Visual Arts
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Thomas Mapp, Midway
Studios, 753-4821
Departmental Secretary: Gerry Mularski, Midway Studios, 753-4821
Program of Study
The Committee on the Visual Arts (COVA) is concerned with art making, both as an individual expression and as a vehicle for exploring creativity, perception, and the constructed world. Whether students take COVA courses to meet a College Core requirement or as part of a concentration in Visual Arts, the goal is that they will develop communicative, analytical, and expressive skills through the making of objects. COVA 100-level courses are intended for students with no studio background and are appropriate for meeting the Common Core musical, visual, and dramatic arts requirement. More advanced courses presume that students have taken at least one of these, usually Visual Arts 101. (Consult individual course descriptions for specific prerequisites.)
Range of Course Offerings. Visual Arts 101, 102, and 103 serve as introductory courses to the elements of visual communication and the critical investigation of art. Visual Arts 101 and 102 introduce elementary visual communication through the manipulation of various materials in the studio and also include readings and visits to local museums and galleries. These courses engage principles of visual language stressing the relationship of form and meaning. Visual Arts 103 is a theory course centering on definitions of art and creation. Visual Arts 200 to 249 are media specific courses that begin to teach technical skills and provide a conceptual framework for working in these media (for example, painting, photography and sculpture). Visual Arts 250 to 269 are nonstudio courses in the theory and criticism of art. Visual Arts 270 to 282 are more advanced studio courses.
Program Requirements
The Bachelor of Arts program in the Committee on the Visual Arts is intended for students interested in the practice and study of art. The Committee's faculty consists of a core of artists and other humanists interested in making and thinking about art. Those who concentrate in Visual Arts take an individually arranged program of studio, lecture, and seminar courses that may include some courses outside the Humanities Collegiate Division. The program seeks to foster understanding of art from several perspectives: the practice and intention of the creator, the visual conventions employed, and the perception and critical reception of the audience. In addition to work in the studio, these aims might require study of art history and intellectual history, as well as psychology, criticism, and aesthetics. Because of the diversity of student interests and the Committee's interdisciplinary orientation, requirements for the concentration are flexible. All students must take a core of Visual Arts 101, 102, and 103 as early in their studies as possible. After taking the core courses, but no later than the end of the third year, concentrators meet with the director of undergraduate studies to plan the rest of their program. This program must be presented in written form for the approval of the Committee. At least two of the courses beyond the core must be drawn from the second level of predominantly studio-oriented offerings (Visual Arts 200 to 249). The remaining five courses may be any intellectually consistent combination of Visual Arts studio courses, Visual Arts critical and theory courses (Visual Arts 250 to 269), and any other relevant offerings in the College. (For more information, consult the sample programs of study that follow.) As preparation for the senior project, students must take Visual Arts 295. This studio seminar examines approaches to independent studio projects. The culminating experience of the COVA concentration is a senior project consisting of a studio project and/or an extended paper that represents a coherent line of inquiry. This work, for which students may receive credit in Visual Arts 298, is done under the supervision of a primary adviser and must also be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.
Summary of Requirements
Concentration|
2 |
COVA 101-102 |
|
1 |
COVA 103 |
|
1 |
COVA 295 (junior seminar) |
|
1 |
COVA 298 (senior project) |
|
2 |
from COVA 200-249 |
|
5 |
electives relevant to the concentration |
|
12 |
Sample Programs. The Committee encourages its students either to focus their concentration in the studio or to construct interdisciplinary concentration programs combining studio and nonstudio courses that focus on a particular theme. The following examples should be taken as suggestions only:
1. A program that explores relationships of image and text in the construction of narratives combining courses in drawing and graphics with courses in creative writing, literature, and art history.
2. A program that explores issues of identity construction through image making, and combines courses in painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography with courses in art history, gender studies, and anthropology.
3. A program in the practice of painting that explores aesthetic form as a vehicle for individual expression, including courses in art history and philosophy.
4. A studio-based program in photography that concentrates on black-and-white silver-gelatin processes, and includes a thorough investigation of the history and conceptual framework of the medium.
5. A program that investigates issues surrounding representations of the body, including an engagement with contemporary and historic practices in visual art and film, as well as feminist, gender, race, and class theory, and concludes in an installation of a series of photographs.
6. A studio-based program in sculpture that examines how our sensory or kinesthetic knowledge of our bodies differs greatly from how we are seen as objects in space by others (possibly including additional courses in the history of art and in anatomy).
Grading. COVA students must receive letter grades for the twelve courses that constitute the concentration, but may receive P/N grades for free electives. Students taking COVA courses in fulfillment of the Humanities common core requirement must also receive letter grades. Students concentrating in other departments may take Visual Arts courses for P/N grades with the consent of their adviser and instructor.
Honors. COVA students who have a 3.0 or better overall grade point average for all undergraduate work and a 3.5 or better average for all COVA course work may be awarded honors. The work submitted will be reviewed for honors by the COVA faculty.
Faculty
CHARLES E. COHEN, Professor and Chair, Committee on the Visual Arts; Professor, Department of Art History and the College
TED COHEN, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
TOM CUMMINS, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College
HERBERT GEORGE, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College
THOMAS GUNNING, Professor, Department of Art History, Committee on the Visual Arts, Cinema & Media Studies Program, and the College
MIRIAM HANSEN, Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor in Department of English Language & Literature, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College; Director, Film Studies Center
REINHOLD HELLER, Professor, Departments of Art History and Germanic Studies, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College
LAURA LETINSKY, Assistant Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College
THOMAS MAPP, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College; Director, Midway Studios
ROBERT C. PETERS, Associate Professor, Committee on the Visual Arts and the College
KIMERLY RORSCHACH, Senior Lecturer, Department of Art History and Committee on the Visual Arts; Director, Smart Museum
JOEL M. SNYDER, Professor, Department of Art History, Committees on the Visual Arts and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
RICHARD STRIER, Frank L. Sulzberger Professor of Civilizations in the College; Professor, Department of English Language & Literature, Committees on the Visual Arts, General Studies in the Humanities, and Jewish Studies
MARTHA WARD, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Committee on the Visual Arts, and the College
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
101. Visual Language I. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical, visual, and dramatic 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. Visits to local collections required. Lab fee $35. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
102. Visual Language II. This course fulfills the Common Core requirement in the musical, visual, and dramatic arts. A complement to COVA 101, COVA 102 examines the elements of three-dimensional form. Studio problems analyze and explore the expressive possibilities of these elements and how these elements direct the meaning of objects. Attention is given to specific ideas and their origins; they provide the formal basis for critical appraisal of classroom work and of historical and contemporary sculptural works. Studio work and visits to galleries and museums required. Lab Fee $10. H. George, R. Peters. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
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 during class time through videotapes, readings, discussions, and, importantly, the making of objects. Visits to galleries, museums, and architectural site required. Staff. Spring.
Intermediate-Level Courses
212. Figure Drawing. PQ: COVA 101 or 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. Lab fee $40. J. Brotman. Winter, Spring.
215. Graphics: Etching. PQ: COVA 101 or 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. Lab fee $50. R. Peters. Winter.
222. Beginning Sculpture. PQ: COVA 101 or 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 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. Visits to galleries or museums required. Lab fee $35. H. George. Autumn.
223. Intermediate Sculpture. PQ: COVA 101 or 102, or consent of instructor. This studio class is a continuation of COVA 222 and also an extension of COVA 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 on 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. Visits to galleries and museums required. Lab fee $35. H. George. Winter.
224. Modeling the Figure. PQ: COVA 101 or 102, or consent of instructor. A live model provides the basic reference for this course, which is divided into two parts: the full figure and the portrait. Both are worked in clay and cast into plaster. A basic objective is to see and understand the figure relative to its expressive content. Visits to galleries and museums and creation of a larger figure outside of class required. Lab fee $40. H. George. Autumn.
240. Beginning Photography (=CMS 276, COVA 240). PQ: COVA 101 or 102, or consent of instructor. A camera and light meter are required. Photography affords a relatively simple and accessible means for making pictures. Through demonstration, students are introduced to technical procedures and basic skills, and begin to establish criteria for artistic expression. Possibilities and limitations inherent to the medium are topics of classroom discussion. We investigate the contemporary photograph in relation to its historical and social context. Course work culminates in a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium. Visits to local exhibitions required. Lab fee $40. Staff. Winter, Spring.
241. Collage and Assemblage. PQ: COVA 101 or 102. This course explores the concept of transformation through mixed media drawings and constructions. Student investigations in various media are the basis for altering preexisting or found objects and creating new forms. Techniques of collage, embellishment, and use of multiple images and photocopies are included in conjunction with traditional and nontraditional art materials. Aspects of installation are also considered. In ongoing discussions and critiques, use of materials and processes is examined in relation to subject matter. The focus of this class is the development of a visual language and an individual response. Slide lectures are included. Visits to galleries and museums required. Lab fee to be determined. J. Brotman. Autumn.
Theory and Criticism Courses
251. Aesthetics and Theory of Criticism (=COVA 251, GS Hum 305, Philos 313). This course is an introduction to problems in the philosophy of art with both traditional and contemporary texts. Topics include the definition of art, representation, expression, metaphor, and taste. T. Cohen. Spring.
254. Visual Culture (=ArtH 258/358, CMS 278, COVA 254, Eng 126/326, MAPH 343). PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course explores the fundamental questions in the interdisciplinary study of visual culture: What are the cultural (and thus, natural) components in the structure of visual experience? What is seeing? What is a spectator? What is the difference between visual and verbal representation? How do visual media exert power, elicit desire and pleasure, and construct the boundaries of subjective and social experience in the private and public sphere? How do questions of politics, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity inflect the construction of visual semiosis? W. J. T. Mitchell. Spring.
255. Theories of the Photographic Image and Films. PQ: COVA 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. Winter.
256. Performance Art (=COVA 256, GS Hum 268). PQ: Consent of instructor. Prior theater experience or acting training not required. This course offers students a chance to explore some of the aesthetic strategies used by artists/performers working in the genre of performance art. As scholars, we work toward an understanding of how changing notions of what constitutes the "avant-garde" influences the conceptualization, creation, and dissemination of art and performance. As performance artists, we employ various "avant-garde" techniques as we create original performances based on a theme, such as "memory." S. Totland. Spring.
257. Weimar Bodies: Fantasies about the Sexualized Body in Weimar Art, Literature, Science, and Medicine (=ArtH 268, COVA 257, GendSt 268/368, German 282, HiPSS 301). PQ: Advanced standing. Knowledge of German helpful but not required. This class concentrates on defining the relationship between "high" art images of the sexualized human body in avant garde German culture from 1919 to 1933 and parallel or contradictory representations of the body in the scientific (anthropological, sociological, and biological), as well as the medical illustration of the same period. The core ideas of the class are drawn from an exhibition of the same name that will be on view at the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art during the length of the course. S. Gilman. Autumn.
258. Manifestation of Modernism: The Year 1913 (=ArtH 267/367, COVA 258, German 257/457). PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. Classical modernism reached its apogee immediately before World War I. In an effort to "re-view" the works, issues, and critical theories of modernism in its multiplicity and diversity, and also to test the historical validity of the concept of modernism, this course examines key defining exhibitions of the 1912 to 1914 period, including the second Post-Impressionist Exhibition in London, the Cologne Sonderbund Exhibition, the first Fall Salon in Berlin, and the Armory show in New York. Works included in these exhibitions, as well as related works, and critical responses to them are considered. R. Heller. Autumn.
259. Styles of Performance and Expression from Stage to Screen (=ArtH 293/393, CMS 282, COVA 259). PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the history of acting styles in silent film (1895-1930), mapping "national" styles of acting that emerged during the 1910s (American, Danish, Italian, and Russian), and various "acting schools" that proliferated during the 1920s ("Expressionist Acting" and "Kuleshov's Workshop"). We discuss film acting in the context of various systems of stage acting (Delsarte, Stanislavsky, and Meyerhold) and the visual arts. Y. Tsivian. Autumn.
261. Scenic Design (=COVA 261, GS Hum 265). PQ: Consent of instructor. Prior theater experience not required. This course considers the process of stage design from both aesthetic and practical points of view. It surveys the historical development of scenography in relation to technology and theatrical style. The influence of tradition on modern stage design is investigated through a comparison of period designs and contemporary solutions established by scenographers. M. Lohman. Winter.
Advanced-Level Studio Courses
270-271. Beginning Painting. PQ: COVA 101 or 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. Lab fee $40. Staff, J. Brotman. Autumn, Winter.
274. Advanced Painting. PQ: COVA 270, 271, or 272; or consent of instructor. This course presumes familiarity with the basic technical and formal consideration of painting. Students learn to construct images that are compositionally effective and convey a strong sense of personal purpose. Lab fee $40. J. Brotman. Spring.
282. Advanced Sculpture. PQ: COVA 101, 102, 201, 211, or 212, and 221; or consent of instructor. The first half of this studio class is devoted to formalist/nonrepresentational sculpture, both its beginning in the Soviet Union and its later rebirth as minimalist art in the 1970s. One large nonrepresentational work is constructed in the first half of the quarter while the second half is devoted to a more "open problem" that is carved from stone in the outdoors. The primary goal is to learn about sculpture through making it, looking at it, and discussing what has been made and seen. Visits to galleries or museums required. Lab fee $35. H. George. Spring.
Independent Study Courses
290-291-292. Independent Study in Visual Arts. PQ: COVA 101 or 102, and consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Independent study in visual arts is similar to a reading course in an academic area. We presume that the student has done fundamental course work and 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.
298. Senior Project. PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. In the Committee on the Visual Arts, this required course provides an opportunity for a "summing up." It is a chance to work in a sustained way on a group of paintings or photographs, for example. This work is then presented as a graduation show. As an alternative, one might do a paper that examines issues that may have emerged from the studio and academic experience. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.