ART 40 - Advanced Art
In the final (Grade 12) course, we focus mainly on Contemporary Art and Artmaking Practices. Since art has changed immensely over the past 100 or so years, at the advanced level, our focus is on the ways that artists speak through art TODAY. Although many contemporary artists are inspired by history (and obviously we would be nothing without the artists that have come before us), in this year, our focus will be on personalizing our art-making styles, using new technology and media, and mining our own personal and cultural identities in order to make meaning through contemporary art practice.
The great thing about this course is that you will have had an extremely broad choice of art-making tools, techniques, and practices to choose from - and you have been encouraged to be multi-modal in your making. In this course, we strive to make work that provokes curiosity, encourages dialogue, and ignites debate. We will be working thematically, and will use an inquiry-based approach to learning in preparation for our own creative process.
WHY CONTEMPORARY ART?
A lot of students (especially those who arrive with a limited knowledge / exposure to contemporary artwork) question why I choose to focus on contemporary art throughout this course. Here are just a few of the reasons that I think it's important:
The great thing about this course is that you will have had an extremely broad choice of art-making tools, techniques, and practices to choose from - and you have been encouraged to be multi-modal in your making. In this course, we strive to make work that provokes curiosity, encourages dialogue, and ignites debate. We will be working thematically, and will use an inquiry-based approach to learning in preparation for our own creative process.
WHY CONTEMPORARY ART?
A lot of students (especially those who arrive with a limited knowledge / exposure to contemporary artwork) question why I choose to focus on contemporary art throughout this course. Here are just a few of the reasons that I think it's important:
- It's more 'realistic' - we are not sitting around grinding our own pigments in the 21st century, like Michelangelo did in the 1400's. Today we have access to incredible amounts of knowledge, understanding, visuals, media, technology, and people - and art-making now is incredibly different than the art of the past.
- Focusing on art that is happening NOW allows me to present a much more broad range of artists than if I was to rely only on the (European, white, male, dead) artists that have been recognized for their work in the past. Fort Richmond Collegiate is a fabulously diverse place, and I think it would be weird for me to sit in a wildly diverse room of students and only show them art by the Ninja Turtles (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello). Artists we discuss in this course come from varied cultural backgrounds, they are women, men, transgender, gay, straight, disabled, African, American, Indian, Chinese, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, etc... the only thing they have in common is that they are ARTISTS and they are WORKING NOW.
- Artists now are multi-modal and multi-talented. It's rare to be only a "painter" or only a "sculptor". Artists making art today will often work in a variety of media - not labeling themselves after the medium they prefer, but rather, exploring ideas and inspirations through a diverse techniques, modes of production and ways to represent. Often, they come up with ideas and then play and experiment to find the best medium (or form, or method) with which to present them.
- Long gone are the days of the solitary, lonely artist, locking him or herself away for days on end to 'follow a muse'. Many contemporary artists are resourceful, and social, and collaborate with others to develop work. With the internet and social media, many artists can make use of crowd-sourcing to develop ideas, find supplies, get help, find collaborators, and connect with an audience.
- Artists now are much more interested in process - and having access to resources and information (videos, interviews, emails) that can help young artists understand the many ways that an artistic process can develop is essential! The process of making art includes conceptualization and idea development (or instigation), experimentation and play and risk-taking, problem-solving, re-framing, revision, re-conceptualization and tons and tons of production. As they say, it's about the journey, not just the destination.
Final Exam - HAPPENING NOW!
Your final exam will allow you to demonstrate those skills independently -
you are going to be working on a practical piece (i.e. not a written exam)
which includes an opportunity for you to demonstrate
all of the skills and understanding you have developed this year.
Your final project (and practical exam) is to create an original art piece in ANY medium,
inspired by the conceptual focus, ideas or themes of Winnipeg-born or Winnipeg-based contemporary visual artist.
HERE ARE YOUR WINNIPEGGER CHOICES! (Please see me if you have another idea.)
Dominique Rey | Matea Radic | Diana Thorneycroft | Shawn Morin | Takashi Iwasaki | Aganetha Dyck
KC Adams | Reva Stone | Barb Hunt | Shawna Dempsey & Lori Millan | Marcel Dzama | Rebecca Belmore
Elvira Finnegan | Mia Feuer | Ian August | Kristin Nelson | Melanie Rocan | Irene Bindi | Robert Taite
Jaime Black | Karel Funk | Simon Hughes | Dany Reede | Nereo II | Wanda Koop | Randy Ortiz | Sarah Anne Johnson
Susan Ayden Abbott | Yvette Cenerini | Kevin Friedrich | Suzie Smith | Bev Pike | Ray Fenwick | Lisa Wood
you are going to be working on a practical piece (i.e. not a written exam)
which includes an opportunity for you to demonstrate
all of the skills and understanding you have developed this year.
Your final project (and practical exam) is to create an original art piece in ANY medium,
inspired by the conceptual focus, ideas or themes of Winnipeg-born or Winnipeg-based contemporary visual artist.
HERE ARE YOUR WINNIPEGGER CHOICES! (Please see me if you have another idea.)
Dominique Rey | Matea Radic | Diana Thorneycroft | Shawn Morin | Takashi Iwasaki | Aganetha Dyck
KC Adams | Reva Stone | Barb Hunt | Shawna Dempsey & Lori Millan | Marcel Dzama | Rebecca Belmore
Elvira Finnegan | Mia Feuer | Ian August | Kristin Nelson | Melanie Rocan | Irene Bindi | Robert Taite
Jaime Black | Karel Funk | Simon Hughes | Dany Reede | Nereo II | Wanda Koop | Randy Ortiz | Sarah Anne Johnson
Susan Ayden Abbott | Yvette Cenerini | Kevin Friedrich | Suzie Smith | Bev Pike | Ray Fenwick | Lisa Wood
REQUIREMENTS:
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
GOOD LUCK!
- You must complete a minimum of 6 pages of plans / sketches / ideas / visual thinking / and artist 'research' on the papers provided. Keep everything in the folder! Some questions you might consider are:
- What can I find out about this artist, as a person? (life, family, work, etc.)
- What kind(s) of work does this artist make? What media do they use?
- What subject matter, topics, ideas and/or themes are being dealt with?
- What inspires them to create work? Are they influenced by anyone / anything?
- What does their creative process look like?
- Up to 2 of those 6 pages can be filled with collections of images collected from the internet (glued in, or taped in).
- Any printed/written information (magazine or news articles about the artist, printed interviews, etc.) is great to keep... and counts as process information... but should not be counted towards the page numbers required.
- YOU MUST DELAY PLANNING THE WORK (what you will "make") until ALL your research and thinking is done. At that point, at least one additional page should be a (relatively finalized) detailed plan of what you intend to make (the final piece may change, develop, and grow along the way, of course - I just want you to have a general goal). This needs to be sketched in detail and in colour, and must include a 'materials' list so that I can plan for your needs.
- Once your "plan" is approved by me, please begin to document your 'creation process' with photography or video and include it on a USB stick when handing in your work. Get other artists in the class to take photos of you working! You will need to submit process photos along with your piece. (These can be taken here and at home.)
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
- These artists are ALIVE and working on art RIGHT NOW! Find a way to contact them with questions! Email them! Follow them on Instagram or Twitter! Many of them even have films and videos out about their process / work on YouTube (some of which are in the art room)!
- Make sure you understand the artist's work in some way before beginning - remember that you are not copying / imitating the STYLE of the artist - any hack can reproduce something! You are working to develop your own original artwork, inspired by their ideas / concepts. This is not an "IMITATION" assignment or a test of your technical skill!
- Save photos in your school account to print in colour in the art room later. (The library will charge you for colour printing... you have been warned!)
- If on the web, look at more than one website! Wikipedia may have some information, but is not entirely reliable. Many professional gallery sites have links to great images.
- Also - there are these amazing things called "BOOKS" which we have in the art room... we used to use them in the 'olden days'. They're made of paper and kind of heavy. Some are even about these artists! Please don't rely only on web information... ;)
- Find articles, interviews, etc... and read them! You will learn a lot about an artist's ideas by reading their words - and the words of others, written about their work.
- DO NOT only look at pictures and then 'make up' what you think their work is about. Find out anything you can about the artist and their process, as well as the main ideas / concepts they work with in their practices.
GOOD LUCK!
