Please remember that this paper is optional and will only serve as extra credit for this class if you follow the format outlined below.
What is Focus week?
Over the next week, the school will be in the midst of Focus week, a time when seniors get to present their thesis to the student body. During a student’s thesis year they will have to present two separate times during Focus week.
- The Proposal: This is a time when the students present what they believe is the best candidate for their thesis project. This presentation is a proposal for what they would like to do in the second term of their thesis year. The proposal usually lasts 30 to 45 minutes.
- The Oral: This is the public presentation part of a student’s thesis project. In this section, the students present the actual thesis and will often be accompanied by the visual element of the thesis as well these presentations are often an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes after which time the thesis panel will convene and decide if the student has passed or failed.
Why do I need to go to these things?
As a student in my class, you are required to go to at least 5 hours of proposals and orals.
This benefits you in a number of ways:
- The thesis process is demystified.
- You get to see your fellow classmates present their art.
- You get to participate in the art and help the thesis candidate by asking questions.
- You can use these times to learn from the student’s presentations to make yours better.
What do I need to write the paper about?
Using the four steps of critique as your guide, I want you to write a one-page critique of an oral or proposal that you attended.
These papers should be:
- Typewritten.
- Printed out.
- Include your name and the name of this class.
- Follow the for outline below. Do not write this like a normal review paper.
The four steps of critique
In this form of critique, adapted from Rose Bondʼs Time Arts classes, there are four steps to each crit they are:
- Description
- Analyses of Form
- Interpretation
- Evaluation
Description
This is a factual, visual description of the work describing what you see in a straightforward way.
Example: This is a picture of Jessica Alba turned into a Fish-Woman, it is called “Fishica Alba” and is by Jon Doe.
Analysis of Form
In this section, you will describe how the piece works formally. Save all interpretation; i.e.: Fishicaʼs green, scaly skin makes me feel ill, and evaluation; i.e.: Jessica Alba as a fish has been done so many times this is so old, until the next steps.
Example: Fishicaʼs eyes are unbalanced in size it seems as though the artist used the Liquify tool to achieve this.
- Emphasis – Where does your eye go first?
- Balance – Does the piece feel balanced?
- Contrasts or similarities in movement, size, color, shape
Interpretation
Use information from description and analysis to identify the content of the work (what the piece expresses about the human condition), what the piece is saying, how is the piece trying to affect you emotionally?
This has two steps:
- Hypothesis or informed guess on meaning.
- Defense; Defend with evidence from description & analysis.
Defend with evidence from other sources such as art history, theory of artistic or aesthetic practice, past experiences the work reminds you of, or presumed purpose such as: to praise, criticize, record an event, make a political or socially conscious statement etc.
Hypothesis Example: I believe that by turning Jessica Alba into a fish the artist is making a political statement that fish are a precious resource that must be taken care of.
Defense Example: The fact that the artist used a celebrity that is often called one of the hottest women in show-biz by many tv shows and magazines heightens the idea of a precious resource because we find celebrities precious.
Evaluation
How successful was the piece in the following:
Craftsmanship, Design Quality, Expressiveness, Personal Response, Originality, Comparison, Concept
When is the paper due?
The paper, printed out with your name and class, is due at the beginning of the first class after focus week.
Your Name Here
VEDT 11-3 or 3-6
Current Date Here
Focus Week Paper
This is a sample paper to give you an idea of how I want the paper to look. In this sample, I will be reviewing a fictional video art thesis presentation by fictional student Harry Tuttle.
Description
I will be writing about Harry Tuttle’s art video entitled – *I am a Robot*. In the video Harry who is the primary actor, videographer, writer and director force a number of old computer parts onto his skin for 5 minutes as more and more fake blood fills the scene. Near the end of the piece, Harry’s character takes a selfie and then falls dead on the floor. Another actor who is nude and wears a deer mask takes off all the wires and picks him up. In the last scene, the naked actor in the deer mask takes Harry into the forest.
In Harry’s talk, he says that he was dealing with too much technology in his life and decided to take a break from his phone and most websites for a week. During this time Harry began to work on his idea for *I am a Robot* by writing the video script out in the journal that he was keeping. To add to this he wrote his final script for both him and the person playing the deer in longhand. Harry said he tried to use as little technology as possible in the making of this work.
Analysis of Form
In the video, the main character wears a white t-shirt which he takes off in the first minute and white shorts. This costume blends in with the main setting which is made up of a mainly white room. This white on white color scheme creates a contrast and emphasis on the multi-colored wires and other computer parts which Harry places into himself. This also adds to heighten the color red of the fake blood that begins to smear all over his body and the white room. In most of the beginning shots, Harry is framed in the center to create a sense of balance as he forces more and more computer parts into his body the framing becomes less and less balanced and the sounds become more and more jarring. In the end, his body seems to visibly clash with the nature that surrounds it.
Interpretation
Hypothesis
The main theme of Harry’s work was that modern society needs to connect to nature more or they will die.
Defense
In his talk, Harry kept repeating how he sees people every day shut each other out by looking at their phones. He said that he believes that human connection is important for people to live and related an experience he had on a hike where cell reception wasn’t available and how everyone greeted everyone on the trail.
The video also shows Harry’s character dying at the end of the piece. Also, his character seems to be in pain when inserting the various wires into his body.
Evaluation
Overall I thought that while Harry had a few nice shots in his piece and although he seems to be very passionate about how bad technology is the piece won’t really achieve his goal of making people turn off their phones. Harry said that this was the second video he’d ever done and that his idea of using as little technology as possible made it more difficult for him to tell the story he wanted. As he doesn’t really describe in the video that he used as little tech as possible in making this video I don’t think it really helped him make a more effective piece.
I also think the idea of shoving pieces of technology into your skin is a little heavy handed and has been done before. The ending also seemed a little bit trite Harry’s lack of expertise with the camera made the video less beautiful than I think he envisioned.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while I think Harry is very passionate about societies’ obsession with technology I don’t think the video he created will make much difference. I also wish that he would have chosen a medium that he had more experience with.