Art Analysis

Step A. Find a work of art to analyze.

 It may be a painting, sculpture, print, textile, adornment, or mixed-media piece made by an Native American artist who has a tribal affiliation. The object must have a known maker.  It is not enough for it to be attributed to a tribe, you must know the name of the artist.  If you cannot find the name of the maker choose another item to analyze.  For a start, click on this "Modern Artists" link.   You can access this link by clicking on  the "Notes" section of your Grandmother Ariadne's class homepage.

Step B. Post your project proposal on the Discussion Board by the date listed in the syllabus.  To get full credit:

1) Start a new thread on the Art Analysis Forum of the Discussion Board.  On the subject line put:

 A. Your name

2) In the message window put:

 A.  the artist's name and the title of the work you will analyze.  Also post the tribal affiliation of the artist and the dimensions, medium, and date of production of the work of art;

B. the bibliography you will use for your analysis. List, in proper bibliographic format, at least three (3) scholarly sources per team member that you will be using.

[Find books on the culture and history of the tribe your artist is from; the artist and the artistic tradition the artist works in; look for sources on how to evaluate art, and how to evaluate art in an objective and non-biased way, that is, keeping cultural relativity in mind.]

DO NOT use books for children. DO NOT use books that fail to cite their sources. You may use any scholarly journals and these two magazines only - News from Native California and Native American Art, both of which are kept in the Palomar Library.

C. a photo of both the artist and the work you will analyze.

Step D.  Write your analysis.

1) Basic data:

Give the name and tribal affiliation of the artist; title of work; medium or media; dimensions; year of production. Give the provenance of the work.

2)  Biographical sketch of artist (500 words):

A. It is impossible to understand a work of art without understanding the life of the artist. Remember how important kinship and tradition are when you give the life facts of the artist you choose:

 where and when were they born;

who were their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins;

who raised them;

did they have siblings;

what has been their tribal role;

were there other artists in their family;

when and where did their interest in art first show itself;

did they study art in school; what is the name of the tradition they work in;

how old is that tradition;

where do (did) they live and make their art; why is this important?

where have they shown their art;

what individuals or institutions own their art;

who taught them to make art;

did they teach art;

what has their influence been on other artists;

if they are dead tell where and when they died and where are they buried;

name anything constructed or named in their honor, like a park or a statue or a wing in a museum;

name their artistic legacy (what they have left behind for future generations).

3) Description of the work (500 words):

A. Describe the work in detail include:

dimensions;

color;

surface texture;

level of craftsmanship;

imagery;

impactfullness;

does it make you want to get closer or move further away;

how easy is it to tell how what the piece is constructed;

how is the piece mounted or displayed;

how does the piece change when observed from different distances or under different atmospheric and lighting conditions? 

B. Describe how (the steps for making) and of what the art was made. How does this work of art relate to the historic and archaic art of our artists forbearers.  Explain the value of the art to living Native Californians and living Native California artists.

4) Analyze the work (500 words): 

A. Describe fully:

What is the emotional feeling the artist shares - do you feel happy, sad, or indifferent when viewing it? 

Do you feel one way at first and then another later? 

Is there a narrative to the work - does it tell a story? 

Why did the artist choose to make this work in this way? 

How do the materials, colors, surface texture, size, and imagery support or detract from the message? 

What does the artist hope or expect that the viewer will bring to the viewing with them (a knowledge of art or Indian culture or history, for example)?  Why you think the artist wants the viewer to bring certain things to the viewing?

Refer to the work to make your points.  For example, if you say the emotional feeling is happy, identify the specific characteristics that make you feel happy like the round form, the yellow flowers, the wide blue stripe, the smile on the girl's face, the swirling colors, or whatever you can identify. Be specific about why you draw the conclusions you do.  Demonstrate your amazing powers of observation.

5)  Bibliographic Essay: 

A. I am looking for at least three references here and hopefully from several kinds of sources including published interviews with the artist, biographical sketches of the artist, your interview with the artist, art history texts, books on analyzing art, journal articles that demonstrate how to evaluate art in a culturally relative manner, and art magazine articles. Use footnotes to document where you apply your data.  Put your sources in proper form at the end of the paper. Get your data from at least three SCHOLARLY* print sources and then from scholarly online sources and produce a bibliographic entry for each source. For style guidelines use the MLA, Chicago Manual of Style or Kate L. Turabian’s A Manuel for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, any edition. Make sure that you use scholarly sources. 

*NO Wikipedia, encyclopedias, picture/children's books, magazines (News from Native California and Native American Art excepted), or online articles lacking citations and/or a named author. 

Those who cut and paste from the web without attributing the work will receive zero (0) points for the assignment and risk suspension from school.

Important note on grammar, spelling, and syntax: When grading student papers, I will stop grading and return the paper to the student if and when I have encountered five (5) errors in grammar, spelling, and or syntax.  I encourage every student who is uncertain about the level of their writing to come to office hours or post on your thread and ask me to take a look at your work.  I will read it until I get to five (5) errors, so you can see how that will work for you.

Step E.  As you finish the parts of your project you may submit the parts to your Discussion Board thread. When your whole project is complete on your thread, let me know and I will grade it. If you want me to look at any part of it at any time, just ask and we can take a look together.