Cory Arcangel “tl;dr
Write a 2-3 page assessment of the artwork. If it’s a group exhibition featuring more than one artist, choose a few artworks to compare and contrast. If it’s a solo exhibition featuring one artist, also choose at least three artworks to support your thesis. The goal of the assignment is to use any of the “Thirteen Ways of Looking
At A Blackbird” to create your thesis and contextualize the artwork in the exhibition.
Include an introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion. Your discussion of the artwork should support your thesis statement.
To make your writing cohesive, also pay attention to the following notes:
Describe the artwork you’re writing about in detail as you analyze it. Imagine you are writing for someone who has not seen the exhibition.
Include a sentence or two of relevant background information on the artist. You can get this from the Press Release at the gallery’s front desk or perhaps a quick Google Search.
Do not rely on the Press Release to form your thesis of the exhbition. Press Releases are marketing pieces for the exhbitiion, and they usually include flowery phrases and “buzzwords” that are irrelevant to your basic understanding of Contemporary Art in this class.
To refer to an artwork and its artist, refer to the following punctuation:
Refer to artists by their last name: Warhol
Italicize the title of the artwork: Campbell Soup Cans
Include the creation date in parentheses: (1962)
In a sentence, you would report something like this: “Warhol turned the commercial process of silk-screening into fine art when he produced POP paintings such as Campbell Soup Cans (1962).”