Students will create an original design for public art inspired by a self-defined topic. Through this project, students will gain an understanding of not only the creative process but will also produce an artist statement by researching the topic and connecting this information with personal beliefs and values. Finally, students will construct a self-reflection and analysis of the final artwork.
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Project Description:
Choose a Location on Auraria Campus
Start by choosing a location on our very own Auraria campus for your public art design and photograph it
(outdoor only!). Please see an example of below. Depending on how big your public art will be, your photo could look like this for the huge object
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if your artwork suppose to be rather small in size and be meant to fit in an exterior, intimate space, you photo can look like this:
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Consider how grand a statement you wish to make! ( Your Public art can be huge or small. It can tower fifty feet high, or held in a hand, or call attention to the paving beneath your feet.)
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Choose a Topic
Then, come up with a topic to be expressed through your public art that has germinated out of some personal belief. Your topic should be driven by a strongly held belief that is generated by a personal, cultural, political, or spiritual conviction.
For example, if your topic is scientic realted, perhaps you want to set the site somewhere on the perimeter of the campus Science building.
Consider how this public would make for an appropriate addition to this specific area on campus. It should “enhance the campus environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions”. Remember, “What distinguishes public art is the unique association of how it is made, where it is, and what it means.” *When choosing a topic, consider how you will utilize research sources. If your topic is too abstract of an idea, research can be difficult.
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Research Topic
This research will help to enrich and quite possibly expand on your preconceptions regarding your topic. This research must be used in your artist statement and should include multiple points of view, opinions, and critical analysis on the chosen topic. While this work of art would primarily be a product of your own experiences, you must expose yourself to contrasting and aligned points of view that may take your original ideas to new levels of awareness for yourself. A minimum of 2 sources are required for your artist statement cited in Chicago style format.
( Example of a design idea and a research for a sculpture GORDIAN KNOT that is meant to sit outside the Auraria Campus Science building.
Research#1 on the story of Gordian Knot http://www.gordiansolutions.com/TheKnot.htm (Links to an external site.)
Research #2: Design elements link surroundings http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13921172 (Links to an external site.)
Research #3: Celtic Design: Knotwork – The Secret Method of the Scribes by Aidan Meehan)
To properly list your sources in Chicago style refer to: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html (Links to an external site.)
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Construct an Artist Statement including your Research
Write a paragraph consisting of at least 200 words explaining your topic and why it is important to you. When utilizing research information (a minimum of 2 sources are to be embedded within your artist statement), you must document when it is used and where the information came from. You will also supply a formal bibliography at the end of the project. Chicago style citations and bibliography are most often used when writing about art and is required for this project.
A NOTE ON ARTIST STATEMENT: The main goal of writing an artist statement is to discuss your understanding of your process, ideas, and field. The statement also gives you an opportunity to define the critical conversation you want to engage through your art.
Consider asking yourself these questions:
What am I doing? (Example “I am making an Enlightenment Capsule for the audience to meditate inside — virtual reality in which people can experience ancient ideas from the East . . . . But I’m not interested in using ancient things; rather I want to connect [audiences] with contemporary life through the technology we have now.” -Mariko Mori)
How am I doing it? ( Example: “Promenade was totally driven by the context. The internal relationships of measurement and placement related to the central axis of the site. The placement of the rectangular plates followed a strict logic in that the plates tilted away and towards the center line in an asymmetrical counterpoint. However, the perception of the sculpture contradicts the logic of its relation to the site. As you walk in between the plates you see fragments, you see the work in part, you cannot grasp the whole.” –Richard Serra)
Why am I doing it? ( the answer here is NOT because I was assigned to do this project for a grade J Example:” “I use my own constructed image as a vehicle for questioning ideas about the role of tradition, the nature of family, monogamy, polygamy, relationships between men and women, between women and their children, and between women and other women—underscoring the critical problems and the possible resolves. In one way or another, my work endlessly explodes the limits of tradition.” –Carrie Mae Weems )
The Meaning: Your artist’s statement doesn’t need to dictate your work’s meaning, but it should show that you’ve carefully considered meaning. ( Example: “I don’t tell people what things mean, but I describe the way they occur, in order to stir people’s curiosity. “-Barabara Bloom)
AND ALSO:
What influences me most?
How does my art relate to the art of my contemporaries?
What do I want others to understand about my art?
No matter which voice you choose to write in, these rules tend to apply: Your first responsibility is to communicate effectively
Make logical transitions between statements and omit unnecessary words.
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Create a Piece of Public Art that Represents Your Topic
Create a design an original work of public art that symbolizes or illustrates your topic. Coinsider how you want the artwork to work: would it be within, or possibly be in contrast to the chosen display site on campus?
Your can create a design of an artwork that could be suspended in the air, painted, or mounted (or projected) on the face of a campus building. It could be cast, carved, assembled, drawn, or painted etc.
Of course, you will only create a design of your public art, you are not required to cast a bronse sculpture, for instance. You design idea can be expressed in collage technique, or painting, or as a digital image, or…any art form/medium you feel comfortable working with.
Document the stages of development through 3 photographic images taken at the inception, mid-point, and the final conclusion of your creative process. These images are to be:
A photograph of the exterior location on campus where you propose to situate and showcase your public art. (EXAMPLE: Image #1. Location: Art Building)
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2. Your second photograph is meant to be an early, rough sketch of your conceptual idea for the artwork. The sketch, while rough, does have to be of something recognizable, and may include hand written notes.
(Example: Image #2 Sketch)
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If possible, indicate the environment where the artwork would be placed.
3. The final image will be of the finished artwork, taken at the conclusion of this creative process. The image could well be a photo your finished sketch, sculpture, painting, collage or other. Remember, your project must include a total of three images that document the progression of your artistic creation.
Image #3: Finished artwork to be painted on the wall of the Art Building:
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Construct a Self-Reflection of Your Artwork
Write an additional paragraph consisting of at least 200 words that describes and explains your artwork. This insightful paragraph should also include a self-reflection on the completed artwork and indicate if you were able to achieve what you visualized prior to the creation of the piece. Include any opinions and comments made by family/friends as to what they took away from the artwork.
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Submission of Project to Canvas
The final completed project should include a well-articulated one page essay that consists of your artist’s statement (not less than 200 words) and a personal self-assessment and reflection (not less than 200 words). . Make sure to include source citations and a bibliography in Chicago style. Please include 3 progression images of your artwork on additional pages. Then turn your project into PDF file and should be submitted to the Canvas Assignment page. Absolutely no late projects will be accepted. Please plan your time appropriately and do not wait until the last day to turn in your projects.
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NOTE: This is an individual project; each student is expected to come up with their own original design of Public Art for a specific location on the Auraria Campus. Images and/or artwork cannot be sourced from the Internet or any other source. Plagiarized projects – 0 points awarded and the right to redo the project for any credit is forfeited.
Academic Honor Code and Discipline Policies
http://catalog.ucdenver.edu/content.php?catoid=1&navoid=24#Academic_Honor_Code_and_Discipline_Policies
Chicago Style Resources:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html (Links to an external site.)
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/secure/defiles/Chicago.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Please verify your file submission after sending it up to the system.