This assignment is designed to acquaint you with one of
the
major art collections
in San Antonio, and to exercise your skills in descriptive analysis and
in conducting research. I have scheduled a museum Field Trip to
the San Antonio Museum of Art on Tuesday, September 8 to help you start
this project. You are strongly urged to attend this meeting, as
it is the only chance we have to meet each other fact-to-face.
However, if for some unpreventable reason you cannot (in which case you
will need to notify me ahead of time), you may also visit the museums
at
your own convenience, but be sure to do so early enough in the semester
to give yourself plenty of time to complete the assignment by the due
date. (For address, hours, and phone number of the SAMA, click
here).
After meeting in the Great Hall at 5:30 PM, you will be asked to walk
through all of the galleries and examine the individual
artworks. From the artwork you see select three (3) pieces that engage your
interest from three of the following collections: Asian (chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, South and Southeast Asian), Near Eastern,
Oceanic, Folk Art or Pre-Columbian (Mixtec, Aztec or Inca only), and three objects from
any of the European or American galleries. Make sure at
least two
different
media are represented in your selections (painting, print, drawing,
sculpture, etc.), and that all six objects date from the time period
covered in this course (13th century
through
the
20th century). You
may find the objects you have chosen are visually appealing to you or
disturbing;
you may be familiar with the represented subject matter or it may be a
complete mystery. I n any case, select works of art that you think have
considerable potential for an in-depth research project. Keep in mind
that
one object will be used in your final Research
Paper.
1. Write a short description of each of the six
objects, including:
| a. an identification of the object (use museum
label
information) and its
location (gallery or room within the museum); and
b. a very thorough description of the object
(which may include medium
[e.g. bronze sculpture, oil painting], technique [e.g. woodcut,
etching,
etc.], method of construction [how was it put together?], approximate
size,
and shape and/or format).
c. If the work of art is representational,
describe the image in
the most basic terms. Do not attempt to interpret iconography at
this point; just report what you see.
|
2. Investigate:
|
Your next task will be to do some brief research
on
one non-Western object and one
European or American object.
You will be required to consult two (2) scholarly sources (do not use
your
textbook or general encyclopedias) to find out more about each
of the two objects you have selected (a total of four sources).
These sources may help you
find out
more
about the artist who made the work (if attributed to a known artist),
the subject of the artwork, and/or
its particular style. One (but, only one) of your four sources
may
be from the internet, though it must be a legitimate webpage (the rule
of thumb is that it comes from a museum or academic institution and has
an author [.org or .edu]).
For help finding
resources, go to the Learning Resource Center page: http://sacguide.libguides.com/content.php?pid=30510&sid=226092
|
3. Final Museum Paper:
On the due date
posted above, you will submit to me
an approximately two-page analysis of the two objects you selected at
the
museums
(a total of four pages, double-spaced). Each analysis will
consist of a thorough
description
of the artwork and more in
depth information on the object
that you discovered through your research. The
sources you
consulted
MUST be properly cited at the end of each of your two analyses (see
Sylvan
Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art,on reserve in the
library). You may use the MLA style or the Turabian Style to cite
your
sources. Information on
proper
citation in both forms is available online: http://www.alamo.edu/sac/library/faculty/deosdade/WRITING.HTM
Please attach to these essays a list of the additional four objects you
selected at SAMA, but did not research for your essays. You need
only give me the information provided by the museum label.
|
GRADING:
| Your paper will be
graded on the thoroughness of your
description
and research, and your ability
to relate secondary information to your
firsthand observations. Your properly cited and complete
(two sources for each
object; four sources total) bibliography (or Works Cited page) will
constitute
ten-percent (10%) of your assignment grade. |
|
