Art 218 write a letter
Paper details:
Choose one of the artworks listed below (in the following section of this assignment).
Review your notes & course content (text, videos, images, podcasts) for this artwork. The resources available in the modules are sufficient for this project.
Compile a list or outline of all of the essential information about the artwork: culture of production, function or purpose, subject, style, technique, materials, tools used, location where it was originally installed, place where it is located today, how it relates to historical context (politics, religion, social structures, etc). You will need this information to be accessible and well-organized to complete the writing assignment.
Write a letter addressed to a future beholder in which you explain the following:
The process of making your artwork and what kind of preparatory exercises you completed (observational drawings of the natural environment or animals; examining stones for flaws or faults before excavating and carving; sourcing materials or purchasing special and unusual materials for your work, etc.)
What your artwork represents (the subject, or “about-ness” of the artwork)
How you see the relationship between the representation (or structure, if you choose an architectural work) and materials — how do they inform each other? This is where you should make connections between subject, style, and technique.
How it was intended to be used during your lifetime (function or purpose)
What you hope your viewer will learn from visiting the artwork today
Include one page of preparatory sketches or diagrams in order to illustrate what you have written about, especially the process of planning and executing the artwork.
These do not need to be finished drawings! You do not need to be an artist or art major to do this! Your sketches can be basic stick-figures or very developed; you can draw by hand or make something using digital tools.
The sketches can directly relate to the figure or animal or landscape your artwork represents, or they can illustrate something connected but tangential to the subject, or outline a preliminary design for a large sculpture or tomb. Have fun with the sketches! Just be sure they relate clearcgoly to what you have written.
