For this assignment, you will visit a local museum or other art venue chosen from the list below. You will choose a particular art work (preferably one which you have not seen before) to take notes on for the purpose of writing an essay. Your notes should include details regarding both the content of the work and the manner in which the work is composed. Also refer to the questions suggested below to help you take notes. (I recommend bringing a printout of this page with you, to help you choose a work that you can address with the questions and notes on technique that I've provided below.) From these notes, you will write an essay that describes the important aspects of the work as you see it and interprets the work based on this description.

Your venue choices include the following (if you need assistance with directions to these locations, contact me):

Dallas Museum of Art in downtown Dallas

Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown Dallas

Crow Collection of Asian Art in downtown Dallas

African-American Museum in Fair Park

Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth

Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth

McKinney Avenue Contemporary (the MAC) in downtown Dallas
 

In preparing to write this paper, you should ask yourself the following questions about the art work:

What are the basic visual, compositional elements of this work? How are they implemented and arranged? (See Notes on Compositional Techniques, below.)

Do you perceive a key idea, concern, or mood in the content or the composition of the work? Perhaps an attempt to evoke some basic hope, fear, desire, or ideal? What specific aspect of the work leads you to this impression?

Do you detect any kind of symbolism? Are there any figures or symbols -- either from some mythic tradition or from common human experience -- that the artist might be using to evoke some kind of memory, response, or reaction in the viewer?

What relationship do you see between the impressions referred to in the question above and the title of the work (if there is one) or the title of the exhibit (if there is one)?

What is my response to the work? Is it an intellectual or an emotional response? In what way is it intellectual or emotional? What is it about the work that you think is generating this response? Is it something in the visual composition, something about the content, or something about the way the two work together?

In writing this essay, I would like you to avoid consulting outside sources. Some of the art works you'll encounter in local museums have been written about by reviewers or critics. To avoid deductions from your score, you should limit yourself to the following resources: the art work itself; the questions I've provided here (along with other questions that you might think of); and the material I've provided below on compositional techniques (including the material found at the link that I give you below). If you absolutely feel the need to include the thoughts of another writer, you must document that fact using standard citation methods. (Contact me if you're not sure what I mean by "standard citation methods.") Using another writer's ideas without giving credit will be grounds for a 0 on the assignment.

Somewhere near the beginning of your paper, you should give the title of the art work, the name of the artist, the type of art that it is and where you viewed it. You should begin with a detailed description of the work, using the terminology that I've given you in the notes on technique and the additional terms found at the link (found below) for the Instant Art Appreciation lesson. Then, keeping in mind the details that you've noted, you should then try to interpret the work using the questions above to help you. Your essay should be 1250 to 1750 words in length. It should be submitted as an e-mail attachment following the guidelines provided on the Syllabus page and the Orientation page. (Please review the Essay instructions found on the Syllabus and Orientation pages. Failure to follow those guidelines will result in point deductions from your score.)

Notes on Compositional Techniques

An artist has a large number of decisions to make regarding composition when he or she begins an artistic work. Among these are decisions about color, light, and line.

One of the first things to notice about color and light in a painting or photograph is whether the overall effect is light or dark -- each has obvious emotional associations that differ from those of the other. A second question is whether the colors used in the image result in high contrast or low contrast -- the higher the contrast, the greater the energy and tension of the image. Third is whether the image relies heavily on pure primary colors or makes greater use of the derivative colors -- primary colors produce more energy and greater emotional impact than the secondary and tertiary colors, which are more subdued.

With regard to line, you should keep in mind that hard edges and sharply-defined angles tend to create tension or energy while curves tend to diffuse tension or energy. Also, lines can direct your attention to certain points in an image or sculpture or divide an image into sections that might be either balanced or unbalanced; unbalanced compositions generally create more visual tension.

An aesthetic issue of particular concern for photography is the question of framing. The framing of an image concerns the way the photographer chooses to focus your attention. What gets included and what gets excluded in the way an image is framed?

Another thing to keep in mind when taking inventory of a composition is whether and how an artist might be breaking expectations. For instance, if a line or a shape or a figure is left uncompleted, or if two or more objects or figures are juxtaposed unexpectedly, you might want to ask yourself, why?

With regard to both painting and sculpture, texture is frequently a significant feature. Texture can refer to both the actual physical feel or appearance (as with a sculpture) or the apparent surface texture (as with a painting). Highly textured surfaces can seem either inviting or unsettling, depending on the type of texture used. Smooth or featureless surfaces can create a sense of coolness or distance.

Additional material on these principles and techniques of artistic composition can be found on the page that I've provided called Instant Art Appreciation Lesson. (I recommend printing out that page as well and bringing it with you along with the printout for this page.) Use the terms and concepts provided both here and on that page to help you describe the art work you choose to write about.

Humanities 1301 -- Essays

Humanities 1301 -- Calendar

Humanities 1301 -- Introduction

Collin County Community College