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101. Visual Language I. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement
in the musical and visual arts. The goal of this studio course is to
investigate the basic ingredients common to the visual art experience. The
course attempts to isolate principles and conventions common to visual images.
For example, studio problems analyze the components of color, the relationship
between surface organization and spatial illusion, the communicative properties
of objects and materials, the recognition of accident and chance as artistic
resources, and so on. Toward the end of the quarter, problems reunite isolated
principles and provide opportunity for personal discovery and expression
through the execution of individual works. Classroom experience is augmented by
viewing local collections. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring. Lab fee $35.
102. Visual Language II. This course fulfills the Common Core
requirement in the musical and visual arts. A complement to ArtDes 101,
ArtDes 102 presents the elements of three-dimensional form as they relate
directly to the art of sculpture. Studio problems analyze and explore the
expressive possibilities of these elements and how these elements direct the
meaning of sculpture. Attention is given to specific ideas and their origins;
they provide the formal basis for both classroom and historical works. Class
sessions and studio work are augmented by short papers and visits to galleries
and museums. H. George, R. Peters. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
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103. Theories of Art and Creation. This seminar questions old ideas about
the separation between body and mind, making and thinking, art and craft, and
theory and practice. These questions are presented through videotapes,
readings, discussions, visits to galleries and museums, architecture, and,
importantly, the making of objects. H. George. Winter.
212. Figure Drawing. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
The live model provides the basic reference for this course. Problems
develop comprehension of traditional approaches to the human figure in art and
explore the means by which the figure may embody contemporary ideas. Class
sessions include studio work, criticism, and visits to local collections.
Staff. Winter, Spring. Lab fee $40.
216. Graphics: Etching. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
Basic studies of the intaglio process are conducted through art historical
references, technical demonstrations, and studio work. The work is critiqued
during each stage of the procedure from the inception of the idea to sketches,
proof prints, final prints, and presentation of a portfolio. Various techniques
are introduced, such as engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, soft ground, drypoint,
and lift ground. Artistic questions raised specifically by these techniques are
discussed and considered in relation to the final portfolio of prints. R.
Peters. Winter. Lab fee $40.
222. Beginning Sculpture. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of instructor.
As an introduction to the language of sculptural form, this studio class
explores expressive content in its most basic aspects, first through modeling a
form in clay, then through a free interpretation of the formal insights gained
through the previous confrontation with the form. Emphasis is placed on
understanding sculpture as a thought-infused and thought-directed process that
possesses its own language. The basic elements of that language are discussed
both in the classroom and in two short papers based on assigned trips to
galleries or museums. The primary goal is to learn about sculpture through
making it, looking at it, and discussing both what has been made and what has
been seen. H. George. Autumn. Lab fee $35.
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223. Intermediate Sculpture. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of
instructor. This studio class is a continuation of ArtDes 222 and also an
extension of ArtDes 224. Work is directed toward the figure and its expressive
possibilities in sculpture. Half of the quarter is devoted to modeling the
figure in a single pose that is decidedly out of balance. The second half is
spent constructing a sculpture based upon a more kinesthetic interpretation of
that same pose. The difference between seeing form from the outside surface
only and understanding form from the inside out is explored. Studio work is
augmented by short papers, discussions, and visits to galleries and museums.
H. George. Spring. Lab fee $35.
224. Modeling the Figure. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of
instructor. A live model provides the basic reference for this course. The
quarter is divided into two parts, with half devoted to the full figure and the
other half to the portrait. Both are worked in clay and cast into plaster.
Seeing and understanding the figure relative to its expressive content is a
basic objective of the class. This objective is developed through discussion,
short papers, visits to museums and galleries, and creating a larger figure
outside of class. H. George. Autumn. Lab fee $35.
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240. Beginning Photography. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of
instructor. A camera and light meter are required. Photography
affords a relatively simple and accessible means for making pictures. The
possibilities and limitations inherent in the medium are the topics of
classroom discussion. Students are introduced to technical procedures through
studio demonstration and are expected to exercise basic technical skills and
establish the criteria for personal expression. Class sessions concentrate on
the contemporary photograph in relation to its historical and social context.
Field trips are scheduled to examine works in local exhibitions and for the
purpose of photographing from a common experience. Course work culminates with
a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium.
L. Letinsky. Winter. Lab fee $40.
255. Theories of the Photographic Image and Films. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102,
or 100-level ArtH course, or consent of instructor. This course is an
introduction and survey of theories concerning photography and cinema. A
variety of works by the following authors, among others, is discussed: Stanley
Cavell, Erwin Panofsky, André Bazin, Christian Metz, Susan Sontag,
Edward Weston, Ernst Gombrich, Nelson Goodman, and John Szarkowski. J.
Snyder. Spring.
260. What's Love Got to Do with It? The Genres of Modern Romance (=Eng 235).
PQ: ArtDes 101 or consent of instructor. Love brings with it
romantic promises that are supported by an elaborate culture of representation.
Using materials from cinema, literature, the visual arts, and cultural theory,
we pose questions about the genres of romance and the construction of romantic
subjectivity. This involves rethinking gender, sexuality, desire, love,
narrative, pain, and modes of representation. Subjects include the relation of
the pornographic and the erotic; of high, avant-garde, and popular culture; of
hetero- and homoerotic scenes of pleasure; conventional "women's culture" sites
such as magazines and talk shows; popular music (with its saturation by the
love song); and sex-radical art. This interdisciplinary course involves
producing and analyzing art in traditional forms (painting, photography, and
sculpture) and less traditional forms (performance, video, and installations).
L. Berlant, L. Letinsky. Winter.
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270-271-272. Beginning Painting. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, or consent of
instructor. This course provides a basic introduction to painting:
materials, techniques, mixing color, making marks, densities, light, and space.
Students learn to compose a two-dimensional surface from observed phenomena.
Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring. Lab fee $40.
278. Advanced Photography. PQ: ArtDes 101 or 102, and 240 or 241, or
consent of instructor. Course work emphasizes an investigation of
contemporary photographic issues, including visits to local exhibitions,
readings of criticism, and class critiques of the projects. With advice from
the instructor, students are encouraged to select and concentrate on an idea or
issue that is of particular interest to them. The final portfolio must be
aesthetically coherent. L. Letinsky. Spring. Lab fee $40.
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Go to: Independent Study Courses
Art and Design Courses
Students must attend the first and second classes to confirm enrollment. No
exceptions will be made unless the student notifies the instructor before the
first class.Introductory Courses
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290-291-292. Independent Study in Art and Design. PQ: ArtDes 101, 102, and consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Independent study in art and design is similar to a reading course in an academic area. It is presumed that the fundamental course work has been done and that the student is ready to explore a particular area of interest much more closely. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
295. Independent Research in the Studio. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies. This seminar is required of all junior concentrators. Students identify artists to whom they have affinities and carry out research in the ways those artists constructed their images. This experience is intended as preparation for successful completion of the senior project. Class includes discussion of methodologies, individual presentations, and examination of actual work. T. Mapp, R. Peters. Spring.