Discuss the performance of 2 actors. What was effective or ineffective? Describe at least one design element and its support or detraction of the storytelling. If the play is a musical, describe the music and how it affected the play.

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Play: Peter and the starcatcher

Watch this play and write a response to it while adhering to the guidelines below.

You can watch on this link:

Sample Critique Guidelines

  1. Background Information on the Play
  2. Title
  3. Playwright
  4. When you saw it
  5. Where you saw it
  6. Director’s name and Designers, if available
  7. Background on the play, if available
  8. The Actual Production You Saw:

 

  1. Describe the play’s central conflict, or  the plot
  2. Identify the main character(s) and the actors who played them
  3. Discuss the performance of 2 actors. What was effective or ineffective?
  4. Describe at least one design element and its support or detraction of the storytelling.
  5. If the play is a musical, describe the music and how it affected the play.
  6. Discuss the reaction of other audience members. Were they involved? Did they lose interest?

Did they laugh, gasp, or react emotionally to anything or stage?

  1. Was the story clearly told? Could you see, hear, and understand all of the words and actions?

III. Would you recommend this play to others? Why or Why not?

  1. Did you receive a message from the event?
  2. What was your overall impression of the success of this event? Did it achieve what it set out to do?
  3. Feel free to include any other info that might help another student decide whether or not to attend this event .
  4. Mechanics and Writing
  5. 2 pages minimum
  6. Play titles should be underlined, bolded, OR italicized. Plays are complete works.
  7. Does your response provide a clear picture of your experience with the play?
  8. Do you support your views with examples from the production?
  9. Do you use the language and vocabulary of theatre?

 

How does the artist or creator depict each sex or gender? Who do you think has the power in each image: the subject, or the viewer? Does the subject appear empowered, or spied on?

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Week 11 Discussion

In this discussion, you will apply a materialist critique of art and analyze how pre-judgments impact perception. You will also consider the artist’s intention.

Your Tasks

In Ways of Seeing, Berger observes that in art and media, “men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.”

To examine this quote, select two works of art and/or advertising—each artwork should depicting subjects of a differing sex or gender presentation from the other. A good place to start your search would be major museums like the AGO, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, The Louvre, The Art Institute of Chicago, or the Musée d’Orsay. You could also use Google Arts and Culture or art market websites like Artsy or Artnet. If you want to use a different source, feel free to check in with your instructor.

You will be analyzing your image through the theories of John Berger.

In your ~500-word discussion post, indicate your chosen work by title, author and provide a URL. Then, answer the following questions:

The Art. (4 points)
How does the artist or creator depict each sex or gender? You will be applying this consideration to the next questions.
Who do you think has the power in each image: the subject, or the viewer?
Does the subject appear empowered, or spied on?
What social, historical or cultural ideologies are evident in this work?

The Artist. (2 points)
What was the author’s gender and/or sex? Does that information change your reading of the image? Does it contribute to the image’s meaning? Why or why not?
Do you think the artist’s intentionality matters to your critique of the image?

You, the Viewer. (2 points)
Do your pre-judgements about gender affect your own perceptions of this image, or of visual culture more broadly?
Berger is writing at a time when most societies considered gender to be a binary (male or female, based on sex) rather than a spectrum. Do you think that our contemporary notions of gender and sexuality impact how you interpret your images?

Choose a photo taken by a well-known photographer in the 20th century (1900-1999): Identify your chosen photograph by title, photographer, year & include a link to an appropriate image source. Briefly explain why you chose this image.

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Visual Culture Case Study

Case Study: 20%

For this assignment, you will be choosing a 20th-century photograph to use as a case study. You will be identifying the studium and punctum and analyzing your photograph by applying photographic seeing.

Write a paper of approx. 1,000 words in which you complete the following:

Choose a photo taken by a well-known photographer in the 20th century (1900-1999):

Identify your chosen photograph by title, photographer, year & include a link to an appropriate image source* (see end of assignment for sourcing instructions).
Briefly explain why you chose this image.

Then, analyze your photo using Roland Barthes’s theories:

Describe the studium of the photograph?
Identify the punctum of the photograph?
Be sure to make specific reference to Barthes.

Then, analyze your photo using Susan Sontag’s theories:

Use photographic seeing to look beyond the initial image; to examine it through the lens of historical context, relevant historical or social events, related photography movements, and and other significant factors relating to your specific example. What you write about in this section will depend on the particular image that you choose.
Apply Sontag’s arguments about photography and reality from her essay In Plato’s Cave to your photo.

You do not need to use an essay format for this case study if you do not wish to. You may choose instead to break your analysis up into sections. Either approach is appropriate.

How lifelike is it? How does it compare to ideals of female beauty prevalent today? What is the same? What has changed? Make specific comparisons between the Greek statue and a contemporary idealization of female beauty to make your points.

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ARH 141 Essay Topics Fall 2022

First Choose one of the three topics below:

  1. Egypt

Begin your essay by describing the Egyptian sarcophagus and contemporary coffin you chose. Be sure to include the materials used to create the object and the style and iconography of the imagery on the sarcophagus.

Next, assess the cultural context of the object. Because of the ancient Egyptian belief that the ka, or life spirit, of the pharaohs could live on after death, their remains were housed in elaborate coffins and tombs. We also bury our dead in coffins and at times large tomb structures.

  1. How are Greece

Begin your essay by describing the Greek statue of Aphrodite and the contemporary female image you chose. Be sure to include the materials used to create the statue(s)/image(s) and the style of and iconography included in the female depictions. Next, assess the cultural context of the object. Statues like those of Aphrodite represents the Late Classical and Hellenistic ideal of female beauty. How lifelike is it? How does it compare to ideals of female beauty prevalent today? What is the same? What has changed? Make specific comparisons between the Greek statue and a contemporary idealization of female beauty to make your points.

  1. Rome

Begin your essay by comparing a fresco portrait of a married couple from Pompeii with posed portraits of couples that you might see today. Focus the media used in each example, the styles of the figure portrayals, the relationship between the marriage partners, and on their relationship with you as a viewer. What is the same today? What has changed? Make specific comparisons between the Pompeiian and contemporary works to make your points.

Choose two artworks, by different artists, that share the same general medium and subject. Compare and contrast them. Outline and describe their similarities and differences in subject and content, due to the artists’ formal decision-making.

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Formal Comparison/Contrast: Subject, Form, Content

Choose two artworks, by different artists, that share the same general medium and subject (i.e. two landscape paintings, two figurative sculptures, etc.). This means non-representational art may not be used, as they don’t possess identifiable subject matter.
Compare and contrast them. Outline and describe their similarities and differences in subject and content, due to the artists’ formal decision-making.

Remember, form includes visual elements, design principles, materials and techniques (an example of this is the comparison of Rodin’s and Brancusi’s “The Kiss” sculptures in the textbook).

Choose a photo taken by a well-known photographer in the 20th century (1900-1999): Identify your chosen photograph by title, photographer, year & include a link to an appropriate image source. Briefly explain why you chose this image.

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Visual Culture Case Study

Case Study: 20%

For this assignment, you will be choosing a 20th-century photograph to use as a case study. You will be identifying the studium and punctum and analyzing your photograph by applying photographic seeing.

Write a paper of approx. 1,000 words in which you complete the following:

Choose a photo taken by a well-known photographer in the 20th century (1900-1999):

Identify your chosen photograph by title, photographer, year & include a link to an appropriate image source* (see end of assignment for sourcing instructions).
Briefly explain why you chose this image.

Then, analyze your photo using Roland Barthes’s theories:

Describe the studium of the photograph?
Identify the punctum of the photograph?
Be sure to make specific reference to Barthes.

Then, analyze your photo using Susan Sontag’s theories:

Use photographic seeing to look beyond the initial image; to examine it through the lens of historical context, relevant historical or social events, related photography movements, and and other significant factors relating to your specific example. What you write about in this section will depend on the particular image that you choose.
Apply Sontag’s arguments about photography and reality from her essay In Plato’s Cave to your photo.

You do not need to use an essay format for this case study if you do not wish to. You may choose instead to break your analysis up into sections. Either approach is appropriate.

Does the lack of religious icons take away from the spiritual experience? Why or why not? Why do some religions forbid depictions of their deities while others do not?

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Discussion

As stated in Chapter 7, many religions do not have images of God or any holy person. Instead, some religions, such as Islam, places of worship are adorned with decorative, abstract patterns rather than realistic representations of their deity/deities. Does the lack of religious icons take away from the spiritual experience? Why or why not? Why do some religions forbid depictions of their deities while others do not?

How do the paintings of Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock reflect the influence of Surrealism?

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Abstract Expressionism developed

Abstract Expressionism developed in the United States after World War II. Part of the inspiration for action painting came from Surrealist painters who came to New York to escape the war. How do the paintings of Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock reflect the influence of Surrealism?

How did each artist use this influence in his work? What was similar about their interest in “primitivism” and what was different?

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Primitive art

Primitive art was a source of inspiration for artists as they moved from purely representational art toward abstraction. Two artists who were heavily influenced by “primitive” art were Pablo Picasso and Emil Nolde. How did each artist use this influence in his work? What was similar about their interest in “primitivism” and what was different?

What elements of this design have become familiar in our modern architecture? Would you want to live in this house? Why or why not?

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The Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine

Le Corbusier designed the Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine (Fig. 32-40) to be a prototype for a modern home. What elements of this design have become familiar in our modern architecture? Would you want to live in this house? Why or why not?