MuseumCampusF07.htm

MUSEUM ASSIGNMENT
(revised 1/10)
ornamental motif

DUE DATE:
Monday, March 1 (MW class)
Tuesday, March 2 (TR class)

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 meeting outside of our normal class time at the San Antonio Museum of Art on Tuesday, February 2 at 4:30 & 5:00 to help you begin this project. (For this assignment, you may also, if you choose, visit the McNay Art Museum to select objects.) You can also visit the museum at your own convenience, but the museum visit(s) must be completed by February 7. (Note that admission is free to you at both SAMA and the McNay museums when you show your SAC id.)

1. Getting started:
Walk through all of the galleries at the museum and examine the individual artworks. From the art you see in the San Antonio Museum of Art, select two pieces that engage your interest from two of the following non-Western European collections: Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, South Asian and Southeast Asian), Near Eastern, Oceanic, Folk Art or Pre-Columbia (Mixtec, Aztec or Inca only), and two additional artworks from two of the following galleries: European, American, Contemporary or Decorative Arts (only one from each). (You may substitute two works of American and European art from the McNay.) Make sure that two different media are represented in your selections (painting, print, drawing, sculpture, installation, etc.). All four objects you select should be from the time period covered in this course (13th century through the 21st century). You may find the artworks 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. In any case, select works of art that you think have considerable potential for an in-depth research project. Keep in mind that one of the objects will be used in your final Research Paper.

2. 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 thorough description of the object, which may include the following: medium (e.g. bronze sculpture, oil painting, print, etc.), technique (e.g. woodcut print, engraving, 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.

3. Investigate:
         Your next task will be to do some brief research. Select one non-European and one American/European object to research further. You will be required to consult two (2) scholarly sources to find out more about each of these two objects. (Do not use your textbook or general encyclopedias.)   These sources may help you find out more about the artist who made the work, 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 must come from a museum or academic institution and has an author [look for .org or .edu sites]). Your outside research should help illuminate the work of art for you, bringing new insights to the first-hand observations you made while at the museum.


4. Final Museum Paper:
         On the due date posted above, you will submit to me an approximately two-page (double-spaced) analysis of each of the two objects you selected. 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 consult must be properly cited at the end of each of your essays.   You may use the MLA style or the Turabian Style to cite your sources. Guides to both citation formats are available online: http://www.alamo.edu/sac/lrc/john/writing.htm#Citing. See also Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, on reserve in the library. Attached to your two essays should also be a one-paragraph description of each of the two other objects you selected but did not write essays on (two paragraphs total).

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. Also, five (5) points of your total grade will be deducted if you do not attend the library session on February 8 (MW class) or 9 (TR class) during our regularly scheduled class period. 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.