01. Course Description

Visual Foundations Seminar
Course: FOU 101 (3 credits)
Meets: T/Th 12:30- 1:45 Star Store room 144
Required for all CVPA studio art first-year students.
Instructor: Ellen Mueller
Contact: emueller1@umassd.edu
Office Hours: 1:45-3:45pm Tue/Thu at Star Store 345, or by appointment

This course is a forum to present contemporary themes in the arts. It will focus on conceptual and formal themes in order to explore influences that define contemporary art. Students will develop a keener comprehension of issues in contemporary art, explore majors within CVPA, and be introduced to the intellectual community of CVPA and the University. Students will practice writing, critical thinking, collaborative learning, research, and social/civic responsibilities. This course is designed for first semester art majors. Ultimately, this class is designed to help you make an informed decision about your course of study, help you begin to formulate how to think about art, and help you begin to think about how you fit within the larger context of art.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

  • Identify and discuss issues in contemporary art as it relates to their studio practice.
  • Investigate majors with in CVPA and possible career options
  • Recognize and utilize the intellectual community of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and resources of the University at large.

Students will:

  • Read current articles on art theory, studio practitioners, and other topics in the arts
  • practice writing by reviewing art events in the community, analyze/respond to readings, and conducting research on movements/practitioners with in the field
  • employ critical thinking through analysis of contemporary art topics, readings, and reflection
  • engage in collaborative learning
  • participate in social and civic responsibilities/activities.

 

perseverance

NOTES ON PERSEVERANCE:

We will encounter frustrations as we deal with unexpected road-blocks, and create workarounds that fit within our timeline. These are important skills to practice, as you will do the same when you leave school and enter the world of professional artistic practice. Our weekly discipline will include a variety of activities which may include, but are not limited to, discussion, active installation creation/viewing, sketchbook entries, and scheduled readings/writings. It is important to know you do not have to be a trained artist to participate in this course. However you must be willing to explore how this medium allows you to develop and refine your artistic practice, regardless of your preferred artistic medium. Please note that an instructor, I cannot force the effort required to practice art. It must come from a desire and aptitude for struggle. Dedication and willingness to create will ensure your success in this class.

NOTES ON COURSE CONTENT:

We’re about to experience some content that can be, and has in the past been, considered provocative. People in this course have been offended by what we’re about to see, so even if you think this is harmless or funny, keep in mind that this can also offend. Have respect for how other people in the room feel. That said: provocative art might not be directly offensive, but can remind you of difficult experiences, and it can work on you emotionally before your thinking mind has a chance to catch up. This means it can surprise you, and that’s ok, and this room is a place to talk about offendedness and problematic art, and you can also communicate with me via email or office visit. I’ll also try to contextualize this art by putting it in its historical moment where it will hopefully make better sense.

NOTES ON RESPECT:

The work created in the course may be of a personal and/or controversial nature. Please respect your colleagues and give their work your best attention. If you disagree with a work or its content, remember that when engaging with others’ work you must be a responsible and professional critic, and as such must work to make your criticism constructive and descriptive. Speak in this class with the expectation of being heard, and listen carefully because it is an opportunity to be changed.

cap  NOTES ON GOING TO COLLEGE:

We go to college to for a degree and a job, but we also go to college to become better members of society. We are here to learn…

  • Love of truth: Love of truth is an intellectual virtue because its absence has serious moral consequences. Relativism chips away at our fundamental respect for one another as human beings. Once truth becomes suspect, debates become little more than efforts at manipulation (think of political spin).
  • Honesty: Honesty enables students to face the limits of what they themselves know; it encourages them to own up to their mistakes.
  • Fair-mindedness: Students need to be fair-minded in evaluating the arguments of others (being aware of their own biases).
  • Humility: Humility allows students to face up to their own limitations and mistakes and to seek help from others.
  • Perseverance: Students need perseverance, since little that is worth knowing or doing comes easily. We will practice this skill rigorously.
  • Courage: Students need intellectual courage to stand up for what they believe is true and take risks.
  • Good listening: Students can’t learn from others, or from their professors, without listening. It takes courage to be a good listener, because good listeners know that their own views of the world, along with their plans for how to live in it, may be at stake whenever they have a serious conversation.
  • Perspective-taking and empathy: It takes a great deal of intellectual sophistication to get perspective-taking right. You must be able to put yourself in the shoes of someone else and identify with their unique situation. These skills pay enormous dividends in professional life.
  • Wisdom: Any of the intellectual virtues I’ve mentioned can be carried to an extreme. Wisdom is what enables us to find the balance between timidity and recklessness, carelessness and obsessiveness, flightiness and stubbornness, speaking up and listening up, trust and skepticism, empathy and detachment. Wisdom is also what enables us to make difficult decisions when intellectual virtues conflict. Being empathetic, fair, and open-minded often rubs up against fidelity to the truth. Practical wisdom is the master virtue.[credit to Barry Schwartz]