DXARTS 400: Research Studio

Instructor: Richard Karpen - karpen@u.washington.edu
TA: Stelios Manousakis - steliosm@u.washington.edu
Office hours: Fri: 10.45 - 12.45 RAI 132

M 1:30-3:20 RAI 117

Class List

Jesse Allen
Julia Bruk
Jill Collymore
Alexis Eggertsen
Andrew Franks
Eugene Harng
David Heflin
Kenzi Kim
Bronwyn Lewis
Chad McCurry
Toby McKes
Jason Reinhardt
Roxie Turner

Schedule & presentation database

• September 29 - Art research overview/Introduction •
What is the class about, goals and methodologies.


• October 6 - Presentation of great artworks and discussion •

'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'
• What: Film
• Year: 1964
• Duration: 93'
• Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
• Written by: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George, loosely based off George's 1958 novel Red Alert
• Starring: Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, also featuring Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn and Slim Pickens
• Links:
imdb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/
wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove
Clip presented in class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1KvgtEnABY &feature=related
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
I'm of the opinion that Dr. Strangelove is great film, if perhaps not great art. To clarify: while Kubrick's attention to detail in mis en scene, meticulously defined pacing, and subtle use of irony in plot and dialogue certainly puts this film near the realm of great art, I feel one of its strongest points is its pure, visceral, entertainment value (not necessarily an aspect of great art, imo). In addition, its cultural relevance is somewhat limited. So, while I'll defend to the death that this is a great and classic film, I'm still on the fence as to whether it's necessarily 'great art'.

'Slave Ship' by J.M.W. Turner aka Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On
• What: Painting, oil on canvas
• Year: 1840
• Dimensions: 35 3/4 x 48 1/4 in.
• Links:
Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Slave_Ship_(painting) (wiki about thepainting)
Link 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner (wiki about Turner)
Link 3: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/crisis/crisis4e.html (outer info since wiki isn’t always accurate)
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
J.M.W. Turner’s ‘Slave Ship’ uses vibrant colors and hidden lines of geometry that help hold the piece together and projects a sense of depth and volume. It’s also great as it seems be a transition piece, a mixture of Romanticism and an early sample of what would later become Impressionism. After looking at Turner’s earlier work it’s interesting to evaluate how his work starts out traditional and becomes more abstract like this particular piece.

'The Death of Marat', by Jacques-Louis David
• What: Painting, oil on canvas
• Year: 1793
• Dimensions: approx. 5'3"x4'1". in.
• Source:http://www.brynmawr.edu/hart/Syllabi/levine/HART%20107%202006/1794%20David%20Marat.jpg
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
This Neoclassic peace is both visually any and psychologically interesting. Visually is how the unnaturally angular figure's pale skin tone contrasts against the cold, morbid space above. The angle of the figure assist in dividing the painting into sections. Psychologically, the piece is a source of inspiration to the french revolutionary forces of the time (1790) displaying Marat (name clearly indicated on painting), a revolutionary radical, at the time of death. There is a touch of Michelangelo such that the figure is realistic, yet slightly out of proportion, and is portrayed here as a hero to the revolutionaries. With its visual and psychological traits and David's personal touch mixed with Michelangelo's style makes this piece a great work of art.
• Related piece: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Creation of Adam, 1511-1512. Fresco, approx. 9'2"x18'8".


• October 13 - Presentation and discussion of great artworks in relation to those presented on October 6th •

'Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge' by James Abbot McNeill Whistler
• What: Painting, oil on canvas
• Year: 1872
• Dimensions: 66,6 × 50,2 cm
• Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/James_Abbot_McNeill_Whistler_006.jpg
• Work presented in relation to: 'Slave Ship' by J.M.W. Turner
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Whistler was influenced by J.M.W. Turner. He also drew landscape that had the effects of various lightings and weather. If sunsets were a highlight in Turner's works, then Whistler was known for his Nocturns. There are many ways light is expressed in this piece. How light from the far off buildings illuminate the water, fireworks fading as the crackle in the air. the different colors of the river show very smooth subtle movement in contrast to the busy movement on the bridge. But even then the movement on the bridge seems fluid just like the rest of the painting. The bridge divides the far off buildings and the water in shades of light and darkness, and sharper lines. Perhaps it portrays distance, or perhaps a fog seeping through the right side of the painting.

'Entombment' by Caravaggio
• What: Painting, oil on canvas
• Year: 1603
• Dimensions: 300 x 203 cm
• Source: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/resources/cvggo_entom.jpg
• Work presented in relation to: 'The Death of Marat', by Jacques-Louis David
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Caravaggio was a master in his field and is is widely hailed as one of the greatest artists of all time. In Entombment, Caravaggio depicts the burial of Christ and brilliantly composes the painting to pivot around Christ's hip and uses an oblique line to draw our eye from the sorrow of Mary, through the cast of characters and down to Christ's body. He puts the viewer in the grave as if Christ is about to be passed to us and masterfully uses the cornerstone and various perspectives to create a 3-dimensionality. This is a great work b/c it's skillfully executed and also a social comment on its time period. This Counter-Reformation piece depicts Christ realistically making his pain and sacrifice more personal to believers.

'View from the Dunes with Beach and Piers, Domburg', by Piet Mondriaan
• What: Painting, oil and pencil on cardboard
• Year: 1909
• Dimensions: 11 1/4 x 15 1/8 in.
• Source:
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A4057&page_number=2&template_id=1&sort_order=1
On view at MoMA
• Work presented in relation to: 'Slave Ship' by J.M.W. Turner, 'State of Mind' by Mark Rothko
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
This painting is one in a series of studies of seascapes from Domburg, the Netherlands, and is an example of Mondrian's transition from the more fluid and colorful landscapes influenced by Van Gogh to the Neoplasticism of De Stijl and his later works. Here Mondrian offers an oblique view of the dunes and coastline, divided by a diagonal, and meeting in the unbroken horizontals of the horizon. Later works by Mondrian contain only verticals and horizontals, and so it is interesting to see how the lower 2/3 of this work are divided diagonally to create a sense of depth and space. This attempt to create dimensionality in his works however, was soon abandoned when he asserted that the "'idea' of 'art' as an illusion separate from real life must disappear" in favor of the creation of a "new, plastic unit".
Although this painting exhibits a strong sense of geometry and design, it has far more elements in it than do his compositions, which were limited to the three primary colors, three primary values, and two primary directions, which he later determined were pure and therefore the perfect tools to construct a harmonious composition.

'8'37" or 'Threnody to the victims of Hiroshima', by Krzysztof Penderecki
• What: Music composition for 52 String Instruments
• Year: 1960
• Duration: 8'37"
• Source: (streaming) http://www.last.fm/music/Krzysztof+Penderecki/_/Threnody+for+the+Victims+of+Hiroshima
• Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threnody_to_the_Victims_of_Hiroshima
• Scans of the score
http://dxarts.washington.edu/~tmckes/images/img001.jpg
http://dxarts.washington.edu/~tmckes/images/img002.jpg
http://dxarts.washington.edu/~tmckes/images/img003.jpg
• Work presented in relation to: 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb', by S. Kubrick
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Originally titled 8'37", Pendercki later renamed it due to the dramatic nature of the piece. The work was unconventional in its use of a visual score, which included directions to detune by quarter tones (creating much more dissonance than the average listener is accustomed to) and to play the highest note possible on the instrument, regardless of pitch. The work also makes extensive use of "extended technique", wherein the players use their instruments to make the percussive sounds heard in the recording. Used in the films The Shining and Children of Men.

'Notorious' by Alfred Hitchcock
• What: Film
• Year: 1946
• Duration: 101'
• Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
• Starring: Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman
• Links:
imdb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/
Movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbe6TmhyE8&feature=related
• Work presented in relation to: 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb', by S. Kubrick
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
'Notorious' is one of Hitchcock's great films that explores the use of the space in the film frame and the timing of each shot to convey emotions and further communicate the story. The camera becomes this additional trait of the actors that help define their characters. It is a classic noir film that really incorporates its era, such as the use of uranium in the film when the Hiroshima bombing happened a year prior to its release.

'Pietà' by Michelangelo
• What: Marble sculpture
• Year: 1499
• Dimensions: 174 × 195 cm
• Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieta_of_Michelangelo
located in St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican City
• Work presented in relation to: 'The Death of Marat', by Jacques-Louis David
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Michelangelo's Pietà was commissioned when the artist was only 22, and sculpted within a year of the commission date. The artist portrays Mary, as a young woman, holding Jesus on her lap after he is brought down from the cross. Controversially Michelangelo pays little attention to Jesus' crucifixion wounds - instead focusing on the form and musculature of his body, the position he takes in Mary's lap, Mary's expression, and the detail in the folds of fabric cascading off of her body. In the sculpture Mary is larger than life allowing her to hold an adult man in her lap. Were she to stand up she would be nearly seven feet tall. In addition this allows the larger than life nature of the subject to come through. The pyramidal shape echoes the form of the trinity while providing visual and structural strength.


• October 20 - Presentation and discussion of great artworks in relation to those presented on October 6th; presentation and discussion of great artworks not related to previous presentations. •

'Haystacks', by Claude Oscar Monet
• What: Series of 25 paintings, oil on canvas (Also mentioned: Impression, Sunrise)
• Year: 1890-1891
• Dimensions: Each one approx 60 by 100 cm.
• Source:
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
I tried to find an artwork that stood in the middle ground between Turner and Rothko. I chose Monet's Haystacks.
With the haystack series, Monet brought to attention a new way to address light and color. Before the series, color was primarily seen as an inherent quality of the object, rather than an interplay between light, object and atmosphere. Monet brought the object/subject of the painting into its atmosphere- one of light and color harmony.
The choice if the haystack was notable due to it being so simple. Instead of a visually complicated subject, the simple stack often gave way to beauty of the transitory color field- focusing on different times of day and year. The paintings seemed to flatten, and their horizontal sections might remind a viewer of Rothko's work, with details subtly emerging from the transitions.
The haystack was not usually in the exact middle, and when it was close the canvas was longer, so attention was pulled to the space the haystack occupies. It was also noted that in the haystack we focused most on in class, Grainstack in the Sunlight, the haystack was especially prominent, with the very tip blocking out the sun. This actually helped it blend into the scene, while symbolically reaffirming the haystack as reflector rather than having an inherent color value.

'Tigers With Arrows', by Cai Guo Qiang
• What: Gunpowder and ink on paper
• Year: 2005
• Dimensions: 91* 273 in.
• Source:
http://www.caiguoqiang.com/project_detail.php?id=180&iid=809
Showcased at Guggenheim Art Museum
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
The work is full of chaos and destruction. Tigers, symbolic of military power and considered “king of the jungle” in Asia, are assaulted from all directions, with no clear sense of who and where the enemy is. Despite the transcendent aspirations of Cai's own aesthetic, his works are in fact loaded with socio-political observations. Aesthetically, Cai has contributed a genuinely new and innovative approach to contemporary art-making. The furious energy of his gunpowder drawings juxtapose animal figures ripe with symbolic and metaphysical significance for both Western and Eastern audiences alike, challenging our view of an accurate and “true” depiction of nature. At the same time, Cai's imagery draws concisely from overlapping symbolic registers, creating succinct parables that speak to very contemporary situations, resulting in a harrowing scene of hollow heroics and destruction that is as timeless as it is timely.

Piano Sonata No. 8 Opus 13 in C minor, or "Sonata Pathetique", by Ludwig van Beethoven
• What: Music composition for piano
• Year: 1799
• Duration:
• Source:
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
This piece was published in 1799 when Beethoven was only 28 years old. Consisting of three movements the Allegro, Adagio, and Rondo, it takes about 19 minutes to perform. The first movement follows sonata form having an intro, exposition, development section, recapitulation, and a coda. My analysis was mainly on the exposition or main themes of the first movement. The exposition can be divided further into three sections. The main theme, sub theme, and closing theme. Beethoven uses four bar phrasing to create dynamic tension going up and down in volume. The main theme is in C minor and modulates to its relative major of E flat. The beautiful sub theme is presented in what was considered an unorthodox method because of its key. Normally a second theme would be presented in a parallel major to the key of the piece, however Beethoven composed this theme in the parallel minor of the relative major. Not only does the section create tension from major and minor, but the performer can feel the tension because of the right hands movement above and below the left hand. The closing theme opens with a lot more fluidity and ends by repeating back to the opening Grave of the piece. Everyone needs to listen to the entire work. It is by far my favorite piano piece by Beethoven.


• October 27 - Presentation of great artworks and discussion •

'Howl', by Allen Ginsberg
• What: Poem in three parts
• Year: 1955
• Length: 111 phrases, 424 lines
• Source:
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Part I : 77 phrases made up of 299 lines:
A lament for Ginsberg's generation, interspersed with references to Ginsberg's own experience, and events in his friend's lives. The section is characterized by long, rambling lines, and depictions of drug use, sex, political protest, and poverty. Most lines begin with the repeated phrase "who [action]...", in reference to "the best minds of [Ginsberg's] generation".
Part II : 15 phrases made up of 60 lines:
Introduces Moloch, a biblical reference to a Canaanite god that demanded child sacrifices, as the "sphinx of cement and aluminum[that] bashed open/their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination". All lines begin with the repeated phrase "Moloch!".
Part III: 19 phrases made up of 65 lines:
A tribute to Carl Solomon, to whom the poem was dedicated. Ginsberg met Solomon during a stay at a mental institution; the repeated phrase "I'm with you in Rockland" refers to that institution.

'The Passion of Joan of Arc', by Carl Theodor Dreyer
• What: Film
• Year: 1928
• Duration: 81'
• Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Presentation support: Download a graph for the timing of the different shots between 39' - 41'34"
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
The film took eighteen months to complete which was a very long time for those days. Dreyer shot the entire film in the exact order of the script in order to get the truest and most authentic acting from his talent. When the film was released in 1928, even though critics raved about it, it did not fair well with audiences and was a box office failure. For the rest of his career, Dreyer struggled for financial backing to make his films.
The Passion of Joan of Arc was a huge step not only in silent films but also in the advancement of film, a new and developing medium. Dreyer was able to capture emotions like no one else. He said in his book titled 'Thoughts on My Craft' that "nothing in the world can be compared to the human face. It is a land one can never tire of exploring. There is no greater experience in a studio than to witness the expression of a sensitive face under the mysterious power of inspiration. To see it animated from inside, and turning into poetry."
Something very rare for the time was cutting still shots with ones with movement, which is pretty much the basis of the entire torture scene. This not only creates an environment in which that audience cannot grasp but it also is unsettling.


• November 3 • Presentation of great artworks and discussion •

'The Passion of Joan of Arc', by Carl Theodor Dreyer
(see above)

Comparative presentation:
'Samson and Delilah', by Peter Paul Rubens
• What: Oil on Wood painting
• Year: 1609
• Dimensions: 185 x 205 cm
• Source: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/largeImage?workNumber=NG6461&collectionPublisherSection=work
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Rubens was one of the most influential Flemish painters in the 17th century. This painting is on a biblical story of Samson and Delilah. The lighting is very carefully arranged as this is a night scene. The figures are holding candles and torches, and the depth of darkness is expressed not only in the corners of the room, but also in the folds of cloth. The texture of cloth is expressed in detail, and so are the muscles in Samson's body. Rubens had done a study of classical statues in Italy and he used similar expressions of the muscles in his work, and in a statue in the top of the painting.
'Samson and Delilah', by Anthony van Dyck
• What: Oil on canvas painting
• Year: 1620
• Dimensions: 151x76cm
• Source: http://www.abcgallery.com/V/vandyck/vandyck9a.JPG
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Anthony van Dyck was a pupil of Rubens. This painting was depicted as a day scene rather than a night scene. He expresses the white texture of cloth with detail and reflecting the light and shadows. He contrasts Delilah with the other women with a glow and a much brighter and lighter skin tone, and places her next to an old woman as Rubens did. Van Dyck also sets the scene in an open space with a big pillar and an urn, referencing the gods of Greek mythology.


• November 10 - Presentation of great artworks and discussion•

'Stalker', by Andrei Tarkovsky
• What: Film
• Year: August 1979 (Release date)
• Duration: 163'
• Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky
• Produced by: Aleksandra Demidova
• Written by: Arkadi Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
• Starring: Alexander Kaidanovsky, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko
• Music by: Eduard Artemyev
• Distributed by: Mosfilm
• Country: Soviet Union
• Language: Russian
• Presentation support: Download notes about the different musical themes used in Stalker (i, II)
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Stalker is one of the greatest films of the 20th Century. Loosely inspired by "Roadside Picnic”, an old sci-fi story, Stalker follows 3 men (Stalker, Writer, Professor) and their journey into the zone. Tarkovsky strove to make this a dense and intensely spiritual journey for his characters and the viewer. It is a story of spiritual crisis and a fight between the hardening and cynicism that comes with age and enduring faith. Tarkovsky used long takes to make the spiritual experience more realistic, actualizing the patience it takes for revelations to come about.

Quartet for Strings no. 2 in A minor, Op. 17 - 2nd movement, by Béla Bartók
• What: Music composition for string quartet
• Year: 1915-1917
• Duration: ~7 (2nd movement)
• Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Bart%C3%B3k)
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
The second movement of Bartok's second string quartet is approximately 7 minutes long. It is characterized by quick driving eighth notes and frequent changes in tempo as well as the influence from Hungarian folk music. Bartok described the movement as having a kind of rondo form and the quartet as a whole was influenced by Debussy although it was very much in step with composers of the time. This piece was composed when Bartok was about 35, about 5 years after Bartok began researching folk music - a pursuit that would eventually lead him to developing and help found the new field of ethnomusicology.


• November 17 • Presentation of great artworks and discussion; final assignment given •

'Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate One Second Before Waking Up', by Salvador Dali

'Red Bird: A Political Prisoner's Dream, by Trevor Wishart
Country: England
Red Bird ( A political Prisoner's Dream)
• What: Electroacoustic music composition
• Year: 1973-1977
• Duration: 45'
• Country: England
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
'Red bird' is a 45 minute electro-acoustic piece composed from 1973 to 1977 using tape and studio techniques with no assistance from computers. It is made up of various audio samples, which Wishart arranged into what he described as "sound-images". These fall into 4 categories: Animal/Body, Birds, Words, Machine. It is composed as a collection of "sound-landscapes", which are collections of sound-images, arranged in such a way to evoke metaphor. Wishart attempted to construct an audio mythology, by creating an open-ended metaphorical network.


• November 24 • Presentation of great artworks and discussion •

'The kiss', by Gustav Klimt
• What: Oil and gold leaf on canvas
• Year: 1907-1908
• Dimensions: 180 × 180 cm
• Source:(view presentation support)
located in: Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
• Presentation support: Download notes
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
In his painting The Kiss, Austrian artist Gustav Klimt portrays a brief moment of passion between two people. This painting demonstrates Klimt’s preference for mosaic designs, curling background lines, and angular, two-dimensional characterizations. The eroticism and desperation expressed in the painting are typical of the radical, anxious style of the Vienna Secession movement, found by Klimt, and closely linked to the European art movement known as Art Nouveau. The artists of the Vienna Secession sought to address more contemporary human concerns and emotions in a highly decorative style.

'Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?', by Paul Gauguin
• What: Oil on Canvas
• Year: 1897, Tahiti
• Dimensions: 4'6 13/16" X 12'3"
• Source: (view presentation support)
located in: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Presentation support: Download notes
• Presentation Summary - why is it great art?
Gauguin (1848-1903) was a Post-Impressionist painter particularly concerned with the use of color for startling effect and emotional impact. The Post-Impressionist movement spanned from 1880-1905 and was the forerunner of Modernism. The collective desire was to make art more substantial instead of an attempt to wholly capture a passing moment. There were two camps of methodology: Scientific formal design (Seurat, Cezanne) and Expression through color and light (Gauguin, Van Gogh, Lautrec).
This painting is emblematic of Gauguin's style, using flat panes of pure, unmodulated color. There is no perspective or chiaroscuro, which Gauguin thought were "hostile to color," but the figures are outlined in thick black lines. It shows his interest in native societies and Primitivism, a style inspired by art from Asia and Africa. The painting was intended to be read from right to left, with the groups of figures serving as embodiments of the title.


• December 1 •


• December 8 •

Final Assignment

• A written presentation including auxiliary documentation of a great artwork from any medium, created between 1905-1945.
You can focus more on a section or the entire piece, depending on the medium (for time-based arts).
If you have any questions, consult Stelios.

Objectives

• Consciously analyze and learn from previous artwork
• Make a habit out of consciously experiencing great art of different disciplines in a daily basis
  
• Connect to great artworks and develop your own artistry – beyond production course assignments
  

Student Responsibilities

• Attend all seminars
• Assume a pro-active role as an artist/researcher
• Prepare analyses of previous great artworks and learn from the Masters
• Participate in discussions and critiques
• Send in artwork metadata and a summary of your analysis after your presentation in class for this webpage
• Complete final analysis project

Grading

• 50% participation in class:
  - quality of the analyses
  - quality of the presentations
  - participation in peer critique
• 50% final analysis project

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