Art 93 E January 25th

Questions:

1. What are the essential features or conditions of the situation or topic?

2. What generalizations can you make about the situation or topic?

3. Think of the event as structure- how do you want it to read? Left to right? Top to bottom? How does the content affect the structure?

4. Explore several different ideas of composition. Keep in mind your viewpoint.

a. Narrative point of view is either omniscient and impersonal-

Which means you report without comment (except things like date, time etc.)

Or-

b. Omniscient and intrusive, which means you can go inside characters and tell what they are thinking (thought bubbles?) and you can also comment on action. Usually the omniscient/intrusive will focus on one or two characters.

5. Plot or the shape of the action. In visual art the plot is highly dependent on the composition.

6. Symbols are details in a story that frequently are repeated. They will always suggest a meaning beyond themselves. They may be useful in your drawing but are not required.

This week counts as the first week of accountability. I want you to write down your first thoughts about the Bayeux problem and to re-state what you understand to be your task. Do some research and include what you find. I want to see numbers of ideas (possible or not) about your chosen topic.

All of this you post to the dada mailing list.

I want to know how it is going.
The weekend is an opportunity to focus on the drawing. To assist you, I'm
sending a check list.

1. Balance: use the mirror trick to see if you have spots of value that need
to be subdued-
or if you have heaviness on one side that needs to be balanced.

2. Consistency: see if the rhythms of the drawing are working throughout the
composition- you may need to enliven areas of negative space to pull the
whole thing together.

3. Point, counter point: every diagonal or curve needs to be countered, even
if it is just a subtle 'attitude' of direction in the negative space.

4. John Gardner's book, On Moral Fiction, has a definitive list of criteria
that he says is a way to judge a work of art. Gardner's list:

Complete
Cohesive
Life-affirming
Honest

Gardner's criteria works well. I might add humorous- just a touch to give
perspective
and to honor the viewer. Gardner's criteria needs a bit of explaining. 'Complete' and 'cohesive' are
obvious and demand that the work be finished in a way that holds together.
There will be many ways of holding things together as we'll see on Friday.
The framed composition of the Bayeux Tapestry (sub-plots above and below the
main action) is one solution. A repeated image or color can give a finished
look. Rhythmic line can move all over and work as a unifying theme.
'Life-affirming' is more mysterious. Gardner wanted art to attempt the 'big'
subjects- the heroic or the epic subjects. His idea was that art should
strive to affirm the truth of things in a positive manner; not sweetly nice
but by gaining a perspective that is high enough to see patterns in chaos,
to see beauty and to let it be reflected in the work.
I think it is valid to ask everyone if he/she is making something beautiful.
I hope to discuss this point further in critique.
'Honesty' I assume must be present because of the nature of the problem -the
need to research and the irritation or difficulty (I'm guessing) of having
to pull together, from a number of resources, the final narrative. -All of
this without the signals that might sway a decision in the classroom.

'Humor' comes from process. If nothing else, the work always falls slightly
away from the vision. The determination to control the destiny of the
work is always somewhat thwarted. Humor is useful to see ourselves as adventurers in
seas of possibility.

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