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Courses
Students must attend the first and second classes to confirm enrollment.
No exceptions will be made unless the student notifies the instructor before
the first class.
Introductory Courses
101. Visual Language I. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement
in the musical and visual arts. The goal of this studio course is to
investigate the basic ingredients common to the visual art experience. The
course attempts to isolate principles and conventions common to visual images.
For example, studio problems analyze the components of color, the relationship
between surface organization and spatial illusion, the communicative properties
of objects and materials, the recognition of accident and chance as artistic
resources, and so on. Toward the end of the quarter, problems reunite isolated
principles and provide opportunity for personal discovery and expression
through the execution of individual works. Classroom experience is augmented
by viewing local collections. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring. Lab fee
$35.
102. Visual Language II. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement
in the musical and visual arts. A complement to ArtDes 101, ArtDes 102
presents the elements of three-dimensional form as they relate directly
to the art of sculpture. Studio problems analyze and explore the expressive
possibilities of these elements and how these elements direct the meaning
of sculpture. Attention is given to specific ideas and their origins; they
provide the formal basis for both classroom and historical works. Class
sessions and studio work are augmented by short papers and visits to galleries
and museums. H. George, R. Peters. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
Intermediate-Level Courses
202. Color in Painting. PQ: ArtDes 101 or consent of instructor.
This painting class emphasizes the function of color and light. Assignments
analyze the color theories of Impressionism, Fauvism, and Expressionism,
as well as the management of cast light or chiaroscuro. Staff. Autumn.
Lab fee $40.
212. Figure Drawing. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
The live model provides the basic reference for this course. Problems
develop comprehension of traditional approaches to the human figure in art
and explore the means by which the figure may embody contemporary ideas.
Class sessions include studio work, criticism, and visits to local collections.
Staff. Autumn, Winter. Lab fee $40.
216. Graphics: Etching. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
Basic studies of the intaglio process are conducted through art historical
references, technical demonstrations, and studio work. The work is critiqued
during each stage of the procedure from the inception of the idea to sketches,
proof prints, final prints, and presentation of a portfolio. Various techniques
are introduced, such as engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, soft ground, drypoint,
and lift ground. Artistic questions raised specifically by these techniques
are discussed and considered in relation to the final portfolio of prints.
R. Peters. Spring. Lab fee $40.
222. Beginning Sculpture. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
As an introduction to the language of sculptural form, this studio class
explores expressive content in its most basic aspects, first through modeling
a form in clay, then through a free interpretation of the formal insights
gained through the previous confrontation with the form. Emphasis is placed
on understanding sculpture as a thought-infused and thought-directed process
that possesses its own language. The basic elements of that language are
discussed both in the classroom and in two short papers based on assigned
trips to galleries or museums. The primary goal is to learn about sculpture
through making it, looking at it, and discussing both what has been made
and what has been seen. H. George. Autumn. Lab fee $35.
223. Intermediate Sculpture. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
This studio class is a continuation of ArtDes 222 and also an extension
of ArtDes 224. Work is directed toward the figure and its expressive possibilities
in sculpture. Half of the quarter is devoted to modeling the figure in a
single pose that is decidedly out of balance. The second half is spent constructing
a sculpture based on a more kinesthetic interpretation of that same pose.
The difference between seeing form from the outside surface only and understanding
form from the inside out is explored. Studio work is augmented by short
papers, discussions, and visits to galleries and museums. K. Whitney.
Winter. Lab fee $35.
224. Modeling the Figure. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
A live model provides the basic reference for this course. The quarter is
divided into two parts, with half devoted to the full figure and the other
half to the portrait. Both are worked in clay and cast into plaster. Seeing
and understanding the figure relative to its expressive content is a basic
objective of the class. This objective is developed through discussion,
short papers, visits to museums and galleries, and creating a larger figure
outside of class. H. George. Autumn. Lab fee $35.
240. Beginning Photography. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
A camera and light meter are required. Photography affords a relatively
simple and accessible means for making pictures. The possibilities and limitations
inherent in the medium are the topics of classroom discussion. Students
are introduced to technical procedures through studio demonstration and
are expected to exercise basic technical skills and establish the criteria
for personal expression. Class sessions concentrate on the contemporary
photograph in relation to its historical and social context. Field trips
are scheduled to examine works in local exhibitions and for the purpose
of photographing from a common experience. Course work culminates with a
portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium.
L. Letinsky. Autumn, Winter. Lab fee $40.
241. Collage and Assemblage. PQ: ArtDes 101 or 102. This course
explores the concept of transformation through mixed media drawings and
constructions. Student investigations in various media are the basis for
altering preexisting or found objects and creating new forms. Techniques
of collage, embellishment, and use of multiple images and photocopies are
included in conjunction with tranditional and nontraditional art materials.
Aspects of installation are also considered. In ongoing discussions and
critiques, use of materials and processes is examined in relation to subject
matter. The focus of this class is the development of a visual language
and an individual response. Museum and gallery visits, as well as slide
lectures, are included. J. Brotman. Spring. Lab fee to be determined.
Theory and Criticism Courses
255. Theories of the Photographic Image and Films (=CMS 255). PQ:
ArtDes 101, 102, or 100-level ArtH course, or consent of instructor. This
course is an introduction and survey of theories concerning photography
and cinema. A variety of works by the following authors, among others, is
discussed: Stanley Cavell, Erwin Panofsky, André Bazin, Christian
Metz, Susan Sontag, Edward Weston, Ernst Gombrich, Nelson Goodman, and John
Szarkowski. J. Snyder. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
259. Art and Experience. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, 103, or consent of
instructor. This course deals with art forms that deemphasize the importance
of the object. These contemporary, nontraditional art forms (concept, process,
performance, body, etc.) are examined through readings, discussion and studio
work. The readings provide a theoretical and historical framework for studio
investigation. R. Peters. Winter.
260. What's Love Got to Do with It? The Genres of Modern Romance (=CMS 255,
Eng 235/443). PQ: ArtDes 101 or consent of instructor. Love brings
with it romantic promises that are supported by an elaborate culture of
representation. Using materials from cinema, literature, the visual arts,
and cultural theory, we pose questions about the genres of romance and the
construction of romantic subjectivity. This involves rethinking gender,
sexuality, desire, love, narrative, pain, and modes of representation. Subjects
include the relation of the pornographic and the erotic; of high, avant-garde,
and popular culture; of hetero- and homoerotic scenes of pleasure; conventional
"women's culture" sites like magazines and talk shows; popular
music; and sex-radical art. L. Berlant, L. Letinsky. Winter.
Advanced-Level Studio Courses
270-271-272. Beginning Painting. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent
of instructor. This course provides a basic introduction to painting:
materials, techniques, mixing color, making marks, densities, light, and
space. Students learn to compose a two-dimensional surface from observed
phenomena. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring. Lab fee $40.
278. Advanced Photography. PQ: ArtDes 101 or 102, and 240 or 241,
or consent of instructor. Throughout the quarter, students concentrate
on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge,
and that have particular relevance to them. All course work is directed
towards the production of a cohesive body of either color or black-and-white
photographs. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic
issues informs the students' photographic practice and includes visits to
local exhibitions, critical readings, darkroom techniques, and class and
individual critiques. L. Letinsky. Spring. Lab fee $40.
282. Advanced Sculpture. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, 201, 211, or 212 and
221, or consent of instructor. The first half of this studio class is
devoted to formalist/nonrepresentational sculpture, both its beginning in
the Soviet Union and its later rebirth as minimalist art in the 1970s. One
large nonrepresentational work is constructed in the first half of the quarter
while the second half is devoted to a more "open problem" that
is carved from stone in the outdoors. Work out of class consists of two
short papers based on assigned trips to galleries or museums. The primary
goal is to learn about sculpture through making it, looking at it, and discussing
what has been made and seen. H. George. Spring. Lab fee $35.
Independent Study Courses
290-291-292. Independent Study in Art and Design. PQ: ArtDes 101,
102, and consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the
College Reading and Research Course Form. Independent study in art and
design is similar to a reading course in an academic area. We presume that
the student has done fundamental course work and is ready to explore a particular
area of interest much more closely. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
295. Independent Research in the Studio. PQ: Consent of director
of undergraduate studies. This seminar is required of all junior concentrators.
Students identify artists to whom they have affinities and carry out research
in the ways those artists constructed their images. This experience is intended
as preparation for successful completion of the senior project. Class includes
discussion of methodologies, individual presentations, and examination of
actual work. T. Mapp, R. Peters. Spring.
298. Senior Project. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies.
Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course
Form. In the Committee on Art and Design, this required course provides
an opportunity for a "summing up"--a chance to work in a sustained
way on a group of paintings or photographs, for example. This work is then
presented as a graduation show. As an alternative, one might do a paper
that examines issues that may have emerged from the studio and academic
experience. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
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