Visual Arts

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Thomas Mapp, Midway Studios,
753-4821

Departmental Secretary: Gerry Mularski, Midway Studios, 753-4821

Program of Study

The Committee on the Visual Arts (COVA) is concerned with art making, both as an individual expression and as a vehicle for exploring creativity, perception, and the constructed world. Whether students take COVA courses to meet a College Core requirement or as part of a concentration in Visual Arts, the goal is that they will develop communicative, analytical, and expressive skills through the making of objects. COVA 100-level courses are intended for students with no studio background and are appropriate for meeting the Common Core musical, visual, and dramatic arts requirement. More advanced courses presume that students have taken at least one of these, usually Visual Arts 101. (Consult individual course descriptions for specific prerequisites.)

Range of Course Offerings. Visual Arts 101, 102, and 103 serve as introductory courses to the elements of visual communication and the critical investigation of art. Visual Arts 101 and 102 introduce elementary visual communication through the manipulation of various materials in the studio and also include readings and visits to local museums and galleries. These courses engage principles of visual language stressing the relationship of form and meaning. Visual Arts 103 is a theory course centering on definitions of art and creation. Visual Arts 200 to 249 are media specific courses that begin to teach technical skills and provide a conceptual framework for working in these media (for example, painting, photography and sculpture). Visual Arts 250 to 269 are nonstudio courses in the theory and criticism of art. Visual Arts 270 to 298 are more advanced studio courses.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts program in the Committee on the Visual Arts is intended for students interested in the practice and study of art. The Committee's faculty consists of a core of artists and other humanists interested in making and thinking about art. Those who concentrate in Visual Arts take an individually arranged program of studio, lecture, and seminar courses that may include some courses outside the Humanities Collegiate Division. The program seeks to foster understanding of art from several perspectives: the practice and intention of the creator, the visual conventions employed, and the perception and critical reception of the audience. In addition to work in the studio, these aims might require study of art history and intellectual history, as well as psychology, criticism, and aesthetics. Because of the diversity of student interests and the Committee's interdisciplinary orientation, requirements for the concentration are flexible. All students must take a core of Visual Arts 101, 102, and 103 as early in their studies as possible. After taking the core courses, but no later than the end of the third year, concentrators meet with the director of undergraduate studies to plan the rest of their program. This program must be presented in written form for the approval of the Committee. At least two of the courses beyond the core must be drawn from the second level of predominantly studio-oriented offerings (COVA 200 to 249). The remaining five courses may be any intellectually consistent combination of Visual Arts studio courses, Visual Arts critical and theory courses (COVA 250 to 269), and any other relevant offerings in the College. (For more information, consult the sample programs of study that follow.) As preparation for the senior project, students must take Visual Arts 295. This studio seminar examines approaches to independent studio projects. The culminating experience of the COVA concentration is a senior project consisting of a studio project and/or an extended paper that represents a coherent line of inquiry. This work, for which students may receive credit in Visual Arts 298, is done under the supervision of a primary adviser and must also be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

Summary of Requirements

Concentration 2 COVA 101-102

1 COVA 103

1 COVA 295 (junior seminar)

1 COVA 298 (senior project)

2 from COVA 200-249

5 electives relevant to the concentration

12

Sample Programs. The Committee encourages its students either to focus their concentration in the studio or to construct interdisciplinary concentration programs combining studio and nonstudio courses that focus on a particular theme. The examples that follow should be taken as suggestions only:

1. A program that explores relationships of image and text in the construction of narratives combining courses in drawing and graphics with courses in creative writing, literature, and art history.

2. A program that explores issues of identity construction through image making, and combines courses in painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography with courses in art history, gender studies, and anthropology.

3. A program in the practice of painting that explores aesthetic form as a vehicle for individual expression, including courses in art history and philosophy.

4. A studio-based program in photography that concentrates on black-and-white silver-gelatin processes, and includes a thorough investigation of the history and conceptual framework of the medium.

5. A program that investigates issues surrounding representations of the body, including an engagement with contemporary and historic practices in visual art and film, as well as feminist, gender, race, and class theory, and concludes in an installation of a series of photographs.

6. A studio-based program in sculpture that examines how our sensory or kinesthetic knowledge of our bodies differs greatly from how we are seen as objects in space by others (possibly including additional courses in the history of art and in anatomy).

Grading. COVA students must receive letter grades for the twelve courses that constitute the concentration, but may receive P/N grades for free electives. Students taking COVA courses in fulfillment of the Humanities common core requirement must also receive letter grades. Students concentrating in other departments may take Visual Arts courses for P/N grades with the consent of their adviser and instructor.

Honors. COVA students who have a 3.0 or better overall grade point average for all undergraduate work and a 3.5 or better average for all COVA course work may be awarded honors. The work submitted will be reviewed for honors by the COVA faculty.

Faculty

CHARLES E. COHEN, Professor and Chair, Committee on the Visual Arts; Professor, Department of Art History and the College

TED COHEN, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

TOM CUMMINS, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College

HERBERT GEORGE, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College

REINHOLD HELLER, Professor, Departments of Art History and Germanic Studies, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College

LAURA LETINSKY, Assistant Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College

THOMAS MAPP, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College; Director, Midway Studios

W. J. T. MITCHELL, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of English Language & Literature; Professor, Department of Art History, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

ROBERT C. PETERS, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts

KIMERLY RORSCHACH, Senior Lecturer, Department of Art History and Committee on the Visual Arts; Director, Smart Museum

JOEL M. SNYDER, Professor, Department of Art History, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

RICHARD STRIER, Frank L. Sulzberger Professor of Civilizations in the College; Professor, Department of English, Committees on the Visual Arts, General Studies in the Humanities, and Jewish Studies

MARTHA WARD, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College

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, visual, and dramatic 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. Lab fee $35. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

102. Visual Language II. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical, visual, and dramatic arts. A complement to COVA 101, COVA 102 examines the elements of three-dimensional form. Studio problems analyze and explore the expressive possibilities of these elements and how these elements direct the meaning of objects. Attention is given to specific ideas and their origins; they provide the formal basis for critical appraisal of classroom work and of historical and contemporary sculptural works. Class sessions and studio work are augmented by short papers and visits to galleries and museums. H. George, R. Peters. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

103. Theories of Art and Creation. This seminar questions old ideas about the separation between body and mind, making and thinking, art and craft, and theory and practice. These questions are presented through videotapes, readings, discussions, visits to galleries and museums, architecture, and, importantly, the making of objects. H. George. Spring.

Intermediate-Level Courses

212. Figure Drawing. PQ: COVA 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. Lab fee $40. Staff. Autumn, Spring.

222. Beginning Sculpture. PQ: COVA 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. Lab fee $35. Staff. Autumn.

223. Intermediate Sculpture. PQ: COVA 101, 102, or consent of instructor. This studio class is a continuation of COVA 222 and also an extension of COVA 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. Lab fee $35. H. George. Winter.

240. Beginning Photography (=CMS 276, COVA 240). PQ: COVA 101, 102, or consent of instructor. A camera and light meter are required. Photography affords a relatively simple and accessible means for making pictures. Through demonstration, students are introduced to technical procedures and basic skills, and begin to establish criteria for artistic expression. Possibilities and limitations inherent to the medium are topics of classroom discussion. Class sessions and field trips to local exhibitions investigate the contemporary photograph in relation to its historical and social context. Course work culminates in a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium. Lab fee $40. L. Letinsky. Autumn, Winter.

241. Collage and Assemblage. PQ: COVA 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 traditional 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. Lab fee to be determined. J. Brotman. Winter, Spring.

242. Art and Experience. PQ: COVA 101, 102, 103, or consent of instructor. This course deals with art forms that de-emphasize the importance of the object. These contemporary, nontraditional art forms (concept, process, performance, body, and so forth) are examined through readings that provide a theoretical and historical framework for discussion and studio investigation. R. Peters. Winter.

Theory and Criticism Courses

250. Space, Sight, and Femininity: A Curatorial Project. PQ: COVA 101 or ArtH 101. This course has three objectives: to address curatorial issues (for example, collections, marketing, display, and pedagogy); to mount an exhibition and publication; and to interrogate practices, paradigms, and aesthetics of representations of women in art. Students develop exhibition proposals along various related topics, including, for example, the gendering of morality, framing devices, or sight as related to knowledge and faith. One proposal is selected by the class as the focus of the exhibition and publication (spring 1998). L. Letinksy. Autumn.

251. Aesthetics and Theory of Criticism (=COVA 251, GS Hum 305, Philos 313). This course is an introduction to problems in the philosophy of art with both traditional and contemporary texts. Topics include the definition of art, representation, expression, metaphor, and taste. T. Cohen. Spring.

252. The Art Museum (=ArtH 252/322, COVA 252). PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course examines a broad range of debates and practices related to the development of the museum in Europe and the United States. Topics include the eighteenth-century French debates over the founding of museums and the removal of objects from everyday life; the nineteenth-century German ordering of the museum in relation to the new discipline of art history; the efforts of early twentieth-century American museums to adapt John Dewey's ideas for local-based institutions; and the post-modern and multicultural critiques of museums and their impact on current practice. M. Ward. Autumn.

253. Introduction to Film I (=ArtH 190, CMS 101, COVA 253, Eng 108, GS Hum 200). PQ: This is the first part of a two-quarter course. The two parts may be taken individually, but taking them in sequence is helpful. The first part introduces basic concepts of film analysis, which are discussed through examples from different national cinemas, genres, and directorial oeuvres. Along with questions of film technique and style, we consider the notion of the cinema as an institution that comprises an industrial system of production, social and aesthetic norms and codes, and particular modes of reception. Films discussed include works by Hitchcock, Porter, Griffith, Eisenstein, Lang, Renoir, Sternberg, and Welles. T. Gunning. Winter.

254. Visual Culture (=ArtH 258/358, COVA 254, Eng 126/326). PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course explores the fundamental questions in the interdisciplinary study of visual culture: What are the cultural (and thus, natural) components in the structure of visual experience? What is seeing? What is a spectator? What is the difference between visual and verbal representation? How do visual media exert power, elicit desire and pleasure, and construct the boundaries of subjective and social experience in the private and public sphere? How do questions of politics, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity inflect the construction of visual semiosis? W. J. T. Mitchell. Winter.

255. Theories of the Photographic Image and Films (=ArtH 272/372, CMS 275, COVA 255, GS Hum 233/333). PQ: COVA 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. Winter.

256. Performance Art (=COVA 256, GS Hum 268). PQ: Consent of instructor. Prior theater experience or acting training not required. This course offers students a chance to explore some of the aesthetic strategies used by artists/performers working in the genre of performance art. As scholars, we work toward an understanding of how changing notions of what constitutes the "avant garde" influences the conceptualization, creation, and dissemination of art and performance. As performance artists, we employ various "avant garde" techniques as we create original performances based on a theme, such as "memory." S. Totland. Spring.

Advanced-Level Studio Courses

270-271. Beginning Painting. PQ: COVA 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. Lab fee $40. Staff. Autumn, Winter.

274. Advanced Painting. PQ: COVA 270, 27l, or 272, or consent of instructor. This course presumes familiarity with the basic technical and formal consideration of painting. Students learn to construct images that are compositionally effective and convey a strong sense of personal purpose. Lab fee $40. Staff. Spring.

275. Drawing: Advanced Project. PQ: COVA 101, 102, or consent of instructor. Students with some background in drawing develop two or three projects during the quarter. Students are encouraged to work thematically and to emphasize personal points of view. Class sessions are reserved for discussion of work or visits to local collections. Lab fee $35. Staff. Winter.

278. Advanced Photography (=CMS 277, COVA 278). PQ: COVA 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. Lab fee $40. L. Letinsky. Spring.

282. Advanced Sculpture. PQ: COVA 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. Lab fee $35. H. George. Spring.

Independent Study Courses

290-291-292. Independent Study in Art and Design. PQ: COVA 101, 102, and consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Independent study in visual arts 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 the Visual Arts, this required course provides an opportunity for a "summing up." It is 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.