Contemporary Art analysis

ART 151 - Final Essay​ ​(40%) Rough Draft due for Peer Editing Workshop on Monday March 30th

Final Draft due Wednesday April 1st

Your Final Essay will provide an opportunity to synthesize the components of a theme or issue explored

in this course. Your writing prompt is as follows:

● Select ​one​ of the following topics/issues to analyze: ○ Object Oriented Ontology in Contemporary Art ○ Metamodernism / New Sincerity in Contemporary Art ○ Perception & Phenomenology in Contemporary Art ○ Contemporary Artist as Narrator ○ The Body in Contemporary Art ○ Indigeneity in Contemporary Art ○ Activism in Contemporary Art ○ The Environment in Contemporary Art

*Please select ​3 different artists shown in the course​ whose works can be used to convey and analyze the important aspects of your chosen topic/issue.

CRITERIA/EXPECTATIONS:

● 1500-2000 words ● Include your name, V number, title, and ​word count ● Should be typed, double spaced, times new roman font, size 12, and ​printed as a hard copy for

submission​ (double sided is good). ● Include a works cited page​; use MLA style guide (or other citation style of your choice if used

correctly)

● **Bring a rough draft to class on Monday March 30th for peer editing workshop**

● Please use artworks made since 1990 to form the bulk of your analysis. ○ I have shown some work pre 1990 to establish historical context, but I would like this

essay to focus on works made in the last 20-30 years.

○ You may wish to provide some historical context for your discussion as well, so mention of older works is okay, but these should not make up the majority of your discussion.

○ You may also choose to refer to artists/works not discussed in class to provide context, but again, keep the majority of your essay focused on course content.

● Please select artists who were covered in the course in some capacity ○ Although it may be useful to do so, it is not necessary that you only use the artists I

assigned to each respective topic.

■ For example: the work of Shuvinai Ashoona was shown under the “Artist as Narrator” lecture, but you might want to use her work to speak about

Indigeneity in Contemporary Art.

■ For example: the work of Jordan Wolfson was shown much earlier in the course, but you might want to use it to aid in discussing “The Body in Contemporary

Art”

○ You could also choose to use artists whose work you saw during your exhibition review or read about in any of the readings.

● Conduct research and/or integrate course materials to enrich your essay. ○ Throughout the course there have been readings, links, and videos, both required and

optional, which make for a massive resource pool from which to enrich your essay.

Additional research is welcomed and encouraged.

○ Remember that you must cite all research materials and external sources in your essay, even if they were presented in class. Review the MLA guidelines for citing from video.

○ You MUST provide in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrasing, or summarizing. Failure to do so is a violation of academic integrity (plagiarism). Please see the resources at the

top of course spaces for help with in-text citations.

● Underline your thesis statement ○ In order to create further clarity for both yourself and the instructor/TA please underline

your thesis statement. It is usually located towards the end of your introductory

paragraph, and succinctly outlines what your essay will discuss.

○ Please seek extra help if you are unsure of how to formulate an effective thesis statement.

EVALUATION: • criteria/expectations followed

• quality of thesis

• effectively examines the work of 3 contemporary artists in order to illustrate the thesis

• ability of the writing to offer a critically engaged analysis, which is supported by research, and

demonstrates the students’ knowledge of their chosen course topic/issue

• clarity and professionalism of the writing (spelling, grammar, structure, etc)