Onoyom Ukpong's Art in Life Course Syllabus

Art in Life Course Syllabus, spring 2010

Art 1000, CRN 15581 F, 3 Credits Hours, prerequisite not required

Instructor: Dr. Onoyom Ukpong

Session: Mondays & Wednesdays, 11.00 - 12.15pm, Room 2071

Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 1.30 - 3.30 p.m., Room 2001

Georgia Southern University College of liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Ukpong. Art in Life, Spring 2010 Page 2 of 9

Introduction

From the beginning art was in human life, and vice versa. As early as 10,000 B.C., humans had begun to

use their hands to create such “art” that was to make them economically self sufficient—to satisfy the

nostalgia for improved subsistence—having rejected nomadic way of life. They manufactured tools,

built the first manmade structure, and began an agrarian society almost simultaneously with the first

dynasty. Through these activities were humans able to move on to a new phase of development we have

come to know as historic societies, which have been with us ever since. Thus, it could be argued—as I

will in the course of my instruction—that art is in life and probably will continue to be. Unless we study

each work of art capriciously, its nature and composite parts, the belief systems in societies from which

it has emerged, the underlying polities in some of the ancient traditions, the concepts employed in

visualizing many of the postmodern genres, the political systems in which traditions of art have risen

and flourished, we might not fully understand some of the artistic necessities without which life would

worth nothing more than a series of dissatisfactory events and experiences.

As we shall examine the various ways in which art interplays with aspects of our individual lives—and

even the circumstances in which skeptics may see art not to have any connection with life whatsoever—

venturing a walk through what may well be an undulating terrain of inquiry, we should be prepared to

use our eyes analytically to study: looking closely at a variety of digital images of work to be shown in

class and those in the required text for the course. The principal aim is to discover the artistic in these

images and be aware of the art “properties” within, as well as the associated meanings and uses. But for

art or a work of art to be and be used, it had to be created at some point in time, by someone, in some

style and medium, for some reasons or for no reason. However, whatever the reason for creating art

might or might not be, in recognizing the presence of art in life we will take for granted that art is art and

nothing but art, and that the work of art, a good one for that matter, is a product of human thought and

virtuosity, even more so as we see these thought and skills visualized in some aspects of art of our days

when, for example, found objects have been galvanized and parlayed into masterpieces of considerable

visual delight.

Course Description

Course introduces students to visual arts and their places in human life: major forms of visual culture

and their stylistic appearances in our surroundings, the belief systems, concepts and events provoking art

creation and use around the world; begins with analysis of the visual elements, moves on to examine the

application of these elements to divergent forms of art: architecture, sculpture, painting, ceramics,

drawing, printmaking, photography, design, and other such forms of art (which command great deal if

interest at various levels); explores the fields in which these forms are located in circles of life; and

reviews the different levels at which they may be seen to have served humanity in and through

successive historical periods.

Course fulfills one three-hour humanities course credit for Core Area F.



Aims and Objectives, to:

1. Study and be familiar with the visual elements;

2. Introduce basic principles of looking, seeing, interpreting, knowing, and saying;

3. Match works of art with their creators, period styles, historical periods, and familiarize with

probable art concepts, meanings, and artistic intentions;

4. Guide students through the process of differentiating between representational and conceptual

art works;

5. Explain how art concepts and modes of art creation have influenced the evolution of period

styles across cultures, and

6. Analyze work properties by commenting on the effective use of color within the artistic

framework (i.e., the intensity of hues, the status of values, Chroma, and gestural forms and their

relationship with other forms within the larger massive form.

Procedure

We begin by studying pictorial and literary materials in the required textbook for the course; proceed

from chapter to chapter (not necessarily sequentially but sporadically as this course syllabus shall

direct); look at each production (individually and/or collectively); see and be aware of artistic elements

within; discuss these elements from our individual perspectives of art interpretation; evaluate effective

uses of these elements in conveying artistic intention to the extent of arousing viewers attention; gain

knowledge of the elements, and be able to say and write short essays about composite elements in the

works.

We then assess the effective use of color on art-creating surfaces (canvas, board, stone, glass fiber,

textiles, and stained glass), on flat and undulating surfaces; the changeability of hues and their values

when perceived under artificial and/or natural lighting; attempt providing answers to the questions of

work theme, concepts, composition, and style, mass, medium, texture, space, motion; as well as the

validation of artistic dexterity.

Warning: Some of the human images to be shown in class may be shown in nude forms or reflect considerable

violence, but the very fact that these images are crucial subjects/objects of public theater (the class) and

significant to learning, the instructor is immune to showing and discussing them.



Expected Learning Outcome

Upon completing the course students will be able to:

1. See the various forms of art in life; locate visual elements and their uses in works of art,

2. Demonstrate an understanding of the institutional references to art creation; art concepts and

context, and of art taste and value across cultures;

3. Discuss the evolution of proliferation of the various natures and styles of art through the ages,

and

4. Think critically through art and art publications; evaluate art forms from their individual

perspectives of interpretation, guided by their earned basic knowledge of cultural theory.

Texts

Required. Frank, Patrick. Artforms [9th

ed]. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2008.

Recommended. Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art [8th

ed]. London: Longman,

2005.

Reference. Murray, Peter and Linda, A Dictionary of art and Artists [7th

ed]. London: Penguin

Books, 1997.

Purchasing and using the required textbook in class are mandatory.

Additional Resources/Companion Companion Website

A CD-ROM (CD) is enclosed in the required textbook for the course for your after-class lecture review

sessions and reference. (The CD can be found in an envelope enclosed in the last but two page of the

textbook.) Also, you are encouraged to visit frequently the course website for announcements, lecture-

supporting materials, instructions, and assignments. As the need arises, these resources will either be

distributed in class or posted on the course website/My GeorgiaView for you to access and use. When

information is so posted, it is your responsibility to find, retrieve, read and use same as will be guided.

For additional resource please visit the Companion Website: www.prenhall.com/preble.

Testing

A total of three (3) tests will be given in the semester each comprising of multiple-choice section, true or

false, fill-in the blank and the short essay part. Students will need a 2052 Scranton (the orange/brown

one) and a #2 pencil for each test. (Please do not use a pen!) No make-up test will be given in lieu of

missed test. However, certain circumstances beyond the student’s control may compel the instructor to

give a makeup test, but the acceptance of such circumstances will be the sole discretion of



the instructor, including granting a qualified student the opportunity to improve his or her cumulative

test scores. If a student requests for grade improvement and is qualified to do so, the instructor will

substitute two lowest earned scores from the three tests with two highest earned scores from any

impromptu quizzes that may be given which the student had taken, or; by any other form of testing the

instructor may deem fit in the circumstance.

Class Attendance Policy

Attendance policy of the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art at Georgia Southern University (GSU)

holds that while illness, deaths in the family, accidents, court appearances, doctor appointments, sporting

events and similar callings, and that while unforeseen circumstances are valid life experiences, student

ABSENCE from class is unacceptable; therefore, with the exception of pre-planned religious

observations and documented student ill health condition, or testamentary evidence of illness, no

ABSENCE will be considered an excused absence from any and all courses offered in the department. In

the event of ABSENCE from class resulting from ill health, students are required to provide doctor’s

excuse which shall be made on appropriate documentation and submitted to the course instructor on the

student return to class. In the case of anticipated ABSENCE from class due to death in family, accident,

or court appearance requirement, the student should request for absence prior to the day for which

absence will have been requested. (See page 38 of the University Catalog and in page 50, section 309 of

Faculty Handbook.)

Proof o attendance is recorded beginning from the first class meeting and continues up till the final day

of class, even if not formally, regardless of course drop/add privileges. A student who will have

registered late for the class and missed classes is responsible for obtaining from his or her fellow(s) all

course-related materials (including all announcements and assignments pertaining thereto) given in the

class the student was absent from.

No makeup testing will be given in lieu of missed test and/or failure on the part of the scheduled student

examinee to arrive punctually for testing. A student who will have arrived ten-minute late for testing

may be allowed to take the test, but if allowed will not be given extra time to complete the test. Any

student wo arrives sixteen-minute after testing will have begun, or later, will not be allowed to take the

test.

THE RATIONALE OF STRICT ADHERENCE TO ATTENDANCE POLICY: Studio Art, Art History, Art Education, and Understanding the Arts courses are practice- or skill-based

courses; as such, class attendance is crucial to the learning process. Instructional procedures such as

demonstrations, group critiques and oral presentations hardly can be repeated or rescheduled and are

structured in and for dialogical sessions to maximize learning, thus, class attendance is essential and

required.

Art courses meet twice weekly for approximately fifteen weeks, cumulating into 30 class periods. And

so missing 3 classes (or 10% of a semester’s class periods) is unacceptable but may be tolerable.

Correspondingly, missing more than 3 classes –for whatever reason—augurs a fail grade for the

missing party. On the forgoing account:



4 absences = final course grade drop to one full letter grade;

2 recorded absences = final course grade drop to two full letter grades;

3 recorded absences = final course grade drop to three full letter grades.

KEEP IN MIND that:

Students who will be absent from 4 or more classes will each earn a fail (‘F’) grade in the course. (In

such instance, the ‘F’ grade will have represented failure to attend 25% of the total number of classes

scheduled for the semester.) However, the defaulting students will have the right to continue attending

classes after missing the 4 classes but will not, as stated above, receive a grade commensurate with the

students overall performance in the course.

Attendance Monitoring

Because of the large size of the class, roll call may not be taken on per-class-session basis. Nonetheless,

certain untraditional machinery of monitoring attendance has been put in place to augment for the

traditional method of roll taking, which includes frequent impromptu testing and random identification

of attendees. And so, please endeavor to attend all scheduled classes and to read all prior-to-lecture

assigned readings, announcements, instructions, and assignments. It is your responsibility to do so.

Assignments

Reading of assigned reading prior to delivery of lecture is mandatory. This means that students should

read the assigned chapter preparatory for lecture delivery in each and all class sessions before attending

class; and is designed for ease of student comprehension of lectures. I should underscore that the

pressure a student may experience due to other class workloads/responsibilities will not constitute

sufficient grounds upon which he or she will be excused for not reading the assigned chapter reading

preparatory to attending classes.

Grading

Information about Scoring /Testing Dates

Test 1 100 points ________ 08th February Test 2 100 points ________ 10h March Test 3 100 points ________ 05th May

=Total cumulative points: 600 divided by 3 = 100 points in final grade.

A=100-90 B=89-80 C=79-70 D=69-60 F=59-0

Disabled Students

Students seeking accommodation for their disability must follow the University policy by providing the

course instructor with documentation from the student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) stating such

disability. The SDRC telephone number: 871-1566.



Academic Integrity

In the event that a student is caught in an act of examination dishonesty during testing and is found to be

guilty of such an act, the student will be assigned a failed letter grade "F" in the course. The same

penalty will apply to any such student who may be proven to have plagiarized. For more information on

GSU recommended penalty for plagiarism, please refer to your student handbook, page 19.

Conduct

Students are expected to maintain polite interpersonal communication culture with their peers and the

instructor. Cellular phone use, text messaging IPods and use of other electronic devices interfere with

class proceedings, assault tranquility, and thus are prohibited during class sessions. These devices must

be turned off and stored properly away from reach. Late arrivals and early departures will not be

condoned, as these activities disrupt smooth delivery of instructions and may be recorded as absences.

Visits to the bathroom and concession during class sessions stand must be conducted quietly. These

fundamentals should be observed strictly to ensure a conference environment conducive for

maximization of learning. Even if overemphasized, plagiarism is prohibited. (Please refer to the student

handbook, page 19, for stipulations on this and the penalty for violating this code of conduct.)

Civility Statement

Students are expected to be polite at all levels of interaction with peers and the instructor: when raising

questions about instructions and answering questions during class sessions. Confrontational approach to

all aspects of class-related matters (comments and inquiries including accepting and rejecting grounds of

dispute) is unacceptable. This means that conversations and interactions between students should show

optimal interpersonal respect. Failure on the part of students to maintain an atmosphere that reflects the

foregoing fundamentals shall constitute sufficient ground upon which the students in violation may be

rusticated from class, consistent with procedures set forth in the Student Conduct Code to address such

and similar circumstances.



Schedule of Classes This class schedule is tentative and is subject to change by the instructor at anytime during the semester. Assignments may be eliminated from or added to it, as the need will have arisen. Students must keep up with all changes to the schedule, which might include verbal announcements. From time to time after-class lecture review materials that may be posted on My GeorgiaView for you, including information about assigned pre-lecture chapter reading(s).

Week 1

11 January 13 January

Introduction Chapter 1, Art Is… (The Nature of Art) Part 1, Art Is… (Awareness, Creativity, and Communication January 11 – 14 is the period of adding and dropping classes

Week 2


MLK Holiday, No Class

Part 2, The Language of Visual Experience (Visual Elements, Principles of Design, Evaluating Art)

Week 3


Part 2, … continued

Part 3, The Media of Art (Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking) (Camera Arts, Graphic Design, Sculpture, Architecture, and more)

Week 4

01 February 03 February

The Media of Art … continued

Review of Chapters 1 through 3. Assignment 1 Given

Week 5


Test # 1 Given (on chapters 1 through 3) Part 4, Art and Cultural Heritage (from the earliest art to the Bronze Age, The Classical and Medieval West)

Week 6


Part 4, … continued (Renaissance and Baroque Europe) Part 4 … continued, (Renaissance and Baroque Europe)

Week 7


Part 4 contd., Renaissance and Baroque Part 4 contd., Traditional Arts of Asia Assignment # 1 Due

Week 8

01 March 03 March

Part 4 … continued, The Islamic World Part 4 … continued, The Islamic World March 8th is the last day to withdraw without academic penalty

Week 9

08 March 10 March

Part 4 … continued, African Art; Oceania Art; Art of the Americas Test # 2

Week 10 15 –20 March

Spring Break

Week 11 22 March 24 March

Part 5, The Modern World (Late 18th and 19th Centuries) Part 5, The Modern World (Early 20th Century Art)

Week 12 29 March 31 March

Part 5 contd., Postwar Modern Movements (Abstract Impressionism (Photography, Architecture, and Pop Art) Review of Chapters 4 and 5

Week 13 05 April 07 April

Part 5 contd., Modern Art Beyond the West (Japan, China, and India) (Islamic and Africa)

Week 14

12 April 14 April

Part 6, The Postmodern World Part 6, The Postmodern World … continued

Week 15 19 April 21 April

Part 6 contd., The Postmodern World Revision of parts 5 and 6 begins

Week 16

26 April 28 April

Revision week, NO CLASS

Week 17

03 May 05 May

Test # 3 (final testing) 10:00 am – 12:00 pm



Notes

Documents

Onoyom Ukpong's Art in Life Course Syllabus