UNDERSTANDING ART & EVERYDAY IMAGES
CHRISTOPHER L.C.E. WITCOMBE - ARTH 117 - FALL 2004
THE COURSE SCHEDULE READING
REQUIREMENTS
RESOURCES
| RESTRICTED ACCESS: Links on this page are PASSWORD-PROTECTED |
SCHEDULE
- Wednesday, September 1
- Wednesday, September 8
- Wednesday, September 15
- Wednesday, September 22
- Wednesday, September 29
- Wednesday, October 6
- Wednesday, October 13
- Wednesday, October 20
- Wednesday, October 27
- Wednesday, November 3
- Wednesday, November 17
- Wednesday, December 1
Introduction
An introduction to the course
READ Introduction
Vision and Perception
READ The Visual Sense
LOOK AT Images
The reading examines sight and the physiology of the eye and explains the difference between seeing and looking. The mechanisms of looking are investigated and illustrated. Attention is also given to how images are physically viewed. The current understanding of how the brain processes visual information is investigated together with how recognition and identification occur. The reading concludes with a short section devoted to the examination of faces.
The Basic Elements of Vision: Color, Line, Shape, Texture, and Space
READ Color
Following a brief section on the evolution of color vision, the reading explains first the differences between additive color and subtractive color, primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, complementary, analogous, and triadic colors, and volume and surface colors. Hue, lightness (or value), and saturation (or intensity), and how colors appear to recede or advance are also explained. Examples of the use of color by artists from ancient times to the present (including commentary on different views and theories about color) are discussed. The reading concludes with an investigation of the various types, sources, and uses of pigments and hues in history.
READ Line
Following a brief discussion of different types of line and the presence in the brain of neurons sensitive to the orientation of straight lines and edges, the reading first provides a short overview of the perception of line in history and the use of the term linear. It then turns to an examination of the different ways artists use line (including implied lines), drawing techniques, and qualities of draughtsmanship.
READ Shape
The reading examines different types of shapes: geometric and organic, open and closed, convex and concave, and shape as mass, volume, or form. Three-dimensional shapes in sculpture and architecture are investigated, including how internal and external spaces are shaped through enclosure or enframement. The last part of the reading is devoted to an examination of enframing shapes (especially rectangles) in paintings and the relationship of the shape of a frame to what it contains.
READ Texture
The reading examines actual texture (the tactile quality of surfaces) with examples in painting, sculpture, architecture, and landscape gardening. Mention is made also of the fact that in some cultures texture is a category aesthetic appreciation.
READ Space
The reading examines actual three-dimensional space in sculpture and architecture. Attention is given to how different examples of sculpture are conceived as three-dimensional spatial objects and how each type is visually apprehended or viewed by the spectator. The spatial qualities of buildings are investigated in terms of how they occupy space, how they contain or enclose space, how the spectator moves through architectural space, exterior and interior space, and the manipulation of space in landscape gardening. The reading concludes with a brief investigation of stereoscopic vision.
Impressions and Associations
READ Impressions & Associations
The reading investigates how we respond to images and discusses the differences between impressions and associations. Impressions are our initial visual response to the basic visual elements of brightness and color, lines, edges and shapes, texture, and space. Some of the expressive qualities of each of the basic visual elements are listed. Associations are the connections in thought and ideas we make between what we know and what we see in an image. Signs, symbols, and allegory are discussed as types of associations.
Composition and Meaning
READ Composition
LOOK AT Images (Composition)
An artist manipulates the basic visual elements and devices to create a desired relationship between impressions and associations that is appropriate to the subject, theme, or idea represented. The process of composition is discussed in this reading together with how the elements of an image may be arranged (composed) on a surface (in the case of two-dimensional images), or in three-dimensional space (in the case of sculpture and architecture). Artistic judgement and taste are examined, and how composition alone (apart from subject matter) conveys meaning. Various other compositional considerations are also discussed, such as appropriateness, scale, lighting, context, demands and expectations, and constraints of the chosen medium.
READ Meaning
LOOK AT Images 1, Images 2
To understand something is to grasp what it means. The reading outlines different levels and types of meaning. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors that govern how you respond to an image are discussed first. Meaning is then divided into essential meaning (covering intended meaning, conventional meaning, and contextual meaning) and extraneous meaning (covering historical meaning, situational meaning, and personal meaning). The reading concludes with a discussion of subject matter and the sources of meaning in non-representational art.
Two-Dimensional Images
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Three-Dimensional Images
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Dance
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Theatre
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Music
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Writing
GUEST PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Depth & Distance, Shading, and Illusion
READ Depth & Distance
LOOK AT Images
An investigation of how artists have used the devices of diminution, overlapping, atmospheric perspective, and linear perspective to produce a sense of three-dimensional depth or distance. Foreshortening and repoussoir are also examined.
READ Shading
LOOK AT Images
A discussion of how artists use shading or modeling to make figures and objects appear three-dimensional. Following a brief examination of chiaroscuro, sfumato, and tenebrism, various modeling techniques are investigated, including modeling in color (also called hue-based modeling or up-modeling), modeling in chiaroscuro (or down-modeling), and a combination of the two (up-down modeling). Cangianti modeling is also noted.
READ Illusion
LOOK AT Images
An examination of additional devices that artists may use to heighten the illusion of reality. The first and most common is the illusion of texture. The second, frequently termed illusionism, involves images that seem to share or extend the three-dimensional space in which the spectator stands. A third type of illusion, called trompe l'oeil, employs both textural illusion and illusionism. Another type of illusionistic image can be created through anamorphism.
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© Chris Witcombe