“Books and Images”
Fall 2012
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Assignment
Read the Frederick H. Evans essay (“Pros and Cons: What Constitutes an Artist?”) in Camera Work (Number VII, 1904) and present your response to the question “What is the role of the artist?” in book form.
Methodology
This assignment, perhaps more than any other I’ve incorporated into my classes, has a direct relation to my own art practice. In 2012, I was commissioned to create a performance for the centennial of the College Art Association. With 100 Possibilities I posed the question “What is the role of the artist?” in a performance at the organization’s 2012 Annual Conference, and typed one hundred answers. I used these typed responses during a class brainstorming session associated with this assignment, and they proved quite provocative for students. I believe the strength of the work is in part tied to this exercise.
Results
Students came up with innovative answers to the question. Several made works illustrating how an artist’s eye can take ordinary things and make them special by working with scale and image cropping. Others talked about the importance of perception. And one embraced the class dialogue and made a book that served as evidence of brainstorming on the topic.
Students
Shawnee BeckerAmanda CarrChristian DurangoLauren TappMelissa Wolck