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Unit 1 Summary

Throughout Unit 1, we focused on types of learning, which is something that comes in handy for an art history class since we are required to both examine different pieces of art and think about them critically. First we learned about critical pedagogy with Paulo Freire’s Banking Model of learning. Freire’s theory discussed the issues with teachers merely “depositing” information into their students, which is impacting students ability to learn and truly think critically. I think learning about this “model” was imperative, especially because as a student I have experienced this numerous times and it has impacted both my understanding of a subject, as well as my interest in it. Examining Freire’s criticisms of the education system as one of the first things we did in this class was necessary because it put into perspective how inefficient learning can be if students are not thinking for themselves. Thinking for yourself is crucial in art history since we are required to analyze different forms of art to get a better understanding of them.

The need to analyze pieces of art becomes much easier once the concept of formal analysis comes into practice. Formal analysis is used to comprehend art work by using what the artist provides us with. We can thoroughly look at the artists use of color or lines and use it to interpret the intentions behind those techniques. Putting this to to the test in class when we looked at paintings was very helpful. For example, when we looked at Titan’s Venus of Urbino, I found myself paying attention to and actually thinking about minuscule things that I normally would not have, such as the different hues and types of lines. Formal analysis allowed us to take simple things and think about them at our own pace rather than being told what we should think, which is something that can be difficult in other subjects.

Unit 1 Summary

 

What I learned in unit one was formal analysis and banking model. These are things that have open my mind in the way I see art or how I see certain things in the world, like the education system.  Education or teaching can be viewed as a banking model. The banking model was used by Paulo Freire to describe a system in which students are the depositories and the teachers is the depositor. An example is a teacher tells a student how to do spell, depositing their knowledge onto the student, while the student receives, memorize or deposit the information. It’s similar to the banking of the depositing your money into an atm machine. Paulo Freire argued that this model reinforces a lack of critical thinking and knowledge  of ownership in students, which can turn into oppression.

With Formal analysis I look at art differently. When I look at an art piece I look at the color, lines, scale, model, and the historical context so I can have an understanding of the visual description. Looking at the Titian, Venus of Urbino of 1538 I see a naked woman laying on the bed with a dog that is asleep. In the background that it appears to be a woman on both her knees cleaning while a lady above her, who looks to have some to be giving out demands to the lady cleaning. The color that I see is red, and white which seem to be the main colors. The stroke and lines seem to calm and smooth while the model of the naked woman also seems to be calm and relax. From my understanding this art piece is a wedding gift to a young couple or a gift for a person that was of high class. These are things that I take from this piece using formal analysis.

Unit 1 Summary

In class, one of the first things we learned was pedagogy and the banking model. Paolo Fiere was an advocate of pedagogy and created the Bank Model of Education. Pedagogy is the practice of teaching in a theoretical way instead of a practical way. It also focuses on the effects that it can have on students. Out of this, Friere created the Banking Model of Education that critiques the traditional way most teacher. Just like pedagogy, the banking model also pays attention at how the traditional way can effect students. In this case, it effects students negatively. The traditional way treats students as if they are something robotic, just filling them with information without any context. Teaching should mold kids into being critical thinkers and be divergent thinkers. We shouldn‘t just process things the way they are told to us. We should be taught to question everything. I personally was really intrigued with this topic. I loved reading and learning about. Teaching is something I take very seriously because it is something I am planning to major in. I believe that teachers have a duty and this huge responsibility in their hands because they are the ones that are teaching the future. It isn’t a job to be taken lightly and creating robots out of students is such a waste because teachers have the ability to create students who are independent and critical thinkers. Enforcing habits like questioning everything, in class discussions, and including them in lessons can shape them into these amazing adults who succeed in the adult world. It was very admirable learning about pedagogy and the Banking Model because it shows that I am not the only one who thinks that there is something seriously wrong in the education system, and the students are not the one to blame. 

Formal Analysis is a visual description of art. In class we had an in-depth class discussion about formally analyzing a piece of art. We said that analyzing art can provoke us to ask question and when we analyze artwork we usually look for the meaning of the piece, we evaluate it, and look at the central focus, Afterwards, we looked at a video of how to correctly analyze art, When looking at something like a painting, we describe it, look at the formal properties, at the subject matter and the historical context. Formal properties include, scale, medium, composition, illusion of depth, chiaroscuro, foreshortening, line color and material. Something that I really took away from learning about formal analysis was when we were shown the video of Goya 1808 being formally analyzed. I think this video was memorable because I was impressed with how much content was taken out of a single painting. I have always loved art and have always loved admiring it. However, for me admiring art would just be a five minute look at the work, reading the description and moving on to the next artwork. Watching that video made me realize that is an in-depth way of looking at art and by doing so, you can benefit so much more. The two voices that were speaking, would point out things that I would have never even noticed or even thought of when looking at the painting. It was insightful because it taught me how to appreciate art in a profound way.

Learning about the art in the ancient world was not my favorite but it was still interesting. The only reason why it wasn’t my favorite was because my love has always been in paintings, particularly in the renaissance period and seeing so much stonework was definitely new for me. Nonetheless, I still found it interesting because history has always been one of my favorite subjects and this topic definitely felt like a history lesson because it showed how advanced people were even in ancient times. Something else that I did on my own was compared and contrasted the art in the ancient world and the art that I love so much. Ancient world art was very into making the presence of the one who is charge known. We see these messages come out in artworks like “Stele of Naramsi” and “The Palette of Narmar” where the figure who is most significant is larger than the rest in the art. The differences can also be seen in what they wear on their heads and their posture. Another thing that I learned was that artwork of the ancient world was in tune with naturalism. Naturalism being the depiction of realistic things in their natural setting, which I thought to be very beautiful. The artworks that showed that were “Panel with Striding Lion,” “Dying Lioness,” “Deer Hunt, Catal Huyuk,” and “Lamassu.” “Lamassu” was definitely a terrifying figure for me, but knowing that people worshipped a figure like this was very intriguing. Something else that struck me where the buildings and homes that these people created. Artwork like “Pyramid of Khafre,” “Pyramid of khufu,” “Temple of Amun-re,” “Ziggurat of Ur,”and “Ishtar gate” just shows that these people had everything that they needed. Their knowledge exceeded what people expected it to be during the paleolithic and neolithic age. The two pieces of art that are most intriguing to me were the “Ziggurat of Ur” and the “Ishtar Gate.” “The Ziggurat of Ur” stuck out because it was a place where jobs, religious rituals, and administrative buisness were held. Seeing a building like that built and seeing the use of it, reminds me once again just how advanced they were. “Ishtar Gate, for me, was such an architectural beauty that blew me away because I never would have imagined a house to look so decorative and colorful at an ancient time like that. To also find out that a figure like the Lamasu and lions would be put outside houses like that for protection was also really cool. 

Unit One Art Summary

In unit one, we dived deep into the concept of formal analysis of pieces of work and critical pedagogies. This was a great way to start an art history course because formal analysis provides the necessary tools to correctly examine a piece of artwork. The most important concepts I have learned during this unit is the practicality of formal analysis and how helpful it us to distinguish minute details in any piece of work, regardless of the genre. This taught me that there is a unifying theme behind formal analysis and it has a wide scope of practical uses when describing historical events, color, quality, social status, politics, etc. It’s an amazing tool to debunk all types of works into their minute details.

Another important theme we discussed in unit 1 was Paulo Freire’s, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” In this work, Freire discusses the banking model and how it is a common theme throughout education. Also, he discusses the relationship between student and teacher and student and society. Through his “Banking Model Proposal,” he criticizes the education system by stating that students are essentially sponges who soak in information into their minds through rote memorization and through other impractical ways. Freire discusses how knowledge is a gift that is granted upon students and that students should be taught efficient ways on how to analyze and digest information rather than memorizing random facts. Also, Freire explains how bad it is for students to depend on their teachers to spoon-feed them valuable information. This will end up hindering their adult-skills in the future. In overall, I enjoyed reading his paper because it relates to a lot of students throughout the world. Paulo Freire is an advocate for critical thinking and the art of analysis. This best relates to the concept of formal analysis that we also discussed in unit 1. Formal analysis is used to analyze and comprehend small and big details that are found in pieces of work. There is correlation between Freire’s banking model and formal analysis in that he supports critical thinking and comprehension through analysis which is what formal analysis is meant to do.

Now that I mentioned formal analysis, I will talk about its practicality/versatility. Formal analysis is a step-by-step assessment/procedure that art historians (or almost anyone, this can be translated into the scientific method for scientists actually) use to understand the significance behind a piece of work. It is essentially putting yourself in the shoes/mind of the artist to have a better understanding of why certain things were used and not used. These can be the physical dimensions of the artwork, the type of canvas used, the quality of the paint, the colors used, the historical significance/context, the social political scheme, the types of lines, etc. There’s a plethora of analyses one can make when analyzing a piece of work. For example, when we were analyzing the formal properties of, Venus of Urbino, we discussed the overall theme of the painting, such as infidelity. We also discussed the motive of the painting. I believe we said it was a gift for a newly-wed couple. Then we discussed the basic formal properties such as colors used, size of the canvas, type of brush used, etc. In overall, I learned to efficiently analyze a piece of work. If I was not introduced to formal analysis, I would have had just said random strings of information without understanding the overall theme of the work, just like Freire was discussing.

 

Unit 1 Summary

We began divulging into this unit with our second blog post where we were each able to see and discuss how art has different meanings to each individual. At this point we learned that, essentially, there is no singular definition for the word art and what we consider art. I enjoyed that experiencing this in the beginning of the unit because I never knew if what I thought of as art could actually be considered a form of art. I grew up with an artist for a brother, so I always assumed that in reality the only works of art that existed were paintings, sculptures, etc.; and now I am aware that it can be the opposite in most cases. After learning formal analysis and how to use it, I have found myself appreciating things that I consider art even more. For example, when looking at the plating of many foods that you online and in-person, you can use the formal analysis technique in many ways. When looking at dishes I find myself paying more attention to the colors used, especially for garnishing and whether they are meant to enhance or diminish the food. Or I have found myself observing the size of food and plates, and how the two work with each other. Some use a larger plate for small portions to showcase the real-life size, while others use plates to fit the food for scale and to display actual or an enhanced size.

Furthermore, I have also began to find a new appreciate to actual paintings and sculptures when I see them. There are different paintings around my house and I have found myself observing them with more detail. For example, I’m always intrigued by the shapes and kind of lines that are used. The painting in my house of a field of flowers, I can now see that it is done with light lines and strokes with minimal shading to show that they are blowing in the wind.

In this unit we also learned about the banking model by Paulo Friere. The banking model suggests that teachers and educators are there to fill “empty vessels” i.e. students with knowledge, in which the students then just regurgitate the knowledge and there is no critical thinking component. He also mentions that this is the traditional education system which I can agree with. Even to this day I have a professor here and there that just wants us to regurgitate the information/knowledge that they shared and does not wish to go further with the material and make the students use the information. While reading many of the blog posts during this unit, I found that many of my classmates experienced the same thing, even with higher education.

Lastly, we began exploring the ancient world. This was one of my favorite topics thus far because I have always had an interest in ancient worlds. It was interesting to learn more about their art works in depth and the reason that some of them were made. For example, we learned that in Ancient Mesopotamia there are many small figurines and sculptures that are all made to look very similar; long hair, wide eyes, and hands always cupped together. These figurines were made small so that they could be kept with a person at all times and to “replace” times where they are unable to pray to the gods. The figurines were meant to show the gods that the person did care and that they were still worshipping them even when they were working or sleeping. The people were scared to be in a situation where they are not seen praying to the gods or giving thanks to the gods because they saw them as the power to make things really good or very bad.

Unit 1 Summary

In Unit 1 of my art history class I have learned many things about art, such as what it is and how it is viewed through formal analysis and critical pedagogy. Art is an expression that comes in all different shapes and sizes, such as musical arts, performing arts, and etc. Art can also be found in fields like Science, Math, and English. Art is a creative platform for people to express their feelings and emotions in a piece of work. Art is a way for me to express myself and interact with other artists about how they feel about a certain piece. Some people are inspired by certain art pieces while people like myself look at art as a way to escape boredom.
Formal Analysis is a way to specifically describe a piece of art work. It is a representation of how a piece of art is viewed. The viewer evaluates the piece of art through a series of questions such as how the piece came to be, who or what it portrays, when the piece was created, and etc. There are multiple characteristics used when the viewer uses formal analysis to describe and explain a piece of art. Characteristics such as contrast, size/scale, line, color, position, composition, material, illusionism, mimesis, modelling, chiaro/scuro, and depth. The main reason formal analysis is used when evaluating and describing a piece of art is to show the central focus, what is most important about a piece of work, and for the artist to express the painting, drawing or etc. by showing the viewer instead of telling the viewer what goes on in the piece of work. When we say formal analysis it basically means evaluating what the artist left us to view and how this work came to be, historically and physically throughout time. With formal analysis we can conclude what the artist has done based on their piece of work and how that brush stroke or whatever it may be represents what we see and not what we know.
Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator and philosopher that used the term “banking model” to describe and critique the traditional educational system. According to Freire, it is a method of educating where an educator teaches a student and the student must retain that knowledge, for example, the students are empty containers that need to be filled with the knowledge from the educators. This method allows educators to be empowered because they are the ones who can differentiate right from wrong and their teachings are passed down to the students. Meanwhile, the students are the ones that are dis-empowered, due to the lack of freedom of expression and creativity towards these teachings, and being forced to only accept the information given to them by the educator. This comes out of the students expense since they are not able to express themselves through questioning and creativity, while they are only being filled with information from the educator temporarily and will soon forget the teachings once the course is complete.
What I have learned from Unit 1 so far is the basics of art, how it was created and noticed as art. I have learned many ways to evaluate art by including various components to view it from different perspectives. When artists create a piece of artwork it is for the viewer to determine and discover what the story of that piece of art is and the meaning behind it. Through Unit 1 I have learned to look at art differently than how I used to, by using formal analysis it has taught me to look at the pieces of art with a different perspective.

Unit 1 Summary

 

Throughout unit one of art, we talked about the introduction and the basics of art. We started off with the banking model. The idea that education is an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor is very much a true concept today. The teacher lectures and makes deposits and the students’ extent of learning is receiving and memorizing in order to get a decent grade. Therefore, thinking and creativity declines, and we simply become depositories for information without analyzing and discussing the data we are given. This is “banking”  design of education, where all the students extend only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. This topic was significant to me because I aligned with what Paolo Friere discussed in “The Banking Model” because I experienced it first hand in high school and thought it was a horrible method of learning. I enjoyed the realization that this is a universal issue and not something that I alone disagree with.

Another topic I learned and internalized in class was the concept of formal analysis. I believe this is an integral part of understanding art. By using formal analysis, you are describing what is depicted in art not by simply looking at a structure or painting, but by interpreting and evaluating it. You would not understand the true meaning of what the artist is representing in his artwork if not for formal analysis. This idea is important to me because now I see art differently, and it makes me appreciate and understand it more.

In class, we used this to analyze paintings like the “Venus of Urbino” and the “Olympia.” We started off by looking at line, color, and focus. The lines on the woman’s body in “Venus of Urbino” are soft with dark outlines. The main color theme is red and brown. The background consists of vertical lines, which give the illusion of distance, making you notice the nude woman in the foreground of the painting. Before learning about analysis, I would have never looked at any of these components of the painting. I would have looked for a few seconds and moved on. However, all these components are the artist’s choice. Everything is intentional, and no detail is insignificant or not worth mentioning. In one of the readings we were given, the author used formal analysis for an ad for Dior handbags. The ad shows a well-dressed, pretty, and young woman holding the handbag. The background shows many large buildings in an upper-class neighborhood. The fact that they used a famous, gorgeous young woman in an area that looks quite rich makes the bag quite appealing. After seeing that not only art pieces can be analyzed, but everything around us can, I changed the way I look at the art in my environment.

Formal analysis and the “banking model” are two things we learned this semester that I really internalized. The “banking model” is very relevant to my life because it is something that I went through, so it’s a concept I am able to connect to. Formal analysis has given me a newfound appreciation of art and has shown me that all different components of art are connected and come together to portray the artist’s message.

What I Have Learned Thus Far…

Unit One of Art 1010 consisted of learning about the famous philosopher, Paulo Freire, and his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Specifically focusing on the concept of the baking model, which is a metaphorical take on our education system. In this unit, we also familiarized ourselves with the concept of formal analysis. We learned to look beyond the artwork and try to understand what the artist wanted to convey visually by analyzing certain characteristics of the piece and decisions made by the artist.

Both of these concepts go hand in hand when learning about art history or art in general. The banking model stresses that students should be able to have the freedom to think creatively, and in an art class, it’s essential for a student to use all of their creative energy to better understand a piece of artwork. Freire explains the issue regarding our current education system by saying that teachers act as narrators and deposit information into students, while students act as depositories, memorizing the information that is given to them. Through this teaching method there is very little room for any student to think outside of the box and if they do their thoughts and ideas are considered wrong. Freire goes on to explain that, “knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (Freire 72). In a classroom, there should be mutual respect between a teacher and the student in the sense of the knowledge they both bring about the subject. I think what is special in an art classroom specifically is that students’ have complete freedom when creating their own interpretations, and it won’t be considered “wrong.”

Following the banking model, we moved into the territory of formal analysis. During this topic, we learned to look beyond the artwork and a simple description and focus on what the artist wanted to convey visually by analyzing specific characteristics. Elements such as scale, color, line, light, composition, and texture help the viewer’s eye move through the artwork giving them an engaging visual experience. In Titian, Venus of Urbino 1538, one of the paintings we analyzed during class, we talked about how the lines move our eyes from one end of the painting to the other. We start on the nude body of the woman, which is meant to be the center of attention and make our way to the floor or the middle-ground. The diagonal lines of the floor lead us to the background or the window. Another important element in the painting is its colors and the way the artist uses them to portray what is most significant in the painting. The value of the colors in the foreground are brighter than the rest of the painting to show that the woman lying on the bed is the main subject. The texture in the painting helps give a visual sense of how an object depicted would feel in real life and in the case of the Titian, Venus of Urbino 1538 the artist uses the texture of the green velvet fabric to separate the foreground from the background. By using formal analysis, we have the opportunity to look closely at the artwork and try to understand the meaning behind it.

Unit One Summary

When coming into Art 1010 I didn’t know what to expect exactly.  It’s officially been a month now, and just recently we finished unit one of the course. Unit one basically served to me as the introduction potion of what the course entailed for the remainder of the semester.

The first item we learned about was the banking model. The banking model is a theory about hie a classroom should be conducted created by Paulo fiere. In his theory he states that in a classroom the flow of information only goes in one direction. that direction being from the teacher to the students. The teacher stand and the front of the classroom allegedly with all the wisdom and power , while all students quietly listen and accept everything as truth.  I believe that Although the banking model is generally what is standard in most forms education across the world, it doesn’t allow room for other occurrences that happen while learning takes place. Often times a teacher can be wrong when teaching a subject. Just because they are the ones operating the class, doesn’t mean they have learned everything there is to know about the subject. Secondly, I strongly believe that informations shouldn’t and doesn’t flow one way in a classroom while learning is taking place. I feel, when a teacher stops to receive feedback from the students, they can properly analyze the amount of learning that has taken place and what to teach next. However if Information is only going one way, the teacher is left blind to the actual effectiveness of his or her lesson.

The second thing we learned about in unit one was Formal Analysis. When initially hearing of the concept , I believed formal Analysis to be an impossible skill to grasp. However, After learning more about what it entails I found doing formal analysis much more achievable. You see formal analysis is about describing a piece of art work to the best of your ability. it requires your observational skills to be the best that they can possibly be. When you look at a piece of work you observe the color, lines, shadows… etc, to understand the composition of the work. The most interesting part of formal analysis though is when you uses the details drawn for the composite of the work to guess the message of the creator. Each piece of art work has a message, or even a purpose. The process of formal analysis helps us decipher what that message is and therefore gives us a greater appreciation for the work.

 

Blog Post #5: Unit 1 Summary

So we survived the first unit of Art History. It was fun, from the groups placed together on day one and writing about how this blog works to looking at pieces of art and describing them in depth and I just wanted to talk about what has impacted me the most from Art History 1010.

First off, The Banking Method of Education explained by Paulo Freire could be compared to drinking water from a fountain. How this method works is by the person who is teaching talks about the information needed for the student’s curriculum. The student just sits there and takes in all of the knowledge that the teacher is giving. I’ve excelled in school with this learning method because my memory is pretty good. However, it hasn’t been productive in real life for me due to the world not being a place were just memorizing facts can help advance you in life but taking action does. For example if a teacher knows facts about their subject it is helpful but how you portray and present the facts towards the students is what will decide how good of a teacher you are.

A piece of art may not be clear due to it’s inability to have a clear story written on the art but knowing where it came from and what is happening at that time may shine a new perspective onto that piece of art. When we look into things like the Standard of Ur or the Steele of Hammurabi the context of that painting may not be fully clear but knowing that the Standard of Ur was created in the times of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt (it’s golden age) you can tell it was not depicting itself but of earlier Sumerian times when there was war in Egypt and knowing that it was made in Egypt’s golden age tell us it was made with it’s finest lapis lazuli.

The main point that I’ve learnt from Art History is how to look at art in a newer light, with more insight and I’m excited for my visit to the Brooklyn Museum to look at all of it’s art with all of the new skills I learnt.