Proposal for Work: Graduate Students

Due: Wednesday 9/30

Write a 2-3 page (double space) proposal for how the remainder of this course will be used to inform and contribute to your primary body of graduate work. 

This course can be used to experiment with new techniques, concepts, methods, but also to consider critical theory and/or the work of other artists. How will this activity feed your primary work in concrete ways? Strive to create work in this course that can be part of your primary body of graduate work. 

Please address in your proposal:

1. How your activity in this course is relevant to your primary graduate work (i.e. endeavor to make this course relevant; you are in the driver's seat)
2. The various experiments you will "workshop" in this course
3. Any specific areas of research (critical theory, reading) and how they are relevant
4. Clear outcomes you will submit for evaluation

• Outcomes should consist of 3-5 succinct items, which might include the following:

1. Multiple finished works of art, that use new process/technique experiments, informed by researching other artist(s), such as...
2. Multiple finished works of art, that use new approaches (conceptual, aesthetic and/or technical) informed by reading critical theory, such as...
3. A written paper that tackles elements of photo critical theory, contemporary practices (and artists) that pertains directly to your primary graduate work
4. Other...

Please provide citations and footnotes in your paper when paraphrasing or quoting someone else's ideas. 

Major Project Proposal: 418s

Due: Wednesday 9/30

Write a 2-3 page (double space) proposal for a project that will engage you for the remainder of the semester. This should be a substantial and ambitious project that results in photographic artwork suitable for public exhibition. The project should be fully realized on conceptual, aesthetic and technical levels. 

Please address in your proposal:

1. Present your main concept/idea to be explored/engaged by the work
2. Discuss the work of 2 well-known photographic artists who have also engaged this idea (choose critically)
3. Discuss how your work may differ from the aforementioned photographers with respect to the concept
4. What do you think your pictures might look like, visually / aesthetically?
5. Discuss the work of 2 well-known photographic artists who might inspire some adventurous visual pathways to explore.
6. Related to concepts and aesthetics, what will you need to do to pull this all off, technically? 
7. Discuss the work of 1-2 other photographic artists who had to overcome similar technical hurdles. Did they need special equipment? Lighting? The ability to print on unusual surfaces? What will you need to do? 
8. How many final images do you anticipate will comprise this project? 
9. Any thoughts about scale (size of prints) and format (individual photos, diptychs, grids, objects, etc.)?
10. What degree of compromise will be acceptable to you, considering the timespan of this project?

Please provide citations and footnotes in your paper when paraphrasing or quoting someone else's ideas. 

Artists for the Blog Roster

For Wednesday 9/23

Research and contribute one artist that presents compelling subject matter/concepts in innovate ways, aesthetically, technically (or both). Someone you admire. 

Email the name of the artist and pertinent website(s) to Chris

Assignment: Call and Response. Art 418, 518, 618

Due: Monday, 9/28 by class time. The week after that, your images will be printed own the large-format printer, so plan accordingly (shoot RAW, use good camera skills).

Sherrie Levine's challenging project, pushing the bounds of appropriation in a post-modern world.

How I engaged with Meghan Riepenhoff's work, tried to "reverse engineer"/ figure out what she was doing with "wet process cyanotype," and then apply some of these discoveries to my own interests/work.

This is a very useful exercise to engage with another artist's thought process and working methods. It is active research, through making and reflecting. From the experience, you can distill useful approaches into your own work, moving it forward in new ways. 

Remember the famous quote attributed to Picasso: "Good artists borrow, great artists steal."

Please create two works/pieces, as follows:

1. Choose an image by the artist you have researched. Recreate the piece as closely as possible. This pertains to subject, location, lighting, arrangement, etc.... everything.  Stage/re-enact /build, as required, to pull it off. As you face challenges, use your resources (which may include your professor) to problem solve. 

Choose your piece carefully... it should balance challenge with attainability. Generate a plan of attack before you embark. The finished piece should be a very close interpretation of the original.

2. What did you discover from the above experience? Identify one aspect that was most intriguing or useful to you. That aspect might relate to subject matter, composition, use of color, lighting, whatever... Create a piece of your own, drawn from your own interests (and perhaps, related to what you might pursue for a long-term project) that utilizes this one "borrowed/stolen" aspect. In other words, identify the main take-away you got from the artist you were studying and apply it to your own work. 

Due: Monday, 9/28 by class time. The week after that, your images will be printed own the large-format printer, so plan accordingly (shoot RAW, use good camera skills).

It's all about that blue: cyanotypes

Sir John Herschel

Cyanotype is a historic process that dates back to 1842, discovered/invented by Sir John Herschel. 

A UV light sensitive solution, consisting of two chemicals, ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide is applied to paper by hand or by machine.

When the coated paper is exposed to bright UV light (sun), it undergoes a complex chemical reaction, eventually turning a vibrant, rich Prussian Blue color. The paper is processed, or cleared, in water. The color then intensifies with time/oxidation. The blue color can be altered, or reduced, with toning, sometimes with tea, coffee and other substances. 

Cyanotypes can be used with negatives to create positive prints, objects to create photograms, or some combination of the two. There are also various experimental processes that can be tried, with sometimes quite exciting results. The process is non-toxic and safe for kids... just don't eat the paper or drink the processing water. Also called "Sun Prints."

Fun fact: this process used to be used commercially by architects and designers to create "blue prints." 

Many artists, old and new, have used the process. It can be a love/hate relationship with the distinctive Prussian Blue. Some people just don't like it! One solution is to tone the print to another color. 

Lately, there has been resurgence of interest in the process. 

Here are a few examples from older to newer:

Anna Atkins (1840s)

John Dugdale (1999)

https://vagazine.com/masters-of-photography/john-dugdale-master-photographer/

Annie Lopez

https://annielopezartist.com

Christian Marclay

https://fraenkelgallery.com/portfolios/cyanotypes

Meghann Riepenhoff

http://meghannriepenhoff.com/project/littoral-drift/

Christopher Jordan

Christopher Jordan

http://www.jordanphoto.com/?page_id=3402

Assignment, 318/418/518/618

For Wednesday, 9/9, by class time 

• Gather/assemble some digital imagery to convert into negatives
• Build digital negative files and bring them to class
• Bring thin objects to photogram (lace, leaves, etc.)