Discussion 5
Choose one of the following options for your Original Post. Be sure to use the Gateway Resource assigned by your professor or you will be asked to resubmit your Original Post.
Follow instructions as given in the weekly announcement.
Option #1: Visual Elements of Art
Select one piece of art from the assigned Gateway into the Visual Arts Resource or the online museums listed in that resource you would like to interpret. Include an image of the piece of art at the top of your discussion post. Also be sure to include the name of the artist and the name of the piece.
Use the Visual Elements of Art Required Resource to do the following:
Choose two visual elements of art you think you can use to interpret the piece of art you selected.
Briefly define each element of art using your own words. Please paraphrase and do not just copy the definitions from the readings and videos.
Apply each element of art to the piece of art you chose by explaining what you see in this piece of art that demonstrates that element. Be sure to show how something in this piece of art is an example of the elements you chose by specifically describing aspects of the art that show this element. For instance, describe the use of inorganic lines around trees in a painting. It is not enough to just say there are organic lines in the painting. You should show where they are with a detailed descriiption or with an edited version of the painting with arrows where the organic lines are.
Discuss in general what kinds of messages you think the artist could be trying to convey by using the elements of art you chose in specific ways. For instance, if an artist uses cool colors to portray a scene of war, what might this color choice be trying to say about the subject of the painting?
Make sure to cite any quotes or paraphrases in MLA style.
Be sure that you are doing your own interpretation and not repeating something already covered in the resource about that piece of art.
Option #2: Principles of Composition
Select one piece of art from the assigned Gateway into the Visual Arts Resource or the online museums listed in that resource you would like to interpret. Include an image of the piece of art at the top of your discussion post. Also be sure to include the name of the artist and the name of the piece.
Based on your reading of the Required Resource, Principles of Composition, please do the following.
Choose two principles of composition you think you can use to interpret the piece of art you chose.
Briefly define each principle using your own words. Please paraphrase and do not just copy the definitions from the readings and videos.
Apply each principle to the piece of art by explaining what you see in this piece of art that demonstrates that principle. Be sure to show how something in this piece of art is an example of the principles of composition you chose by specifically describing aspects of the art. For example, if you chose the principle of repetition, describe exactly what in a painting is repeated. It is not enough to just say there are elements repeated in the painting. You should show where they are with a detailed descriiption or with an edited version of the painting with arrows where the repeated elements are.
Discuss in general what kinds of messages you think the artist could be trying to convey by making these choices of composition. For instance, if an artist put a mother and child in the background of a painting, and a father in the foreground for emphasis, what might this use of emphasis say about the status of the people in the painting?
Make sure to cite any quotes or paraphrases in MLA style.
Be sure that you are doing your own interpretation and not repeating something already covered in the resource about that piece of art.
Option #3: Contextualizing Art
Select one piece of art from the assigned Gateway into the Visual Arts Resource or the online museums listed in that resource you would like to interpret. Include an image of the piece of art at the top of your discussion post. Also be sure to include the name of the artist and the name of the piece.
Based on the information in Required Resource #4, decide whether you would like to do a historical, social, personal, political or scientific contextualization for this piece. Doing some research in reliable sources, find some information to report in order to do the kind of contextualization you have chosen.
Then write standard paragraphs in which you do the following:
Identify the piece of art and which kind of contextualization you will do.
Briefly describe three significant pieces of information you discovered in your research that contextualizes the piece of art you chose.
Describe two or three aspects of the art that you think are examples of how the historical, social, personal, political or scientific context appears visually and explain why.
Make a general statement about why you think it is, or is not important to consider the context of this piece of art.
Make sure to cite any quotes or paraphrases in MLA style.
Required Gateway: Art and Power.