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Workbook
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An important warning: As in History of Art & Design I, your workbook is designed to help you do well on exams. Unless you have an eidetic memory, there is almost no way you can pass this class without keeping a decent workbook. Although I no longer grade the workbook separately, I expect you to maintain it and to fastidiously attend to completing slide lists and worksheets in an effort to absorb the information we deal with in the lectures. Students can also gain immeasurably from consulting appropriate sections of the course textbook (Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise Western History). This is especially important after an absence from class, although it cannot take the place of good lecture notes. If you do miss a class, be sure to complete the slide list and obtain notes from a fellow student. Do not, however, simply copy notes verbatim, since identical answers on the final exam will suggest cheating. The basic information you need for each slide is the name of the image, the name of the artist, the movement it represents, and some idea of why I showed in the first place (what principle does it demonstrate?). Plan to spend a minimum of two hours per week on this assignment; that's just what it will take you to download the images and create thumbnails. Actually coordinating images with slide lists and notes, pursuing additional information, filling in gaps, and studying the material will take an additional couple of hours per week, so budget your time accordingly. Workbook Components: Slide lists are now linked to the schedule and to a separate "slides" page in both .rtf and .pdf formats. Do not simply print out the pages linked on the web slide lists; create thumbnail images and import them into your own lists, or print them to be applied to my templates. If you wish to print out an information page associated with a particular image, that's fine--but you're still responsible for the completed lists. You simply will not have time to rummage through whole webpages during an exam. Under no circumstances may you simply copy somebody else's slide list. Even if you have missed a class and must copy the notes, do so by hand and complete the rest of the list on your own. You will not learn the material by using a copy machine; not only that, if you use copied slide lists to take an exam, it's grounds for failing the test, because it amounts to cheating. This goes for study groups, too. Complete your slide lists, and then meet to go over the material, amend notes, augment one another's understanding, etc. Do not simply divvy up the list and assign a bit to each member. That's both dishonest and lazy, and you won't learn much from taking this path. In order for workbooks to be used on exams, slide lists must be complete and organized into a three-ring binder. It is not sufficient to simply place a contact sheet behind a slide list, even if thumbnails are labeled. The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn the material. So do it. Limited desk space also means that you simply do not have room to spread your stuff all over the place. Faithfully take notes in class, do the reading, and take notes on what you read--underline, highlight, write comments, etc. to help you learn the material. When printing material from the web, save paper by copying text into a document file, and noting the URL and pertinent bibliographical information on the printed material (at the end is fine). Workshops are designed to provide hands-on experience or to develop your research skills. Questions based on them may appear on exams, so keep your completed workshops in your workbook. Keep completed video worksheets in your workbook. These worksheets frequently turn out to be valuable on exams. The more you interact with the images and information you encounter, the better you will learn the material, and the easier your exam will become as a result. Other ways to use your workbook (Optional Materials) Those actually interested in expanding their visual vocabularies can use this workbook as the foundation for a sourcebook on modern art and design. The slides are only the beginning of an education in art history; the rest is up to you, and there are ways to build on the foundation the class provides. Example: Occasionally the usefulness of an art-history background in the "real world" becomes apparent. Not long ago, the insurance company, Pacific Life, aired a commercial which features swimming and diving Humpback whales (their logo) painted in a number of recognizable artistic styles. Season 1 of The Simpsons features an episode ("The Crepes of Wrath") in which Bart becomes an "exchange student," and when he arrives in France, he ventures though French landscapes painted in recognizable styles (Monet, van Gogh, etc.). I have several examples of ads that parody or otherwise make use of recognizable works of art. One of my students created an animated parody involving Vincent van Gogh that I'll show when we consider Post-impressionism.. All of these are examples of the kinds of commercial uses to which art history can be put. In your workbook, collect examples of the use of art works out of their original context. Example: Many artists "played" with the work of their predecessors or their contemporaries. This "conversation" has occurred throughout the history of art, but it becomes especially apparent in the twentieth century. See this page on Picasso's response to Velasquez for an excellent example of how the process works: The Case of Las Meninas. Locate similar "conversations" and create short annotated slide lists that explore the connections.
Resources Consult my general links page Art and Design History on the World Wide Web for other good sources. In particular, History of Art: From Paleolithic to Contemporary provides terrific content and images (although it's still in the process of being updated), and Chris Witcombe's extensive Art History Resources on the Web (I've linked the 20th century section) can be of immeasurable help in locating additional examples of art from various periods. And don't forget the side-bars to the web slide lists for each week. A final note: Veterans of this class who have maintained comprehensive workbooks frequently contact me to remark on how helpful they have been in later life--whether for subsequent courses or as resources for work in the "real world." So don't dismiss this as make-work; it can become a useful tool to help you remember and use for purposes beyond its original intent. |
Encourage students to collect course and resource materials into an
organized, coherent whole