AHS paper assignment

Overview: Close, careful looking and describing are the foundation of all visual inquiry, from art history to your own everyday encounters. In our visually-centered world, artworks, advertisements, digital media, products, and other expressive objects are purposefully constructed. Your willingness and ability to perceive and describe what you see is the key to breaking down how artworks are put together andeventuallythe impact they have upon us and our understanding of the world. This Part One paper challenges you to build your looking and describing skills by writing up, in narrative format, a detailed set of visual observations on a single work artwork or visually-expressive object. Artwork Selection: Because the key to this assignment is the construction of your own engaged, close description of single artwork, I figure that object should be something you choose. To do so, you should navigate the virtual collections of one or more regional museums (links included below) and select a work of American art that particularly interests you. There is no limitation on subject matter, type of object, or date. The only rule is that the work must be produced by someone that could be described as an American maker, and/or you must be able to link its origins/history firmly to an American cultural context. I have listed a few nearby museums at the end of this sheet that have major American Art collections. You may also consider museums not mentioned here or stand-alone objects (such as campus artworks), just so long as they meet the qualifications. Because the paper requires a detailed description, it is important that the image be available to you as a high-quality reproduction. If you find a work you love but the image quality is low, do an online search for a better version. If you need help or advice, ask your TA! **Finally, choose your object carefully, as it will also be the subject of Part Two! Also think about the museums location as extra credit may be earned by visiting your object in person for Part Two. Work Process: A) Looking: your paper will be founded upon your own close observation of the object, which you will then write down in essay form. No research is allowed for this paper. In fact, if there is a historical description available, DO NOT READ IT. Knowing the basic information is enough: artist, title, date, size, and material. Plan to spend a full THREE HOURS looking at the object and making detailed observations about it. Try to set aside any assumptions that you might bring to the objectapproach it as if you were a visitor from another planet with no prior knowledge of earthly art. Instead, use the formal analysis categories that we have learned in class and via the UNC visual analysis guide (see Week 1 module) to shape your observations. If by the end you have not been surprised by your object in some way, you have not looked hard enough. B) Writing: compose your observations into a narrative description. Use the first paragraph to introduce the work and the basic information about it: title, artist, date, medium, location etc. Your thesis statement should be something like This paper will provide a detailed visual description of the elements that constitute the work as well as their overall effects. Then, write out your observations in an organized way. For example, you might treat the various formal elements (line, composition, color, etc.) as topics of paragraphs, know that some will require more attention than others. As you move through the paper, try also to understand how the formal elements work together to produce an overall effect on the viewer. For example, do they create a sense of calm or agitation? Do they emphasize subject matter in a certain way? You should end with a sense of your overall impression. **DO NOT try to create a cultural or historical interpretation of the work. Thats for Part Two! Finally, please provide an illustration of your chosen artwork. You should be able to do a screen capture and add it to your paper. The image should go at the end of your text and be labeled with its artist/title/date.