Art history & visual studies

AHVS121 WINTER 2020 Abbreviated Summary of Material for Week 12

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This week’s material will be a lot shorter than last week because it’s self-evident (you don’t need me to explain “the environment” to you) and one full class is always dedicated

to a film which I hope you will all still get to see (I’ve provided some notes at the end of this PDF - please read

them even if you’re not doing Assignment 9). And while I think this is one of the more important weeks of the term (I have a full course around this topic!), there aren’t specific examples I feel that you NEED to know except for

the film.

We’ve seen an image like this in class before, but instead of asking you what it is. I’d like you to consider:

how does it make you feel?

Different cultures conceptualize the world around them in a variety of different ways, but one of the marks of the European

Renaissance was the preoccupation with the world humans inhabit

as opposed to a concern with the space their souls will ultimately get to, but is not the “here and now” that they live in.

late 13thC, has some landscape but the world is

mostly gold ‘space’

mid 16thC, religious subject subsumed within the land

There are artists who treat the land as a subject of (scientific) study

& others for which it operates as a cultural or metaphorical marker

Do you think this is a work of environmental art?

Why or why not?

Samuel Palmer The Magic Apple Tree

(because we can all use some magic about now)

It isn’t a work belonging to the social movement of

the 1960’s, but it is the work of a man who found great spiritual

solace in the countryside and who was deeply

concerned with its preservation (19thC).

There are many different kinds of environmental art, just know that some scholars apply the label to one particular 20thC

movement.

The late 19thC Impressionist movement was one which took innovations in materials (paint in resealable, packable tubes)

into the landscape to capture the world around them at specific moments.

Series like Monet’s Haystacks

were designed to explore the visual

effect of environmental conditions at

different times of days/seasons/

weather.

the physical devastation suffered by the land during the two world wars

of the 20thC was subject of

concern for many (visual artists

included)

Which do you find a stronger image?

What are you responding to?

Here are two images, a painting and a photo,

documenting essentially the same

WWI battlefield

And the creation of the atomic and nuclear bombs, brought destructive power wrought by humans on a

scale unprecedented in human history.

With the space program of the 1950s and 60s bringing back photographs like this one - people became more

aware of the fragility of life on this planet.

Which led to artists of the 1960s exploring a variety of ways in which art could be done:

using earth/natural materials Smithson, Framed Earthwork

within the landscape Mendieta, Silueta Series

reshaping the landscape Smithson, Spiral Getty

It is this specific movement that is usually what is referred to as “Land Art” or “Environmental Art”.

Art that uses a natural setting.

But not all of it is environmentalist by 21st century standards.

Some of it could be highly interventionist:

For example, Heizer, Double Negative

which required bulldozing 240,000 tons of landscape to make the cut in the

ground

human for scale

Other examples rest on the earth more lightly, and can be astonishingly beautiful.

Holt, Sun Tunnels

One artist who picked up on this practice of working within the landscape was Goldsworthy, who works on a variety of scales, sometimes making permanent works and sometimes

more temporary pieces (e.g. Cracked Pebbles).

It is the more ephemeral works, that have influenced the next generation of artists in the 21st C (for

example Silveyn Meyer)

Although all kinds of artists turn to messages about what is most concerning for the land we inhabit, because the power

of the image makes the message clear (as this one by Banksy)

Some of the most loved art works in the world are ones that explore our relationship with the land; personal, emotional

responses that resonate across cultures and generations.

End of the “lecture” part. Please read through the next two pages even if you

are not doing Assignment 9 (on page 3)

A COUPLE OF NOTES ABOUT ASSIGNMENTS - MARCH 23, 2020 With the choice of assignments over the term, the idea is that everyone can pick when works best for them, with a variety of topics and styles. Leaving them to the end always runs the risk that something will come up to overturn one’s individual plans (things go wrong personally, you hate photography, the world is in turmoil, etc). So for a student adjusting to those circumstances sometimes that means adapting an assignment in a way that will work for you that might not fulfill all the requirements of the assignment – but will still get you most of the way there. You do what you can. Some examples: Assignment #7: You are asked to take a photo, because the act of doing so has a way of exposing the issues of time and place to you, making the analytical part of the paper easier. But the first option is entirely possible to do using images from the internet. No breaking isolation necessary. You still need to make/employ a photographic combination, however. Assignment #3: Asked for a balance between a general consideration of architectural issues and comments on specific buildings in downtown Victoria. You can write an assignment that more heavily weights the architectural issues and/or uses on-line images (e.g. Google Street View) if you can’t currently get downtown. You do what you can and it will probably get you most of the way there if you do a thorough job. Assignment #6 was like #3: so again, you could write something more heavily weighted to the idea of disciplinary silos and visual culture instead of reacting to the specific art. A lot will depend on how previously aware you’ve been to art on campus in general. Some of you will be able to ‘recreate’ the experiences more vividly than others. But again, you do what you can and it will probably get you most of the way there. I hope this example also explains why I can’t just rewrite all the previous assignments for current circumstances – it would then negate all of the previously submitted work. Assignments are designed to be broad so that you can focus on the parts that resonate most strongly with you while still meeting the criteria. One of the things we are dealing with here is not just getting you through the course credit, but making sure that you all have a course (and ultimately a degree) that is the equivalent to each other across the class and the equivalent of this course of previous years. No-one wants to have their work questioned because the course was deemed inconsistent by the administrative bodies who decide if you actually get your grades. That’s why any major class adjustments to such wide-spread circumstances have to happen at the university/admin level and not the course/instructor level. So do the best you can and also, don’t worry too much about your individual marks. Honestly, any situation that requires them (like a grad school application) will also give you an opportunity to contextualize them. That’s where you say something like “No, my grade in AHVS121 doesn’t reflect my best work; the entire world was in turmoil in the Spring of 2020 and this was what I managed to do within those circumstances” (this is what a cover letter is for!) And tbh, if you can get a passing grade in anything this term, you are doing great. And if you would like, I will back you up as a reference, as I can do this in a very granular way i.e. speaking to how work improved over the course and/or how specific assignments had an impact because of the situation. This is true at any time. Though of course you can do this yourself as well (e.g.: “No, my grade in AHVS121 doesn’t reflect my best work; the entire world was in turmoil in the Spring of 2020 and this was what I managed to do within those circumstances. I had high marks on the first four, but due to the circumstances I just couldn’t fulfil all the requirements for my last two assignments, which is why I ended up with a D/C/B-/A” (whatever it is that you feel needs explaining or that isn’t representative of you; it differs for everyone). This is stuff I tell students every year as their individual circumstances require; this year I thought it might be useful more broadly. Hope that helps explain what your options are as we wrap up the term. Please also read the notes on Assignment 9 on the next page even if you are not doing this assignment, as the film is usually a core part of the class material for this week.

Notes on Assignment 9 This assignment is strongly based on the film Rivers and Tides: working with time, a 2001 documentary on the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy. Usually I show a long section of this in class (was originally scheduled for March 19th this year). Obviously that can’t happen. And there aren’t good ways for me to post it (file size, copyright, etc). So I thought for a long time about what to do with this assignment. Should I rewrite it to be something else? But: this is not only one of my favourite things to do in this course, it is also consistently (like 90%) the favourite thing of most students, so I’ve hesitated to NOT try to point you towards it. And while I could just write a different assignment and simply suggest you check out this documentary, I honestly can’t think of an easily accessible example that wouldn’t require extensive reading or a different film, that does as much as this does to link together so many different course concepts in an accessible way. If you decide this is something you can’t do, all the previous assignments are still available to you in some capacity as per the comments on the previous page (with the exception of assignment #5 as the AGGV is now closed). The film is available on iTunes for $9.99 (it’s in HD which is better than the in-class version AND you’ll own it – it’s worth multiple viewings). And while I hesitated to give something that has a cost, this is less than the original assignment 9 which also had a required cost (the museum visit) as stated in the course outline. In previous years also, students who missed class the day of the showing were responsible for tracking it down themselves. So I know it’s within possibility. There are also a few segments posted to YouTube – but be advised that not only are they minimal, but the quality varies which will affect your experience. I haven’t been able to find another streaming service that has it, free or otherwise. In any case I would still like all of you to watch the film if you can as part of the course materials for this week. I usually schedule the film for somewhere around this part of the term - as respite in the stress of winding up the academic year. And in such a tumultuous time as we’re experiencing in 2020, I think the film has even more value. I hope all of you will be able to track it down somewhere and spend an hour immersed in the art. It restores my soul and I hope you will all find it revitalizing too. In previous years I try to get us as far as the pool of dandelions by the waterfall (one of my favourite artworks ever). Just so you know if your time is limited, that is enough material to get you through the assignment comfortably. If you find the film interesting, you might consider my May course AHVS 310D Art and the Environment. We’ll see more Goldsworthy there. I’m currently adapting the course to work on-line, if we’re still in suspended animation in May. Anyways, hope you enjoy the film!

AHVS121 Winter 2020 Assignment 9 This assignment is based on the documentary film Rivers and Tides: working with time (2001). The section at Goldsworthy’s home shows him doing independent work, exploring the possibilities of materials at hand. But the Nova Scotia cone, and much of the other artwork shown in the film, was done on commission. In those cases, Goldsworthy is working in the centuries-old tradition of fulfilling a contract, to produce a specific kind of work using specific materials. One of the distinctions is often between ephemeral and permanent materials; most of the time natural materials are used in his processes.

The goals of the assignment are to:� 1) to consider art making as a physical practice that requires practice and problem solving� 2) to contemplate the balance of factors in negotiating personal creativity and the expectations of patrons & society in general� 3) to reflect on the importance of materials as tangible substances that have impact on art making practices and that also carry psychological meaning. 4) to evaluate the importance of art-making as reflective of, and an influence on, cultural beliefs and attitudes towards the earth in general and their specific relationships with the environment. Did the film disclose information about any of these aspects in Andy Goldsworthy’s art or process?� What are some of the other concerns and aspects that link Goldsworthy’s work to that of the other artists/works/concerns we’ve been looking at over the term? Analyze some of the interesting aspects of the film; did it help you understand/appreciate Goldsworthy’s art?� Discuss the implications of creating art to specification (including use of specific materials). Are restrictions always detrimental to art making? How do the different forms of land art resonate with you? Why? We looked at the work Carbon Sink in an earlier class. Do you see any connections between that work and Goldsworthy’s? What are they? Imagine you are commissioned to prepare a work of land art. What would you create? Why? Develop your answers. Think about past course discussions about materials, process, spirituality, and cultures. Write a brief analysis, minimum 750 words, due to me by email [email protected] Before Monday April 6, 2020 at 3:30PM. Please see course outline for important details on how to format & submit assignments.