| Michelle Forsyth, Associate Professor
Painting and Drawing
Fine Arts Department
Washington State University
5072 Fine Arts Center
Pullman WA 99164
Office Hours: by appointment
Office Room #: FA 7015
Office Tel: (509) 335 - 3278
FA 312: Advanced Drawing
Fall 2005 - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 1:10 - 2:50
Course Objective:
Prereq FA 110.
In this course we will examine the nature of the drawing process. We will examine the nature of making marks and what it means to make them. Over the course of the semester you will be asked to examine the process of making drawings rather than focusing on the final form.
In this class you are to take more responsibility and decision making about your work. In this class you will respond to project guidelines and think about your drawing as an extension of ideas. Students should use knowledge gained and apply it to the works that follow. Each student will be required to make 6 major works. Each student is also required to work AT LEAST 3 hours per week outside of class time.
Attendance:
This is a very demanding course. Handouts, critiques, and demonstrations will contribute to each student's formal studio technique and critical facility. Interaction and collaboration with your peers will be an important aspect of the learning process. If you miss more than one class, or arrive late consistently you will not receive an A in this course. Please note that this course requires at least 3 hours of homework per week. The projects take a lot of time and energy and will be impossible to complete unless you work consistently throughout the semester. Please do not arrive late or depart early from class meetings, there is simply too much material to cover in each class and it proves to disruptive and disrespectful to all of us. Absence from a class is not an excuse for skipping a tutorial, reading assignment, or project. You are responsible for completing work. Please note:
5 absences results in failure of the course.
15% will be deducted from your final grade if you have missed 3 classes
20% will be deducted from your final grade if you have missed 4 classes
The following also counts as 1 absence:
Arriving more than 10 minutes late to class 3 times.
Leaving early from class without permission.
Not participating in class excercises.
Grading Policy:
Because this class focuses on studio production, a substantial portion of your grade is based on attendance and participation. In addition, all work must be submitted for critique on the due date. You must show work during class critiques to receive a grade. Work should be ready to hang by critique date. If you fail to hand your assignments in on time, 4% per week will be subtracted from the grade received. Work submitted by the deadline may be revised for re-evaluation. Resubmitted work must include substantial revision and show considerable improvement and alteration. Resubmission of work at this stage is strongly encouraged, time permitting. The revised grade will be an average of both grades received. Final Grades will be based on the following factors:
30% Class participation and attendance. Showing up and participating in class discussions and critiques is mandatory.
60% Completion of assignments (see note above Assignments)
10% Final Critique (present all completed assignments, statement of intent and participation
Materials:
large roll of paper - at least 36 inches wide
Several pieces of Mylar (available at the Bookie)
Drawing tools as needed
Course Projects:
Project 1:Trace Drawings
For this project you will complete two large-scale drawings on Mylar (available at the Bookie) that that will act as a record of 'marks' throughout the Fine Arts building. To complete these drawings you will simply trace a collection of marks, smudges, text or whatever you see fit from the surface of the Fine Arts building. When doing so I want you to keep in mind the kinds of marks you are collecting and their scale in relation to the scale of your drawing format. Are the marks small enough to fit on your paper, or are you only able to trace a portion of them? What kinds of ordering principles, if any are you employing in your overall composition and how does one mark or trace compare to another? You can use any kind of drawing material you like, however I would like you to think about how your choice of drawing material relates to the kinds of marks you are tracing? The number and density of marks you collect is entirely up to you.
Readings:
Kaprow, Alan "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock" in Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life , Jeff Kelley, ed., p.1-9.
Elkins, James "Blindness" in The Object Stares Back , p. 226-235.
Elkins, James "Bodily Forms in Abstraction" in Pictures of the Body , p. 13-18.
Radcliff, Carter. "Russian Artists/Thai Elephants: Art on a Global Scale"
Ramirez, Mari Carmen. "Carmela Gross" from Re-Aligning Vision: Alternate Currents in South American Drawing (Autin: Archer Huntington Art Gallery, UT Austin, 1998) p. 164 - 165
Artists to look at:
Jackson Pollock
Frank Stella
Jonathan Lasker
Ingrid Calame
Monique Prieto
Project 2: 1,000 Marks: Drawing as Ritual
Instead of focusing on different kinds of marks as in the previous project, your goal here is to complete a drawing where all the marks are as similar as possible. For this project you will design a specific gesture that can records a single mark onto a piece of paper. When designing the gesture consider one that you feel comfortable repeating, but one that challenges your ideas of how drawings should be made. Consider the materials used to make the mark. The mark must be no larger than 3 x 3 inches, but can be as small as you wish. Avoid image-making and instead focus on mark-making. The act of making the drawing in this assignment is ultimately more important than the finished drawing. The finished drawing should measure at least 30 x 40 inches and should contain exactly 1,000 marks.
Readings:
Schimmel, Paul. "Origins: Pollock, Cage, Fontana, Shimamoto" from Out of Actions: Between Performance and the Object , 1949 - 1979 (Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, 1998) p. 18 - 25
Jacob, Mary Jane. "Interview with Marina Abramovic." From Bhudda Mind in Contemporary Art pp. 184 - 194
Helfenstein, Josef and Jonathan Fineberg eds. "Tom Marioni" Drawings of Choice: from a New York Private Collection. (Champagne; University of Illinois, 2002) Pp. 104-105
Artists to look at:
Tom Marioni
Simon Frost
Agnes Martin
Yayoi Kusama
Project 3: Drawing Appendages
As an extension of the ideas and processes discovered in the previous project, you will design a drawing accessory for your body that will hold a drawing implement. When designing your accessory I want you to think about how your drawing accessory will enable you to record a gesture more easily than without it. First you will choose a gesture that you feel comfortable making repeatedly and then you will design an accessory that will enable you to wear your drawing tool rather than holding it in your hand. Think about using things like Velcro, elastic, wire, string or fabric to create an accessory that is easily put on and removed.
The format for the finished drawing is entirely up to you, but consider the appropriateness of the format to your mark-making accessory. Do you want to use a large sheet of paper, several small sheets of paper or a long thin roll of paper. Plan to spend a minimum of 10 hours on your drawing.
Readings:
Interview with Barney by Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, Artforum , May 1995, p. 68.
Ross, David A. "Jochem Hendricks" from 010101: Art in Technological Times . (San Francisco; Museum of Modern Art, 2001. p. 82 - 84
Cotter, Holland "Rebecca Horn: Delicacy and Danger" in Art in America , December 1993, p. 59-67.
Artists to look at:
Carolee Schleeman
Matthew Barney
Henri Matisse
Brice Marden
Project 4: Automatons
For this project you will extend ideas from the last project and create a drawing machine that is automated in some way and does not involve your hand in the making of the mark. Nick Meisel's Advanced Sculpture class will create "erasers" to erase your drawings.
Readings:
Walter Benjamin "A Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" in Illuminations
Ross, David A. "Roxy Payne" from 010101: Art in Technological Times . (San Francisco; Museum of Modern Art, 2001. p. 82 - 84
Madoff, Steven Henry. "Nature vs. Machines? There's No Need to Choose" in The New York Times, Sunday Edition , June 9, 2002, pp. 33-4.
Cohen, Harold. "How to Make a Drawing" from Science Colloquium, National Bureau of Standards , Washington D.C. December 17, 1982.
Artists to look at:
Jean Tinguely
Roxy Payne
Angela Buchloh
Rebecca Horn
Harold Cohen
Project 5: Tracing Movement
For this project you will create a drawing that marks a journey of some kind. The type of journey is entirely up to you and can simply record a walk somewhere or it can be a journey traveled by someone or something other than yourself. The format and materials are entirely up to you, but all I ask is that the result manifest in a line that traces the journey.
Readings:
Horodner, Stuart, "Francis Alys" form Walk Ways (New York; Independent Curators International, 2003) p. 27 -28
Lee, Pamela M. "Phobias Then and Now; Or, Lost Horizons and Endless Highways" from Chronophobia: On Time and the Art of the 1960's p. xvi - xviii
Butler, Cornelia H. "William Anastasi" from Afterimage: Drawing Through Process (Cambridge;MIT Press, 1999)
Artists to look at:
Yukinori Yanagi
Francis Alys
Bruce Nauman
William Anastasi
Project 5: Instructions
For this project you will create the instructions for a drawing rather than the drawing itself. Another class member will carry out those instructions.
Readings:
Molesworth, Helen. "The Artist as Manager: The Artist Completes a Task" from Work Ethic . (University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 2004) p. 101 - 121
Altshuler, Bruce. "Art by Instruction and the Pre-History of do it." In do it . P. 21 - 32
Louis Kaplan "The Telephone Paintings: Hanging Up Maholy-Nagy" Leonardo 26 n0.2 1993 p.165-8
Artists to look at:
Lazlo Maholy Nagy
Sol le Witt
Jan Dibbets
William Anastasi
Erwin Wurm
Course Schedule:
Week 1: Trace Drawings
Monday, August 22- Introduction to course
Wednesday, August 24 - Begin Project 1, Readings given out
Friday, August 26 - Continue Project 1
Week 2: Trace Drawings
Monday, August 29 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, August 31 - Continue Project 1
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: FINE ARTS 493 FIRST MEETING - 4:15
Friday, September 2 - Critique Project 1
Week 3: ,000 Marks: Drawing as Ritual
Monday, September 5 - NO CLASS - LABOR DAY
Wednesday, September 7 - Begin Project 2, Readings given out
Friday, September 9 - Continue Project 2
Week 4: 1,000 Marks: Drawing as Ritual
Monday, September 12 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, September 14 - Continue Project 2
Friday, September 16 - Critique Project 2
Week 5: Drawing Appendages
Monday, September 19 - Begin Project 3, Readings given out
Wednesday, September 21 - Continue Project 3
Friday, September 23 - Continue Project 3
Week 6: Drawing Appendages
Monday, September 26 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, September 28 - Continue Project 3
Friday, September 30 - Critique Project 3
Week 7: Automatons
Monday, October 3 - Begin Project 4, Readings given out
Wednesday, October 5 - Continue Project 4
Friday, October 7 - Continue Project 4
Week 8: Automatons
Monday, October 10 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, October 12 - Continue Project 4
Friday, October 14 - Continue Project 4
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: BFA CERTIFICATION ORIENTATION - 4:15
Week 9: Automatons
Monday, October 17 - Continue Project 4
Wednesday, October 19 - Critique Project 4
Friday, October 21 - CLASS CANCELLED - BFA CERTIFICATION
Week 10: Tracing Movement
Monday, October 24 - Begin Project 5, Readings given out
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: ADVISING BEGINS
Wednesday, October 26 - Continue Project 5
Friday, October 28 - Continue Project 5
Week 11: Tracing Movement
Monday, October 31 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, November 2 - Continue Project 5
Friday, November 4 - Critique Project 5
Week 12: Instructional Drawings
Monday, November 7 - Begin Project 6, Readings given out
Wednesday, November 9 - Continue Project 6
Friday, November 11 - NO CLASS VETERANS DAY
Week 13: Instructional Drawings
Monday, November 14 - Discuss readings with slides
Wednesday, November 16 - Continue Project 6
Friday, November 18 - Continue Project 6
THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 21 - 25
Week 14: FINAL CRITIQUES
Monday, November 28 - FINAL CRITIQUES
Wednesday, November 30 - FINAL CRITIQUES
Friday, December 2 - FINAL CRITIQUES
Week 15: FINAL CRITIQUES
Monday, December 5 - FINAL CRITIQUES
Wednesday, December 7 - FINAL CRITIQUES
Friday, December 9 - FINAL CRITIQUES |