The purpose of this assignment is to examine at first hand a work of art in the Carlos Museum of Art in Atlanta, selected from the attached list, and to analyze and discuss it, according to the following phases, carefully distinguishing between the different ways of considering the object.

ASIAN

1) Seated Buddha from Mathura 2000.5.1

2)  Durga Battling the Buffalo Demon 2001.1.6

3) Vishnu Sleeping on the Cosmic Ocean 2001.1.14

4) Cosmic Form of 18-Armed Vishnu 2001.0.4

5) Pala Buddha 2001.1.7

6) Miniature Stele of the Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara 2001.1.8

7) Brass Dancing Girl L2000.32

8) 4-Faced Lingam 2001.1.5

9) Bhairavi 2000.16.1

10) Relief fragment with Buddha flanked by worshippers. X.427.4a

11) Figure of the Buddhist goddess Lhamo  2001.19.1

12) Dancing Balakrishna from Tamil Nadu  2001.1.3

13) Jain Altar of Rishabhanatha from Karnataka  2000.13

You may select any of the works from the Domains of Wonder show.  It has may remarkable paintings, of various types.  Be sure that you give the full name and the catalogue number, and supply a picture if possible..

2) PROCEDURES TO WRITE YOUR PAPER

A) Select your work by browsing through the museum works on the list as you visit the museum. Pick something you like or that interests you in some way. Be sure that the work is on display in the museum at this time. I have made every effort to select works which I am assured will be there throughout the term, but the museums may make changes at any time.

B) While you are the Museum, in front of the object, write about it in response to Parts I,  II, III, and IV, labelling each separate and distinct phase, as below.  Be thorough in your response to each phase, and careful that you are not overlapping the requirements of each separate part. 

I. DESCRIPTION (LABELLED AS SUCH): "What do I see?" (Relate to the idea of "pure seeing," the simple physical act of taking in visual sensations While it is, of course, impossible to divorce the act of seeing from cognition processes, you should suspend judgment and other thought processes as much as possible. Seek to divorce the mental and emotional responses from physical recognition, for a time.)

A. Make an objective list of what you see in the work. Give only facts, and make no suppositions or guesses. Try to describe the work as though you were trying to convey a visual image of its features to potential viewers who could not see it themselves. Then, write in paragraph format, using full sentences and good grammar. Start with a general description of the shape/format, then a a statement of the overall depiction.  Then, work through a systematic discussion of the elements of the picture, moving from the general to the specific. Pay attention to possible context -- is this the whole work, or is what you are viewing part of something larger? 

B. Note the size of the work, the medium (media) in which it was created, or guess if this is not noted on the wall card.  (Height, width, depth (if applicable) in inches, feet, centimeters.)

II. ANALYSIS (LABELLED AS SUCH): "How is the work organized and achieved?"

A. How has the artist used the formal elements at his disposal? What has been done with line, color, shape/form, value? Has the artist created an illusion of space? How? Is there an emphasis on texture? Is it implied or actual? Etc., etc., etc. (You might review the guide for this at http://www.westga.edu/~rtekippe/2201/form%20vocab1.htm )

B. How are the elements of design used? How is the composition laid out? Is there a sense of rhythm or movement? Balance? Proportion? Variety or unity? Emphasis or focus? How were these effects achieved, in specific terms?

III. INTERPRETATION (LABELLED AS SUCH): "What was the artist trying to say here?" "What is happening in this work of art?"

A. Try to explain what the artist seems to have meant to say in the work. Is it narrative – telling a story? Does there seem to be a viewpoint taken? Does the artist seem to endorse the activity or make a statement in opposition? If it is non-narrative, is the work about observation of the material world or perhaps about the formal elements of art? Obviously, you must make some guesses here. Does the title influence your assessment? Is there a wall card which explains any part of it? If so, be sure to give credit to that.

B. Do not be afraid to make an interpretation which might differ from that of someone else. Your response can only come from you. Your interpretation will be affected by what you have seen and done and thought and learned in your life. However, you should be sure that your interpretation is based on facts and clues you gathered in the first two steps of the exercise. Back up your statement with what you have gleaned from careful observation. This helps you to learn what particular aspects of the work led to your own responses and feelings about the work.

IV. JUDGMENT (LABELLED AS SUCH): "What do I think of the work?" "How do I respond to it, personally?"

 To formulate a credible judgment, you will need to be honest with yourself, and to critically evaluate your own feelings and the reasons why they emerge in response to the work of art. For example, if the work is of the Nativity of Christ, whether or not you endorse Christianity will color your response.

 Evaluate the relative success of the work.  Did the artist achieve his probable goals well?  Does the work seem to serve its purposes, whether they were practical or seem to have been more clearly related to stating an opinion or point of view? 

 You might judge the work as successful even if you do not have positive response to it.  Sometimes the message is not a positive one, rather it might be intended to make you react negatively, to think more deeply about an issue, to  be sad or sympathetic or ???

 

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       Pay attention to these points:

• Page one, top:  Your name, name of the object
• label the phases, start with general, move to specific
• number your pages
• Staple them together before you come to class (NO clips or binders)

Either take a photo or find a picture or make a sketch of the work to bring home with you, to have for use in the completing the assignment. The museum will generally allow photography if you do not use a flash. Some of the works are on the website, so you might view the images there, but DO NOT use data from the website for your writing.

 Choose the work carefully, while considering how you will discuss them in each of the phases. Plan to spend time examining the works, taking notes, and thinking about how you will write your paper with the work.

You are not expected to conduct research on these works, but if you are in any way influenced in what you write or if you gather any data at all from Museum materials, including the wall cards posted by the works,  or books or website materials, you absolutely must cite them as source of ideas or information.  The same goes for anything you write even if you are drawing from your text, from my lectures, or from other sources with which you may be familiar  Always be careful to give credit for any sources you read, any ideas you gather, and any information you use, WHETHER YOU QUOTE IT DIRECTLY OR NOT.