Class Guidelines

Art 110 – Sculpture I/II

Spring Semester 2010
Tuesday-Thursday, 12:00pm – 2:50pm
Room: 754

Professor: Jennifer Donovan
Email: jdonovan@hampshire.edu
Website: www.swcart110.blogspot.com


Course Description

ART 110 will introduce students to a wide range of sculptural concepts and processes. Students will deal with form, space and structure through both traditional and contemporary sculptural approaches.  We will explore important themes in contemporary sculpture and how form and process produce content.  We will view videos, technical demonstrations, have guest lecturers, and take one or more field trips to local art sites.

General Course Objectives

In this course we will deal directly with processes that make up the foundations of our physical world; representation, structure, perception, problem solving, spatial interaction, manufacturing, conceptual and visual elements.  You will learn about these concepts and processes through using materials and techniques by which artists normally develop and present their ideas.  These include sketches, drawings, and maquettes.

Each student will research and create seven projects that demonstrate the understanding of the formal and conceptual aspects sculpture. Through these exercises and projects, you will learn about: materials, techniques, terminology, and how to perceive the world in three dimensions and will also explore their unique relationship with their own culture(s) and how these relationships influence artists’ projects and practices.



Dynamics

This course will consist of seven different projects meant to introduce you to diverse aspects of contemporary sculpture practice, materials and methods. All the projects will be graded individually. There will also be 2 response papers and a sketchbook that will be considered in your grade. The papers are to be written as a response an art exhibit or  event that you have experienced outside of class, in a museum, gallery or through your personal research. You will also be required to keep a sketchbook to document your ideas and processes.





Evaluation
Each Project will be Developer over 2-3 weeks time.  Students will move through a set of stages for each Project in order to bring their idea to its fullest potential, including: research (reference artists, materials, content), a written/visual description, and maquettes.  These stages will count double. once as homework and again as part of your project grade. About every two weeks or so, we will arrive at either a finishing point or a mid point in a project. Project grades will be based on the following factors:

Craft: the appropriate relationship of the way in which you work with what it is you have made and the general diligence of the labor involved.

Risk taking: Your willingness to extend yourself, to experiment, to develop.

Thoughtfulness: How you attempt to orchestrate the many aspects of a project with each other.

Presence: How well the piece “works”: how well the project embodies a thought, a feeling, an idea, a reality, etc.

Leg work: how well you followed through on the early stages of your project.

Note: Experimentation is encouraged! Making good art takes time, thought, planning and the allowance of some extra time for mistakes. Though we will be working on projects in class, it is expected that you will spend Time outside of class to develop and complete projects.

Grading

For a single project, I will give you five different grades based on the above criteria. These are averaged and this becomes your grade for the project. The cumulative grades for the six projects will make up 75% of your grade. The other two grades count for 15% each and are a responses and quizzes/sketchbook.

To receive a letter grade of "C" you must maintain regular attendance, complete assignments and participate in class discussions and critiques. An "A" in this course will require that you far exceed the minimum expectations for both quality and concept. Your work should show a developed understanding of three-dimensional concepts, elements and techniques, excellent craftsmanship, exceptional creativity and the ability to discuss your work and the work of others.

Critiques:

Class critiques are very important and will be held at the beginning of class on the due date of each project. Presentational choices and craft shall be subject to critique as part of the work. Your participation in the groups critiques is important, and required.  If your work is not complete for the critique, your grade, on that assignment, will be lowered by one full letter grade for each day it is late.

In preparing for a critique in this, or any studio art class, it is as important to determine what you want or need from the critique, as it is to understand what is expected of you. Your critique should address form and content, and should consider the work of art in and of itself, and in the context of issues discussed in the reading assignments. Criticism, in this class, will be a conversation which increases the understanding and appreciation of your artwork, something that involves much more than the relatively simple act of judging--of determining whether one "likes" or "dislikes" a piece. Rather, a means toward the goal of understanding a work of art.  Critical consideration usually consists of at least three main activities:
• Describing the work (what does it look like? what is it made of, how does the viewer encounter it?): Assume the audience has not and will not view the piece and that you are the sole mediator for their understanding of its formal qualities.  This is a good space for adjectives, be creative.
• Interpreting the work (what does it mean?  How are the materials and form creating meaning?  How does viewer interaction contribute to this?  How do the surroundings effect its meaning?): Here you are asked to synthesize any contextual or biographical information you have with your own subjective interpretation of the work's significance.
• Evaluating the work (is it art? is it interesting? does it "work"?): This is, perhaps, the most difficult critical task, yet it is usually the one to which most people skip when criticizing a work of art.  A good place to start in this process is to determine what the “project” of the artist is, what are they trying to do?  Then decide if they have achieved what their goals.  You should be using what you know of the work, not what you imagine, or what it could be, each comment should reference back to  a concrete element of the work.


Attendance policy:

Don't miss class. Don't arrive late or leave early. You are expected to come to class on time, ready to work and with all necessary supplies and materials.   If you are more than 10 minutes late I will count you absent (but you may still participate in the class).

After four (4) unexcused absences a student may be dropped from the class. For every two (2) unexcused absences your final grade may be dropped one whole letter amount. (It will be the student’s responsibility to make up time missed from the class).

The only qualifying excused absences are: family emergencies, established religious holidays and illness with a doctor's note indicating that you needed to stay home on that particular class day. Even for excused absences you will be expected to make up class time. You are responsible for catching up.

All field trips are required and will form part of your attendance grade.

In the three spaces below, write the names and email or phone number of three classmates, to whom you will write/call to obtain information about what you need to be prepared for your next class. 


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Disabled students:

Please notify the instructor within the first two days of the semester if you are challenged by a learning disability. The instructor and the college will attempt to provide reasonable accommodation of your special needs.

Academic Success Center Referral:

To further your success, reinforce concepts, and achieve the stated learning objectives for this course, I refer you to the Academic Success Center learning assistance services. Upon request for tutorial services, you will be automatically enroll in NC 3: supervised Tutoring, a free noncredit course that does nor appear on your transcripts. Services are located in the ASC (420), the Writing Center (420D), the Reading Center (420), Math Center (426), the Library/LRC Interdisciplinary Tutoring Lab, MESA, specialized on-campus School, tutoring labs, the Higher Education Center, and the San Ysidro Education Center. Online learning materials and Online Writing Lab (OWL) are available at www.swccd.edu/~asc.

Website:

swcart110@blogspot.com
The website is a place to which you can refer for the class schedule, syllabus, and assignments.  It also includes links to other resources, images from lectures, and student work.  I will be updating it throughout the semester and you are required to use it.


Extra Credit
There is no need for anyone to get a bad grade in this course, even if you have a poor test score or two. I do accept pertinent extra credit work.  These projects can be an example of the assigned projects, a museum visit, artist talk or interview or any project that you can convince me will contribute to your understanding and appreciation of the artistic process or critical evaluation of art works. All extra credit projects must be turned in by December 17th (via email if handed in after the final class). You will know by then whether you need it or not. I expect you to type or word-process all of your papers (this campus is well-equipped with computer labs).

Reading: We will do some reading and research in this class; I hope you will utilize this time as an opportunity to work on your critical thinking skills. I expect you to be an active reader, someone who questions the text, who is the author? Why does she/he take this perspective? What can you learn about the author’s project from their use of language? Do you agree with what and how they write?


Research: You will be required to use the Internet, the Southwestern College Library, and to visit local museums and stores as part of your research practice for this class.   Materials a huge part of being an artist, you should be on a constant search for new materials.

Quizzes:  I periodically will give a quiz on an assigned reading or a movie that we watch in class.  You are always welcome to use your notes for quizzes.


Assignments: Project due dates are firm. Late projects will lose a letter grade for each class session you are late, unless you negotiate a different arrangement due to some emergency or extraordinary circumstances.
Written assignments can be emailed or printed out.  If you choose to email work to me please save every text as a rich text.


Supplies:

Sketchbook: You are required to bring your sketchbook to every class. It is a way for you to think, to cite questions, jot down ideas, collect images, describe technical processes, make drawings, record feedback from projects, etc. It should become a map of your experience in this class, be thorough. I will frequently pose a question for you to consider. Please make sure it ends up in your journal, along with the names of artists I mention in class. They will be looked at periodically throughout the semester. YOU NEED TO PURCHASE A SKETCHBOOK IMMEDIATELY. The sketchbook will count as one project.

Text: I will hand out or post texts on the blog throughout the semester, these are required reading and are related to lectures, presentations, and the class projects. You will be required to get or purchase photocopies, newspapers and/or art magazines.

Materials: For each project I will present to you , ahead of time, a list of materials specific to that project. Each student will be required to purchase or get materials for this class.

Lab rules and collective studio duties requirements:

-Your participation in regular weekly shop clean-up is mandatory. Missed group clean-up will affect your overall standing in this class.

-You must clean up after yourself in the studio area where you have worked. This must be taken care of after each work session, whether it is during the class of after class hours.

-Do not use lacquer thinners of toxic fixatives indoors.

-Do not use any tools or equipment you are unfamiliar with unless you have been instructed in their use.

-Whatever the situation:  If you don’t know, ask.

Health and Safety Regulations:  Any improper handling of oil based inks, turpentine, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, etc. may be fatal for your health, other students and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary that you read health and safety instructions before using certain materials and equipment.




Project Schedule


Week 1:    Expanded Field, exploring materials
Class Introduction, Syllabus presentation, Facility tour, Glossary



Projects:
After the first project, each of the following will require you to reference the work of at least two artists which you have researched (online, the library, art magazines, in museums and galleries) and to make a proposal (maquettes, drawings, text, etc).

1. Assemblage
2. Collection as practice
3. Not Architecture: Public and Private  Space
4. Repetition:  Positive and Negative Space
5. Transforming the site: mobile sculpture
6. Memory and place: Time based sculpture
7. Aesthetic Prosthetics: Body Extensions