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ART 493 SMP 1/ ART 333 Adv.
Research and Writing for SMP Research and Analysis Writing Assignments Including: 1. Sources Notebook 2. Annotated Research Bibliography 3. Research Notes 4. Source to Self Essay One of
the major goals of the studio SMP experience is to develop your ability to
understand and communicate your artistic goals in the context of other
contemporary art making practices and concerns. The first semester of SMP
begins this process with assignments designed to help you build a foundation
of source material along with some initial analysis and comparison writing to
prepare you for the writing and lecturing you will do in the spring. The
following assignments encompass finding and processing research materials
that you deem relevant to your own art making and ideas. These sources might
be individual artists, artistic movements, art by subject type, but also
could be non-art references of many sorts. Your
research assignments are broken into steps to help you accomplish the work
spread over the semester. I recommend you set aside time every week for
reading and research. I will ask each of you to draw up a Ôresearch plan as a
way to self-schedule your research and writing activities to help you meet
assignment deadlines and integrate your research with your studio work. 1. Identifying Sources Get recommendations from others Always tricky to know enough about your work and the
work of others to make the best connections. Faculty and visiting artists
can often be very helpful with identifying apt sources. In fact, visitors
to your studio will often recommend artists you should be looking at and
youÕll need to have an a place to record the sources suggestions (see below
about organizing your research activities). DonÕt be passive about finding
sources, ask other professors and students. Seek out experts, if your art
interests maybe include philosophical ideas a kin to Buddhism, seek out
faculty with that expertise (but ask for suggestions for ÒgeneralistÓ sources
so as to not get too specialized. Make Connections A great way to discover sources is to let one thing lead
to another. Maybe the text you are reading mentions other artists, other
books etc. All books and many web sites have their extensive bibliographies of
their own that you could utilize.
á Label entries by date so I can
see what you have added each week. á Each named artist or art
movement should be accompanied by 3 small images of their work (the 3 images
should fit on a half a page). Cite the web pages from which you got these
images just in case you want to use them later.) á Select images that begin to show
why the artist is relevant to your own work. Note about embedding images in
MS word: please do not embed image files over 1000 pixels in the long
dimension, seriously!). DUE: Weekly Add no less than two sources added
each week. 2. Finding Texts After identifying possible source artists the next step
is finding worthwhile things to read about them. Because we will NOT rely on internet
sites as our primary source (see assignment below), weÕll review the various
ways to access library materials including using the full-text periodical
databases and interlibrary loan request system. Because you canÕt begin to
conduct research before you have gathered materials, developing a
bibliography is an early first step. Building a useful bibliography is an art in itself. It
isnÕt just about writing down every thing you find, youÕll need to make some
initial judgments about the value of a text based on readily available
information such as summaries (abstracts) available in database citations, a
quick scan of the text if it can be viewed online, or my favorite, browsing
and looking at books directly in the library stacks. When a faculty names a
potential source, ask them which publications on that artist or content are
the best to read. Assignment: The
Research Bibliography, a document titled lastname_bibliography.docx
stored and updated in your class Google drive folder. Examples can be found
within document book examples posted on BlkBd. Create an annotated bibliography that includes books, periodicals,
and internet based texts that you have identified and judged as being worthwhile and clearly relevant to your artistic
interests. Each entry should include full bibliographic information in the
MLA style (see http://www.aresearchguide.com/12biblio.html). By the end of the semester, you are required to have no
less 8 annotated entries; including a correctly formatted citation accompanied
by one or more paragraphs that summarizes of the content of the text and
briefly comments on the aspects, ideas that are important to your own ideas
and work. Internet sources can and should be used only if they contain
substantial information, but they will not count toward the 8 unless Lisa
approves them. DUE: A research bibliography added to
no less than 3 times in the semester: á Preliminary: one artist/ 4 books, 2 articles, and 2 internet sites Sept 17 á
2nd addition: another artist/ 4 books, 2 articles, and 2 internet
sites. Sept 24 á Post midterm critique: identify
significant texts for one or more artists suggested at your critique. Oct 29 Annotated Entries: Written summaries of text content for
8 sources total. Annotations
should be completed evenly throughout the semester with á 4 by Oct 8 á additional 4 by Nov 12 3. Reading and Taking Notes So now you have the book or article and the next step is
the hardest to stay on top of; reading. This is not about looking at pictures
but it also doesnÕt always entail reading long books cover to cover. Look at
the table of contents or skim lengthy text to see what chapters might be most
relevant. You are most concerned with the what,
whyÕs and howÕs of an artists work not biographical facts. Taking notes is your way of both retaining and
processing ideas. Your notes will be the basis for your annotated entries
(summaries of content) not to mention source-to-self comparison writings,
quotes, etc.. Remember to write down or cite specific quotations and or
source-to-self comparison ideas you can use through out the year. And donÕt forget to always take the
time to include footnote information or you will find you need to backtrack
later (page numbers etc.). These notes might not be enough to write your two
essays but at least it will identify basic ideas and locate where in the text
it can be found. The next question is what, as you read should you be
noting? Remember, you are researching as a studio artist, not as a historian therefore
the goal of your research is to understand the basic underlying intentions of
like-minded artists and how they realize their intentions in the specific
artworks they create. Doing this
not only gives you a context in which to clarify your own intentions, but
also observe how other artists effectively express their intentions by the
specific way they fashion their artworks. While biographical information can
be interesting, it probably should not be the focus of your research. Assignment:
Research Note Files, individual word docs for each text read and or artist researched. Create
an individual word doc for each text you are reading and store it a folder
titled lastname_research on your class Google folder. Date all note taking entries and name these files
lastname_artistname.docx DUE: I expect to
see weekly additions 4. Processing and Applying your
Research Equally important as collecting information and
ideas, is processing it.
Gathering is not the same thing as analysis. Analysis is when you
synthesize together various bits and pieces of information youÕve read about
an artist, figure out in your own words what they are about, and formulate
the connections that exist between your own art making and theirs. In this
first semester of SMP, we will begin these tasks of analysis and comparison
through a limited source-to-self
writing assignment that challenges you to apply the ideas articulated in
these writings in a visual comparative context. Assignment: Source
to Self Essays Select two of artists you are currently researching that
you feel are most central to your current work and write a 4-page
source-to-self comparison essay on each. These writing should include: á A characterization of the
central conceptual issues engaged by the comparison artistÕs works
(particularly those relevant to the comparison at hand) á Concise explanations of how
these concepts are specifically manifested in individual artworks. á Comparative comments that might
include shared or contrasting goals, shared or contrasting approaches. All writings
must be fully cited with footnotes and bibliography. Please carefully read the
source-to-self
assignment page that includes details of the assignment along with a
number of past student examples. Other examples can be found within document
book examples posted on BlkBd. Post completed essays in your Google drive
folder titled lastname_stos1.docx and lastname_stos2.docx. DUE: 1st essay Oct 15 2nd essay Nov 19 |