Unit 3 Assignment Sequence

The Humanities: Assonant Arguments about Art

As I mentioned in the Unit 1 assignment sequence, the humanities are often viewed as a set of disciplines based more on personal opinion than fact. In this unit we will test this assumption, using the argumentative strategies we developed in units 1 and 2 to determine if there are such things as "proof" and "facts" in the humanities.

Feeder 1

Do you have a favorite visual artist? If so, search for his or her work on the internet and check out some images. If not, try searching sites like the-artists.org for an artist that you would like to write about.

Much like Feeder 1.1, for this post you will identify and summarize an academic debate about the artist you chose. There are numerous electronic databases of academic art history articles listed on the library's web site, but you may want to start with Art Full Text, the first database on the list.

Once you find an article about your artist (make sure it's from an academic art history journal!), you can begin by determining the author's thesis statement. What is the controversy or debate into which s/he is entering? What is his or her position? How do other art historians differ in their opinions?

Once you have determined the author's thesis statement, do research using the library and the web to find an author who expresses a contrary opinion. Write a post (length: equivalent to 2-3 typed pages) summarizing this controversy for your blog's audience, noting the main theses of each article and what kinds of evidence and arguments are employed by each. Is one more convincing than the other? Feel free to express your opinion if you deem it appropriate.

Feeder 2

Now that you've gotten your feet wet in art history, it's time to do a little criticism of your own. Search the internet for an article or blog post that poses an interpretation your artist's work.

Next, write a post (length: equivalent to 2-3 typed pages) that refutes, expands or takes issue with the argument posed by the article you found. In supporting your own thesis you should rely primarily upon evidence from the artist's work, but you may include other outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to focus on formal aspects of the artist's work such as color, texture, medium, etc. Please include an image of one of the artist's pieces in your blog post as well as a link back to the article you discuss.

Unit Project

For your Unit Project I would like each of you to visit the Ackland Museum on campus and write a post (length: equivalent to 4-6 typed pages) about one of the pieces of 20th or 21st-century art in their collection (note: the museum has strange hours and is closed on Monday and Tuesday so don't wait until the last minute! You can see their hours here). If there is a digital image of the piece on the Ackland's web page you'll want to include that image in the post as well.

As for the content of your post, I would like you to argue that the artist is attempting to achieve a particular social or aesthetic goal (examples: documenting the plight of slaves in the Middle Passage; illustrating how our perceptive faculties impact the way we see the world; exploring how 3-dimensional objects are represented in 2-dimensional space) and assess how well the artist achieves that goal. Rather than concentrating on historical or biographical information, your post should consist almost entirely of a sustained analysis of the piece's formal qualities.

A successful post will (in order of importance):

1. Be focused around a sophisticated, surprising thesis about the author's political, social or aesthetic motivations.

2. Include thoughtful, sustained analysis of the chosen piece of art.

3. Include an address potential counter-claims to the post's argument.

4. Cite all sources in a manner appropriate for the blog and its audience.

5. Be written in a lively, engaging and authoritative style.

6. Be free of errors in spelling and grammar as well as visual formatting.