Joseph Mallord William Turner. Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (exhibited 1812). Tate.
I started a short course this week called MAKING SENSE OF ART HISTORY, a free course offered by the OPENLEARN website. This blog will be a repository for my notes and written reflections for different prompts given throughout the units.
Introduction: Learning outcomes
Specifically, the course website notes how:
“After studying this course, you should be able to:
identify the effects of art works;
understand a range of artistic techniques, such as the use of colour, composition and medium;
recognise the relationship between effects and techniques in a range of art works;
understand some of the factors involved in interpreting meaning; and
understand the significance of context in informing the interpretation of art works.”
Introduction: The Study Diamond
The course website describes how:
“The Study Diamond represents an approach to analysing and interpreting texts such as poems, works of art, pieces of music and works of literature. When used methodically, the Study Diamond provides a reliable and reusable formula for arriving at well-argued conclusions when interpreting a particular work.
There are four points to the Study Diamond:
effects;
techniques;
context; and
meaning.”
1 - What is art?
This course notes how it is very difficult to nail down a definitive definition for the term art.
Activity 1: Looking at 2 Works of Art
Look at the following works and make some notes for each one in response to the following questions.
Do you like it?
How does it make you feel?
Is it art? Briefly explain the reasons for your answer.
Don't spend more than a minute or two responding to each question. Questions 1 and 3 require a simple ‘yes' or ‘no’ answer and some brief explanation for question 3. For question 2 you could record your immediate feelings about the works represented, using one word answers (for example ‘happy’ or ‘confused’) rather than complete sentences.
PLATE 1: Damien Hirst, Mother and Child Divided, 1993, steel, GRP composites, glass, silicone sealants, cow, calf, formaldehyde solution, tanks: 190 × 323 × 109 cm and 103 × 169 × 63 cm. (© The artist. Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube, London.)
Do you like it?
No.
How does it make you feel?
Uneasy. Fragile. Separated. Angry.
Is it art? Briefly explain the reasons for your answer.
Even though I don’t like the work and it makes me uncomfortable, this still qualifies as art. First, the finished work itself is placed inside a formal art gallery, and it has likely generated a lot of discussion about the nature of art. Second, the artist put thought into the piece, and what it could mean and express.
PLATE 2: Raphael, Madonna im Grünen (Madonna of the Meadow), 1505 or 1506, oil on wood panel, 113 × 89 cm. (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien oder, KHM, Wien.)
Do you like it?
No.
How does it make you feel?
Bored. Neutral. Don’t feel good or bad about this work. It does have a peaceful feel to it, I just feel as though I’ve seen a lot of work similar to it before.
Is it art? Briefly explain the reasons for your answer.
Even though I don’t like the work, it still qualifies as art. Raphael’s reasons for creating this were undoubtedly very different from Hirst’s reasons for creating his work, although both exist to tell a story to everyday people.
Activity 2: Thinking about Studying Contemporary Art
Skim through the art works below and then make some notes in response to the following question.
What are your feelings about the prospect of studying contemporary art?
Be as clear as possible here; later in the course you'll return to the notes that you've made to see whether your feelings have changed.
PLATE 1: Rachel Whiteread, House, 1993. (© The artist. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photo: Tate Photography.)
PLATE 3: Gilbert and George, Life from Death Hope Life Fear, 1984, handcoloured photographs, framed on paper, unique. (© Gilbert and George. Courtesy Tate, London, 2005.)
PLATE 4: Jake and Dinos Chapman, CFC76311561.1, 2002, painted bronze, 92 × 58 × 49 cm. (© The artists. Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube, London. Photo: Gareth Winters.)
PLATE 5: Tracey Emin, My Bed, 1998, mattress, bed, linen, pillows, suitcase, ephemera, 79 × 211 × 234 cm. (© The artist. Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube, London.)
PLATE 6: Tracey Emin, In My Family When Someone Dies They Are Cremated And Their Ashes Are Thrown Across The Sea, 1997, plaster, white paint, eleven seagulls, 450 × 555 × 413 cm (variable) installation. (© The artist. Courtesy Jay Jopling/ White Cube, London. Photo: Stephen White.)
PLATE 7: Tracey Emin, The Perfect Place to Grow, 2001, wooden shed and trestle, plants, with a single monitor, super-8 film transferred to colour video, audio track, 2 minutes looped, 261 × 83 × 162 cm installation. (© The artist. Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube, London. Photo: Stephen White.)
PLATE 8: Damien Hirst, Mother and Child Divided, 1993, steel, GRP composites, glass, silicone sealants, cow, calf, formaldehyde solution, tanks: 190 × 323 × 109 cm and 103 × 169 × 63 cm. (© The artist. Courtesy Jay Jopling/ White Cube, London.)
PLATE 9: Anish Kapoor, As if to Celebrate, I Discovered a Mountain Blooming with Red Flowers, 1981, drawing, wood and mixed media, 97 × 77 × 160 cm object, 33 × 71 × 82 cm object, 21 × 16 × 47 cm sculpture. (© Tate, London, 2005.)
PLATE 10: Chris Ofili, No Woman No Cry, 1998, acrylic paint, oil paint, resin, pencil, paper collage, Letraset, glitter, map pins and elephant dung on linen with two dung supports, 244 × 183 × 5 cm. (© Chris Ofili. Courtesy of Chris Ofili – Afroco and Victoria Miro Gallery. Tate Photography.)
PLATE 11: Chris Ofili, Afrodizzia, 2nd version, 1996, acrylic, oil, resin, paper collage, glitter, map pins and elephant dung on canvas with two dung supports, 244 × 183 cm. (© Chris Ofili. Courtesy of Chris Ofili – Afroco and Victoria Miro Gallery.)
PLATE 12: Paula Rego, The Maids, 1987, acrylic on canvas backed paper, 214 × 244 cm. (Courtesy The Saatchi Gallery.)
PLATE 13: Tomoko Takahashi, Learning How To Drive, 2000, mixed media installation, dimensions variable. (© Courtesy of the artist and Hales Gallery. Photo: Tate Photography/Mark Heathcote.)
PLATE 14: Fiona Rae, Untitled (yellow), 1990, oil on canvas support, 214 × 198 cm. (© Fiona Rae. Courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery. Photo: Tate Photography.)
PLATE 15: Grayson Perry, Golden Ghosts, 2001, earthenware, 64 × 27 × 27 cm. (© Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London.)
PLATE 16: Paula Rego, The Dance, 1988, acrylic on paper laid on canvas support, 213 × 274 cm. (© The artist. Courtesy Tate, London, 2005.)
PLATE 17: Paula Rego, The Policeman’s Daughter, 1987, acrylic on canvas backed paper, 214 × 53 cm. (© The artist. Courtesy The Saatchi Gallery, London.)
What are your feelings about the prospect of studying contemporary art?
I am excited and at the same time apprehensive by the prospect of studying contemporary art. I’m excited because I am curious to see what other contemporary artist are creating, exploring and thinking about through their works. I’m also apprehensive because I’m not always certain I’m able to understand what a work might represent - especially if it’s speaking to other moments in art history.
Also, in glancing at the examples shown, it’s clear that contemporary artists are working in a wide variety of mediums, from traditional art making practices such as painting (as seen in PLATES 12, 14, 16, and 17) to more modern and contemporary practices such as the utilization of found objects in an installation (as seen in PLATES 5 and 7). It’s also fascinating how artists utilize traditional techniques but place contemporary references within their design (as seen in PLATES 4 and 15).
There can often be huge differences of opinion in what constitutes art. One reason for these differences “…in opinion is likely to be that the writers differ in what they think makes something art. The question ‘What is art?’ has been the subject of hot debate by art historians for many years.”
Activity 3: What is Art?
Make some notes about the sort of things that you consider to be ‘art’.
Art can be objects made through the creative processes of: drawing; an event, gathering, or happening; installation; new (digital, video) media; painting; performance; photography (alternative processes, analog, and digital); printmaking; or sculpture.
Make a list of any common characteristics that these ‘art works’ have. (For example, are they already exhibited in galleries, do they display technical skill, do they have the power to move you emotionally?)
Art objects or works can be exhibited in galleries and non-gallery spaces, or they can exist as interventions in the manmade or natural environments where people can randomly encounter them. They can also display technical skill that’s clearly apparent or the skill can be hidden, or even nonexistent. Skill can be as complicated as being representative of an idea that pushes against techniques of previous movements. To that end, artworks are also representative of ideas and exist to tell stories (but advertising can fit these ideas but they are not artworks. So are artworks created for non-commercial purposes?),
Try to write a one sentence answer to the question ‘What is art?’ using your notes from Activity 1 as a basis for your response.
Art is a non-commercial object or event created to encourage discourse about an issue or story.
