For the fall semester of 2014 I have successfully enrolled in the University of Kansas. On top of the modules I originally applied for, I have also been enrolled into the Arts Engagement Certification programme. This programme is meant to be completed over two semesters however as I am only around for one I will be putting in the effort to complete it in the time I am here.
How to complete the Arts Engagement Certification:
- Coursework: take 3-4 classes in different disciplines.
- Event Attendance: attend 6-8 qualifying arts events and write reflections over each event.
- Reflection: write a capstone reflection that ties everything together.
The classes I will be taking are:
- HA 261 – History of Modern Art – A general survey of painting, sculpture, architecture, and graphic art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Emphasis is placed on major movements and their artists, including Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Art, Pop Art, and the developments of the contemporary period.
- FMS 312 – History of the International Sound Film to 1950 – A survey of the artistic, economic, and sociological development of the international sound film 1929 to 1950. Emphasis on European National Cinemas.
- SCUL 349 – Metal and Glass Casting – A course in foundry techniques as related to sculpture. Both traditional and experimental procedures for casting bronze, aluminum, and iron sculpture are explored.
- TD 313 – Fiber Forms – Studio exploration of fibers as an art form. Techniques include feltmaking, papermaking, basketry, and dyeing.
The qualifying arts events I will be attending are:
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History of Art: Inferno – Thurs Sept 18th. 05:30 pm – 07:00 pm. Spencer Museum of Art.
A Reading from Dantes Divine ComedyJourney through Dantes allegory of the afterlife against the backdrop of related works of art in the Museums collection. Stanley Lombardo will share selected cantos from his English translation, and KU faculty (John Gronbeck-Tedesco, Patrizio Ceccagnoli, and Marina de Fazio) and students will recite the original Italian text. Sponsored by Department of French and Italian, Department of Classics, Spencer Museum of Art
- Film: Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation – Fri September 26. 7:00pm – 9:30pm. Kansas Union.
Panel discussion to follow.
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History of Art: From Berlin to Baghdad – When Art Historians Go To War – Thurs Oct 2nd. 05:30 pm – 06:30 pm. Spencer Museum of Art, Auditorium.
KU alumna Corine Wegener’s work in cultural heritage protection has taken her into harrowing armed conflicts leading to heroic recovery efforts. A Major in the U.S. Army Reserve, Wegener was called to active duty from her work as an assistant curator at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts following the 2003 looting of the Iraq National Museum. Informed by the World War II Monuments Men and her graduate studies at KU, Wegener served as an Arts, Monuments, and Archives Officer in Baghdad, operating as the military liaison to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and assisting museum staff in recovery and reconstruction efforts. Sponsored by Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Spencer Museum of Art.
- Visual Art: Visiting Artist Lecture Series – E. S. Schubert – Wed Oct 22nd. 02:30 pm – 04:00 pm. Department of Visual Art, Room 421.
Sculptor and KU alum giving an artist presentation on his life and work since graduating from KU.
- Dance: The Halloween Monster Ball – Fri Oct 31st. 04:00 pm – 06:00 pm. Lawrence Arts Center.
Frighteningly funky family fun featuring the Lawrence ballet theatre and original music by Ric Averill. Wear costumes!
- Visual Art: The Plains Indian Exhibition – Thurs Nov 6th. 10:00am – 05:pm. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City.
This exhibition is currently on view through January 11, 2015 This groundbreaking exhibition unites the Plains Indian masterworks found in European and North American collections, from pre-contact to contemporary, ranging from a 2,000-year-old Human Effigy stone pipe to 18th-century painted robes to a 2011 beaded adaptation of designer shoes. The distinct Plains aesthetic”singular, ephemeral and materially rich”will be revealed through an array of forms and media: painting and drawing; sculptural works in stone, wood, antler and shell; porcupine quill and glass bead embroidery; feather work; painted robes depicting figures and geometric shapes; richly ornamented clothing; composite works; and ceremonial objects.
Reflections
History of Art & Visual Art: Inferno
The Two Dantes At KU was a reading of The Divine Comedy in both the native tongue by faculty of KU and the English translation by Stanley Lombardo. It took place in the Spencer Museum from 5:30pm – 7:00pm. Before the reading began we were given a short introduction to Dante Alghieri and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. We were also spoken to about the women of The Divine Comedy, which is what the readings were based around. There were four sections of reading: 1. Pia de’ Tolomei (Purgatory, V, 130 – 136); 2. Francesca da Polenta (Inferno, V, 82 – 107; 108 – 142); 3. Beatrice Portinari (Purgatory, XXX, 19 – 81; 82 – 145; XXXI, 1 – 63); 4. The Virgin Mary (Paradise, XXXIII, 1 – 39). Between readings Kelly Bohling played short extracts on the viola. My favourite aspect was definitely the native reading of Francesca da Polenta’s section.
This event focused primarily on the women within The Divine Comedy and their roles with the main protagonist. Dante encounters Pia de’ Tolomei and Francesca da Polenta who have both been bound by marriage and found the struggle of adultery. These characters represent the different inflictions that women can easily become associated with of the era. The love of Dante, Beatrice Portinari, appears as a heavenly guide and leads him to The holy Trinity and The Virgin Mary. Both of Dante’s journeys strongly depict the concept of religion, in particular Christianity. This event could be interpreted as a reflection of the women within Dante’s era or how religion caused the struggles which these women endured.
While I enjoyed the event I found it particularly difficult to engage with it as I was unable to hear and see the majority of what was being said and happening. It is true that my attention wandered during the English translation of the text however I found myself to be fully connected with the original native writing. I believe this is due to my fascination with Italy and Italian culture as I spent much of the last year travelling around Italy. The large projection of Rossetti’s La Pia de’ Tolomei grabbed my attention many times during the English translation and I found myself considering the fashion of the figure in the foreground, then my attention wandered towards the architecture and nature in the background trying to assess as to whether or not I had seen something similar in my travels around Italy. If I brought a friend to a similar event I would want them to understand the context of the characters and the author so that they were fully able to connect with the text. As this is my first event I cannot say that it relates to another event.
Film: Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation
This was a meet and greet panel with the creators of “Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation”. We were given the opportunity to watch the fan-made film and then get the chance to understand the people behind it all. It took place in the Kansas Union on Friday September 29th from 7:30pm – 9:00pm. My favourite aspect of this event was, by far, getting to see the human responses from the creators, instead of reading secondary resources online.
The panel and film inspired myself and the audience into believing that no matter what level of profession we are; we all have the ability and the chance to produce something that could be received at great levels if we only try and take the risk – whether it be persuading your parents that you’re doing something entirely different with your time or something of a larger scale. They taught us to have fun with our work and to enjoy every moment of the process from brainstorming to evaluation. This film could be interpreted as an understanding of passion or, if you really had to go down this path, it could be seen as total copyright infringement. However I highly doubt the latter.
Having taken part in a film youth group when I was younger it was brilliant to see how something fan-made can go far in the film industry. I was fully engaged through the entire film and connected with the humorous aspects of it, appreciating and fully understanding the effort put into creating the film. The people within the panel were friendly and open, and still after all these years amazed and grateful that the public remains interested in their film. If I were to take a friend to a similar event I would want them to have watched the original film before seeing the adaption and meeting the creators so that they could fully enjoy the event.
History of Art: From Berlin to Baghdad – When Art Historians Go To War
The lecture covered Corine Wegener’s inspiration from World War II for becoming involved in civil property as well as her participation within this through the U.S. Army in Iraq. It took place in the Auditorium of the Spencer Museum on Thursday October 2nd, from 5:30pm – 6:30pm. There were many shocking moments of destruction and of care in this lecture, but the one that affected me the most was the image of the Academia in Firenze, Italy, as I have seen it first hand.
The theme of protection was very obvious throughout the lecture as that is what Wegener’s work is all about; the protection and restoration of civil property such as Visual Art pieces and ancient jewellery. All of the destruction shown was due to war. Wegener explained to us about the Nazi’s Degenerate Art Exhibition in which pieces that did not abide by the ideals of the regime were collected and sold, likely to be destroyed, to raise funds for the party. Acts similar to this have continued into the war the U.S. Army faces today. Through all this destruction we were shown the care of the people who worked within the galleries bricking up sculptures and building piles of sandbags to cover paintings; exhibitors who would want to continue to be seen functioning as a normal gallery and so would fall into the routine of putting up an exhibition in the morning and taking it down at night. The lecture finished off with Wegener showing us how she now trains people within the U.S. Army in Civil Property and ended with a propaganda of sorts. While she did say it might not be for everyone, she did encourage the audience to direct themselves towards the U.S. Army’s Civil Property division as there are no where near as many people invested in this as there once was in World War II. Although this lecture is purely autobiographical of Wegener, she is also attempting to recruit people for her division.
History is something I extremely enjoy learning about and to connect that with my passion for Visual Art it made the event very enjoyable. I felt a range of emotions throughout the lecture from happiness, to shock horror, to being astounded and I believe this is exactly the type of response that Wegener was trying to get out of the audience. As I stated at the beginning of the review it was the photographs of the Academia in Italy in black and white, empty as a mausoleum, with the grand sculptures having brick coffins built around them. It was truly haunting to see that when the only other experience I have had of this place is warmth of the sun, the rooms filled with excited visitors, and the sculptors on grand full display. If I were to take a friend to a similar event I would want them to have an understanding of the war going on around us today and those in the past. The first History of Art event I attended (Inferno) was focused on religion and the destruction we saw within the lecture was due to religion in war, primarily the destruction of Judaism.
Visual Art: Visiting Artist Lecture Series – E. S. Schubert
This lecture took place in the Arts and Design building in room 421, on Wednesday October 22nd, from 2:30pm to 4pm. The visiting artist gave an interactive lecture about his life and work process since graduating from the University of Kansas. The most influencing aspect of the lecture was the incorporation of snippets of speeches, which the artist values, by Jim Carrey.
The overall message of the event was “thoughts become things”. The artist placed great importance on the power of intention. Schubert also focused on the differences between fear disguised as practicality and the process of being specific. The lecture taught us how to work as a business while producing art, and addressed the social problems an artist can face when having to create contacts, and how to manage them effectively. The lecture could be interpreted as how to pursue something you dream of in life and how to manage that dream effectively.
While I do not see myself producing work as Schubert has, it was useful to hear from someone who had graduated from the University about their life experiences. He was a very engaging speaker who used both primary and secondary resources in their lecture to push their points forward. I believe Schubert wanted the audience to be relaxed and encouraged us often to ask any questions whenever we had them, to promote abundance. If I were taking a friend to a similar event I would want them to be able to respect the amount of effort that goes into creating large metal sculptures. In relation to the From Berlin to Baghdad lecture, this was much more relaxed. It focused more on business within America than in foreign countries.
Dance: The Halloween Monster Ball
The performance took place at the Lawrence Arts Center, on Friday October 31st, from 4pm to 4.30pm. Originally this event was scheduled to be two hours long, however the actual event lasted only half an hour. The performance included spooky halloween tunes by Ric Averill, and dancing by the Lawrence Ballet Theater in themed costumes. Children were invited to attend in Halloween themed costumes and at the end of the production got up on stage and spoke to the audience about their outfits before having a quick dance with the performers. The pianist Ric Averill and his musical talent was by far my favourite aspect of the performance.
This was a fun and festive Halloween themed production for young children to spend time enjoying, and for young performers to gain experience performing in front of a larger audience. It was extremely traditional in terms of costumes and choice of music. The types of dances included ballet and tap, however as I know little on the subject I cannot make an informed decision on their techniques. I felt unable to link this innocent production to any larger concepts or social problems as it was for pure enjoyment. Although I will mention that the one slightly larger view which stood out to me was that every single person in the theater was white. I put this down to the local area being predominately white.
I did not particularly enjoy this event, and I am still struggling to understand Dance as an art. As it was an amateur production for young children I did not feel overwhelmed by the talent displayed, in fact I felt that the most talented person there was the person playing the piano accompaniment. My attention wandered from the dancing to the pianist for the majority of the production. I took a friend along to this event and did warn them that it was for children but despite that fact it should be fun, we both came to the same conclusion about the pianist. I cannot say this event relates particularly to any of the others I have experienced so far.
Visual Art: The Plains Indian Exhibition
The collection of Native America artifacts was presented at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It is open from 10am to 5pm throughout the week and the exhibition runs through until January 2015. The collection features donations from European and North American collectors, both prior to contact with Native Americans and after. The ending of the exhibition features contemporary artwork which, upon review, influenced my reactions the most.
The exhibition was a collective of the history of the Great Plains Native Americans. This story was told entirely through the arts within their culture from decorative clothing to war instruments. Towards the end of the exhibition contemporary Plains Native Americans’ artwork was included using more modern day processes and materials; such as a tasselled shirt created from photographs and their negatives telling the story of family history just as the decorative clothing of their ancestors repeated stories of their family history. In relation to social problems, the very final piece was a series of large colour photographs depicting a present day Native American in a mock take on how their culture is presumed to be entirely harmonious with nature by outsiders; in short the romanticisation of the culture. The collection could be considered as an anthropological exhibit as well as a history of their cultural arts.
As this was not my first exposure to the history of Native American culture it allowed me to delve deeper into the finer points of how the art was created as opposed to focusing on the meaning behind each piece. Due to the exhibition being so large with so many fascinating objects I found that my attention wandered quickly form piece to piece, wanting to absorb it all as quickly as I could. The contemporary piece prompted an emotional response as they link historical meanings with modern techniques, which help me to understand the meanings. I believe that the emotions felt were intended by the artists, in particular the final photographic set as the artist stated that the series was a lampoon. For a friend to fully enjoy a similar event they would need a historical proclivity. In relation to previous events, this is extremely unique. In a way, I find that the protection and restoration of Wegener’s work (From Berlin to Baghdad) link in to the preservation of Native American history.
Capstone Reflection
Before
Before I had begun this certification program, I understood “good” art to stem from research into subjects, pieces by other artists on those subjects, movements that had become intertwined with those subjects, and understanding of materials and techniques used to produce the art. In short, “good” art meant knowledge.
Up until this point I like to believe that I had participated in many mediums of art. I have studied Theatre and Music in my teenage years, as well as Visual Art. I also participated in Film and Theatre youth clubs. As I progressed into university I covered sculpture with found materials, life-drawing, painting, textiles, print-making, animation (both traditional and contemporary), photography through the use of 36mm film camera and a dark room, and digital media. As my practice evolved I became interested the medium of performance, and was able to combine my passion of baking with the new found interest in performance art. During these few years at university I found that I had begun to live through art. I would create pieces during the day, visit galleries with my friends in the evenings, then research the artists and pieces seen at night ready to create something the next day. Even if my day was not extreme as this my peers and I would find something within our daily lives that would be linked to someone’s art and discussions would evolve from this. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed everything that I have studied, however I would not go back to studying painting as I feel far too restricted with a paintbrush.
From the experiences I have listed I would say that the majority of my experience in the arts comes from Visual Art. This is purely because up until this point I have only studied Visual Art at a serious level. Because of my lack of knowledge in Dance I have had trouble understanding how it can be considered art.
Coming from England I decided to take the risk of pursuing this certification in a single semester instead of two because I believed it would help me become involved in the many arts going on around the University of Kansas. I was interested in how it required you to cover many of the different areas of art, which forced me to pick subject areas that I knew little about. I wanted to be able to explore the areas of arts that I had not yet had the chance to such as History of Art.
During
Now
Future
My Fine Art Practice (W101) 