thorough descriptions of the topic?Are the articles too long or too short (stay between 200-1000 words); unsubstantial or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?Does the blog have plenty of relevant photographs and are they captioned?46145454992529Are the articles and entries edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?Do the articles have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?Select your eight required blog article topics from the list below. You may substitute a lecture or exhibition on this list for another one of your choosing, but get my approval first. If you are travelling to a cosmopolitan city during the semester, you may write on contemporary art you see there.Three campus and/or regional exhibition reviews 4617085146685Andy Warhol Portraits on view at the Crocker Art Museum March 13 – June 19, 201600Andy Warhol Portraits on view at the Crocker Art Museum March 13 – June 19, 2016The link to the schedule of Sac State art department exhibits and lectures in the left section of the website homepage. Write the exhibition review entry as soon as possible after you see the exhibition. Follow the guidelines for Bay Area Exhibition review above.One student show in the Witt, Else, or University Union gallery, or an independent space off campusTwo professional contemporary art exhibitions in the Else Gallery (Pump Up The Volume! is the only professional show this semester), University Library Gallery or the Crocker Art MuseumNOTE: Additional student exhibition reviews are great extra credit. Get photos and try to interview the artists. Write a brief (100-200 word) description and commentary and post to your blog.Two contemporary art off-campus events or gallery shows of your choosing Three contemporary art lectures at Sac State, UC Davis, or the Bay Area NOTE: You can attend and write on a lecture that’s not listed, but you must get my okay first. NOTE: You are required to attend the Festival of the Arts art history symposium on April 16 as the make-up assignment for the missed classes February 2 and 14. You can write one of your three blog articles about the symposium, relating the topics presented to contemporary art if you can. You may select one lecture to write about or write about the symposium as a whole. NOTE: Attendance at more than three lectures is great extra credit. For extra credit blog entries on lectures, post a photograph of the speaker (with other students and/or with you) and a brief summary and commentary (c. 200 words) on your blog.How to write your lecture blog: Research the speaker before you go and include relevant background information in your article. Take careful notes during the lecture or record it.Ask the speaker at least one question and write down your question and the speaker’s answer. Include the question and answer in your article. Take at least one photograph of the speaker and audience to put in your article about the lecture. Try to get a picture of you with the speaker. Write a 400-500-word article for publication in your blog. See helpful video guidelines: “How to Write a Good Blog Post.”Sacramento State lectures: See Art Department Spring, 2016 event schedule on the website home page in the left-hand columnUC Davis Visiting Artist Lectures: Bay Area lectures (open the links below for choices) *Consult art museum, gallery, and independent space websites for more lectures.*NOTE: Art 212 Graduate students are required to attend one Bay Area lecture. California College of the Arts: San Francisco Art Institute: UC Berkeley Wiesenfeld Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Mills College Art Museum events: 55% Quizzes: On most Tuesdays, class begins with a (timed) 15-20-minute slide identification and essay quiz. Changes are announced in class. Identify an artwork from the previous lecture(s): 1) full name and nationality of artist, 2) title of artwork, 3) date, 4) medium, and 5) art movement if relevant. You will be asked to discuss the significance of the artwork, showing what you learned from the readings, videos, and class lecture(s). Occasionally I might ask you to identify an “unknown” work by an artist whose art we studied in lecture, video, textbook. The essay question will draw from the textbooks as well as lecture. An “A” quiz will give information from both.Scoring is on a scale from 1-10 points based on mastery of the material. At the end of the semester, the lowest quiz score is deleted from your record and the rest of them are totaled and averaged. Keep your quizzes for possible discrepancies at the end of the semester. No makeup quizzes will be given, but one “free” quiz (missed or low score) is subtracted from the total. Suggestions for how to study for an art history quiz:Take good lecture notes.Form a study group and get a study partner. Ask me to circulate a sign-up sheet for contact information of students who would like to form study groups.Review the description of the quizzes on the syllabus. Go to the PowerPoint lectures for this class on the course websiteMake flashcards – one for every artwork that was shown in lecture.On the front of the card draw a thumbnail sketch of the artwork. On the back, write down the ID – title, artist’s full name, date, medium, movement (or movements), notes on “significance” (why is the artwork important enough for us to study?) for essay questions. Include notes on what you have read in Kalb and heard in lecture about this work or similar works. Write titles of related artworks and names of related artists.For the essay question, think about questions that you would ask about this work if you were the professor. What are the main arguments and points made in readings and lectures? Study the e to see me during my office hours whenever you have a question. If you can’t make my office hours, email me for an appointment.Extra Credit: You are encouraged to see and experience contemporary art and visual culture that particularly interest you, especially if they are not presented in class. You can get extra credit for unassigned exhibitions, readings, videos, etc. by adding blog entries, including photographs. Ask me if you are not sure that your idea qualifies for extra credit. I will add extra credit points to the roster when I review your blog. Art 212 Graduate Requirement: Genealogy paper and presentation25% of the Art 212 course grade Note: Discuss your paper with me (in person) during my office hours or by appointment (use email for scheduling with me) by February 18 or your paper will be marked down 25%. If we cannot figure out a time to meet in person by then, we can schedule a telephone conversation. Genealogy Paper: Due March 31. Five pages (1400 words, double space, 12 font). Describe your self-selected “family” of precursor artists. Which artists produce artwork that you admire and relate to, that you feel is like yours in form and/or content? Precursor artists can be from any time and place and employ any medium(s); they can be any kind of artist: writers or musicians, popular, commercial, self-taught, or academically trained and employed teacher-artists. Research the professional biography and especially the intentions of the artists you include in your genealogy. Give and cite (Chicago style footnotes and bibliography) evidence from credible sources (the artist as well as experts (research their expertise online) about why the artist’s work looks the way it does. What lived experiences does the artist believe were formative? What experiences and personal values shaped the artist’s artistic goals? Include in your paper a few illustrations of your own work in comparison with illustrations of work by the artists with whom you claim affinity. The main goal of this assignment is for you to see your work as part of the great creative conversation that is historical and global. Presentation: Completed by May 5: This is a PowerPoint slide presentation off campus. The time and place are decided by you in consultation with your host and me before the end of February. If you know a high school or community college teacher who would like you to present your paper to his or her class, that would be ideal. This kind of lecture would also interest people in retirement homes and community groups. If you need a host, I will find a good one for you.Important: Give my email address to your host and give me theirs. I must communicate with them (email is best) before the end of February to confirm your invitation, and again after you present. Your presentation grade is an automatic A. Your host must agree to email you and me after your presentation with an evaluation and constructive suggestions in an informal paragraph or two.Schedule (subject to changes announced in class or by email)Notice: The California Faculty Association is in the midst of a difficult contract dispute with management. It is possible that the faculty union will call a strike or other work stoppage this term. I will inform the class as soon as possible of any disruption to our class meeting schedule. General notes about assignments: Study the textbook, Art Since 1980: Charting the Contemporary (as “Kalb” in schedule), and use it as a reference to expand your knowledge and better understand the lectures, videos, exhibitions, and events you will experience this semester. Use the book’s index to find artists and art movements presented in lecture. Class lectures loosely follow the text. Quizzes will test you on your understanding of the textbook as well as class lectures.Quizzes will assess what you have learned from lectures, the textbook (Kalb) and videos covered in class since the previous quiz. A quiz might also include an unknown work by an artist we have studied or information covered in the previous quiz, especially if the class did not do well on that quiz. The slide lectures are available on the website just before or after they are shown in class.January 26: IntroductionRead “35 Years After Fashion Moda, a Bronx Gallery Revisits the Landmark Space,” by Tiernan Morgan available online at Assignment: Carefully review some prize-winning contemporary art blogs like Hyperallergic, Art Fag City, and Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution to have good models for your blog. Create your blog and add title and basic information about you. Email the address to eobrien@csus.edu Blog launch due date is February 9.Use Google Blogger: NOTE: I will look at your blog weekly and note in the class roster when you start it and add information.January 28: Read Kalb: Introduction, Chapter 1: Discovering the ContemporaryStudy for syllabus quiz. Note: this quiz is worth as much as the other quizzes and is an easy “10,” so study the course requirements.Launch your blog with title, basic information about you, and a picture of you. Email the URL to eobrien@csus.edu Blog launch due date is February 9.February 2: O’Brien at CAA ConferenceIn-Class Make up assignment: Cool School: How LA Learned to Love Modern Art (2008) view video in class. Take a page of notes and write a one-paragraph about what made the Los Angeles artworld (“Cool School”) creative at that time? What makes a successful artworld? Turn in your paper for credit before you leave.February 4: O’Brien at CAA ConferenceIn-Class Make up assignment: Revolutions of the Wheel part 3. Peter Voulkos and the Otis Group, and part 4, Robert Arneson and the Davis Group (2011). View video in class. Take a page of notes and write a one-paragraph about what was innovative about the work of Voulkos and Arneson.February 5: Art Hotel film screenings: Marshall Hotel Lobby, 7th StreetArt Hotel is at 1122 7th Street (7th & L). See this – for More…. Art Hotel runs from Feb 5 at 12 PM to Feb 13 at 11 PM February 9: Blog launch deadline Syllabus Quiz on course requirements (only) as described on the syllabus. February 11: Read Kalb: Chapter 1: Discovering the Contemporary, February 16: No quiz February 18: Graduate student deadline to discuss genealogy papers with O’Brien. Read Kalb: Chapter 2: Taking Pictures: Appropriation and its Consequences, pp. 46-65February 23: QuizFebruary 25: March 1: Quiz Read Kalb: Chapter 3: Back to the Easel: Neo-Expressionism and the Return of Painting, pp.65-91March 3: March 8: Quiz Read Kalb: Chapter 4: Into the Streets, pp.91-116March 10: Class Blog ReviewMarch 15: Quiz Read Kalb: Chapter 5: Commodities and Consumerism, pp.116-14March 17: March 21 -27 Spring Break; Cesar Chavez Day March 31: No ClassMarch 29: No quizRead Kalb: Chapter 6: Memory and History, pp.140-168March 31: Graduate student genealogy papers dueApril 5: QuizRead Kalb: Chapter 7: Culture, Body, Self, pp.168-193April 7: April 12: No quizRead Kalb: Chapter 8: Eastward Expansion: Contemporary Art in Russia and China, pp.193-2184/13 – 4/17 Festival of the Arts4/13 – Library Gallery: Lecture by Professor Kendall H. Brown, 6 p.m.4/14 – Library Gallery: Lecture by Bidou Yamaguchi (with Kendall H. Brown), 2 p.m.4/15 - LibraryGallery: Lecture by collector Steve McCleod, 2 p.m.April 14: Saturday, April 16 - Mariposa 1001: 11th annual Art History Symposium, 1-5 PM, Hers & Hers: Women as Artists, Clients, and ConsumersYou may write blog articlea about one of the symposium lectures or the symposium as a whole. April 19: QuizRead Kalb: Chapter 9: Engaging the Global Present, pp.218-250April 21: April 26: Quiz Read Kalb: Chapter 10: New Metaphors and New Narratives, pp. 250-280 April 28: Bay Area Exhibition Review dueMay 3: Quiz? Read Kalb: Chapter 11: The Art of Contemporary Experience, pp. 280-311May 5: Graduate student deadline for public presentation of genealogy paperMay 10: Quiz / Class Blog ReviewMay 12: Class Blog ReviewNo Final Exam ................
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