The exhibition I take care is common SENSE by Amy Hamilton at Henry Art Gallery in University of Washington
Instruction by professor Writing Assignment: Review Articles Over the course of the quarter each student or team (up to 3 students) will be responsible for reviewing 2 gallery or museum shows in the Seattle area. Each review should be approximately 3-5 pages in length, and may be made available to other students in the class in some form. I want this component of the class to be very open to your own interests, and so I’ll keep the guidelines basic, and you can see me if you want a greater degree of direction. First, the goals of this component are: (1) To prod you into confronting contemporary art face-to-face; (2) to have you discuss your ideas with a small group of your peers; (3) to face the difficult task of translating your experience of the art into written words; (4) to assess the significance of art, and reflect upon the qualities you (and your peers) value in art. Without exception, you should engage with the exhibition in a personal, self-reflexive manner. This should be clear in the review. However, always remember that you are writing for someone else, readers, and these reviews should be useful to them. Picking shows. I will be happy to help you find artists/shows that might interest you, but you have to start the process. Look through the papers, or on the web to see what’s out there: I’ve listed useful sites below. Or, browse the galleries on the “First Thursday” of the month (“Gallery Walk”). Also, I’ve listed below a number of places I think have consistently strong exhibitions. Once you’ve decided on the artist/show you want to review, spend some time with your group in front of the works talking about them. (If you’re reviewing a group show, find one or two works/artists that really interest you and focus on them.) Discuss in particular: (1) what the works seem to be about, the issues they raise and the stances they take; (2) how they might be related to ideas/issues/works we’ve encountered in class; 3) how successful you feel the works are and why. You may look at reviews by local critics, and I’ll give you samples of students’ reviews from past classes, but please do not use their approaches as strict templates for your own. And do not, under any circumstances, “forget” to cite any sources you use; this includes gallery websites, press releases, etc. Review deadlines. To space out the reviews over the course of the quarter, here are the deadlines for each review. You may write them any time before these dates: 10/17, 11/26 Format: 3-5 pages, double-spaced, 1” margins, word documents (make sure your files are saved with .doc at the end; this will ensure that I can open them). Please bring a hard copy to class on the assigned due date and email me a copy as an attachment (krice@uw.edu). Save the document as your name and review number (i.e. kolyarice review1.doc). Review Essay Checklist: Head your essay with: Gallery/Museum or Sites name, address, contact information, hours. The show’s title, running dates, and key artists you’ll cover The names of the members of your team, if you’re collaborating. Introduction: Give your readers an overview of the show, describing the visual experience, alerting them to the key issues/ideas the artist(s) is exploring or that you will be addressing. Body: Pick no more than three works that will serve as examples of the keys points you want to make about the show. What theme or idea is the work exploring in general? Do different works take different stances, or explore different facets of the general theme? Can you relate works in the exhibition to works you’ve seen before? Works from class? Politics? Philosophy? Visual culture at large? What’s similar or different? If you have access to an artist’s statement, does that help you to understand the work more fully? Does it detract from other possibilities of interpretation? What materials are being used? For what reason, or to what effect? Do the materials have particular historical or cultural resonance? Do you find the works compelling? If so, in what way (be specific)? If not, why not? Remember here, it is easy to admire an artist’s subject in advance—and forget about how that subject is represented or indeed whether an artist has made you think about the subject in a new way. Conclusion: You’ll probably want to summarize key points in the body, of course, but consider the conclusion as a way to ask questions the work made you think about, but which are better left as the subject of a longer analysis. You should also bring together your assessment of the show here, summarizing who might be interested in the show, and why—or why not (drawing from your refection on your own experience).
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