Printmaking Courses

Aesthetics, Style + Content

Course No. VAT 300  Credits: 3.0

Aesthetics Style and Content focuses primarily, on the acquisition of creative and technical skills in the context of the development of original ideas and personal style. Studio work will consist of the practical exploration of the relationship between formal, technical, aesthetic, and stylistic issues relative to the personal, and thematic subjects of the students own choosing. Relative to this, in the seminar portion of the course the students are given critical, theoretical, philosophical background to issues surrounding the subjects of style, aesthetics and content. In the studio the students are encouraged to think of their work as an integrative whole consisting of these various components. In this context they are required to engage in independent critical research on topics relevant to their work. Their research takes the form of both archival and studio work and is presented in both visual and written form. This course is required for all senior students in Visual Arts. Offered fall.

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Critical Issues in Art in Theory + Practice

Course No. VAT 316  Credits: 3.0

This class will focus on how the relationship between the visual and the verbal, images, and ideas play out in artist’s work. Emphasis will be placed on artist statements, writings by artists, student peer reviews, and written statements. Students will be expected to hone their abilities to think critically about visual art through weekly readings and writing assignments. This course is open to majors from all disciplines and students will be encouraged to work in their area of expertise.

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Hybrid Approaches to Drawing + Painting: Digital Media

Course No. VAT 327  Credits: 3.0

Emphasis is on integrating digital processes into studio practice and production. The class deals with a spectrum of digital applications in a studio practice including straightforward digital output, using digital technology as a means of producing source material as well as actually integrating digital processes into the production of work. Through slide presentations, viewing actual work, discussions, and readings, students will be introduced to the place of the digital in contemporary studio practice. In studio production, students will use varied media and subjects, both traditional and non-traditional, to further develop their analytical and expressive means in their creative practice. Students are encouraged to draw from many disciplines incorporating them in the projects presented to the class for group critiques. Open to all students; required of Printmaking and Drawing juniors. Offered fall.

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Criticism as Studio Practice

Course No. VAT 341  Credits: 3.0

This course will be of interest to all students maintaining a studio practice and focuses on the role of critical dialogue in forming and informing studio production. Through modern and contemporary models, students will be asked to consider the relationship between what is critically said about a work of art and how that frame effects the work's standing in the world. Examples to be considered will include: Apollinaire and Picasso; Pollock and Greenberg; Andy Warhol's practice; Andre Serrano's Piss Christ; Robert Mapplethorpe's work; Chris Ofili and the Young British Artists; and the television show "Work of Art." Students will develop and participate in projects extending from these models as well as giving an intensive look at their own practices and how what they make is changed by the critical dialogue which surrounds making in an academic environment. This course is open to all students.

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Role of the Artist as Producer (EP)

Course No. VAT 400  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Amber Kempthorn | Jessica Pinsky

Contemporary artists have a multitude of ways they can engage with the larger world, beyond the realm of the gallery or museum. Students enrolled in this course will explore various models of artistic production including, but not limited to, performer, activist, curator and provocateur. The relationship between method of creation and idea, or the handmade versus the industrial, will be investigated. Additionally, assignments will challenge students to analyze the content of their artwork within local, national, and global contexts. Coursework will include studio work, readings, discussion, and critiques. Required for Visual Art juniors in all majors. Open as an elective with approval of instructor. Offered spring. Fulfills Engaged Practice requirement.

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Performance Art

Course No. VAT 480  Credits: 3.0

Performance art is and has been an open genre, a place to experiment with ideas, materials and time. For this course, the working definition of “performance art” is – a piece which uses a live body, exists in time, and is non-linear. This class is an introduction to performance art, designed for students who are shy and apprehensive about performing, and students who are extroverted and at ease in front of groups. Workshops include: developing a language of movement, gesture, and stance; developing a range of low-tech sound, lighting and video; juxtaposing activity, image, sound and text; structuring or building a piece; and documentation. We will consider singular actions, interventions, and other strategies for generating and developing ideas for performance work. Student work for this class has been diverse and has included costume-based work, work using endurance as a central tactic, collaborative work, public intervention, interactive and site-specific work. Skills in editing video and sound, installation, animation are useful, but not required.

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BFA Statement + Exhibition

Course No. VAT 493  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Amber Kempthorn | Lane Cooper

This course is meant to supplement the work done in the student’s major studio classes. It focuses on preparing the BFA candidate for their exhibition, BFA Thesis Paper, Short Artist’s Statement and BFA Thesis Examination. The BFA Review process is comprised of four components:

• Documentation
• Exhibition
• BFA Thesis Paper and Short Artist’s Statement (Abstract)
• BFA Thesis Examination (Oral Defense/Review).

As part of the course, these requirements will be reviewed in technical terms as well as in the context of professional practices in general.

The BFA thesis paper is meant to prepare the student for their BFA thesis examination and to provide the foundation for professional practices beyond graduation. It is an opportunity for an in-depth consideration of work and studio practice. Within the paper and among other questions, students are expected to address: “What is the work? What is the reasonable expectation for how it will be received by a given audience? What is the work’s historical and contemporary context? What are the sources for the work? What choices were made in realizing the work and how do they contribute to the reception of the work?” This course is open to all seniors regardless of major but is required by all Visual Arts seniors. Offered spring.

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