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Unit 1 Summary

Unit 1 in Art History, was actually a refresher for me.  In high school I took a class called Mixed Media where we focused mostly all semester in formal analysis.  Although the class was meant to show how to utilize all kinds of materials and color in an art work, it also showed us how with that mixture we could convey the viewer a message.  That is what formal analysis is, the visual structure the artist uses in order to give a message to their art piece.  The artist decides to use specific lines, colors, shapes, and even material in order for their art to represent and mean something.  They shape their art work with visual structure that allows the person viewing it to analyze it by the specific elements shown.

I remember having to use principles of design and elements of design to describe and understand an art work.  When looking at a painting everything needs to be taken into consideration.  From the materials used, to the color, and the placement of specific objects.  Together everything becomes one in order to help the artist make their message visual to the audience.  Using negative space, positive space, balance, symmetrical or asymmetrical,  it all contributes to the meaning behind the art piece and in this class I began to understand how this even tides down the historical context.  Not only is the visual structure important when trying to see and understand an art work but so is the history behind it.

Depending on the time period an art work was created it can also influence the message one is trying to receive.  Not only using formal analysis is important, but the time period it was created in or the time period it was created to represented is needed to be taken into consideration.  The history behind it can help you understand more why an artist may have chosen to use only black and white or specific shapes or shape sizes.  For example in one of the painting we analyzed in class the king in the painting was at the top register and was the biggest person/ object in the painting.  This was showing hierarchy and each register was used to show the difference in the social classes and different labor being done in each class.  When learning about formal analysis in Unit 1 it refreshed some of the information I had already learned and also made me aware of the historical context and how that also influences the meaning behind the painting.

Lastly, one of the most interesting things I learned in this Unit was about the banking method.  Paulo Freire described the banking model as a method where the teacher uses their power to cut students creativity.  With this method what teachers are doing is “depositing” the information into a students mind but they fail to realize that a student is just holding on to the information to pass their exams.  The students are no longer understanding the information but rather are just remembering it at the moment.  This method of teaching is seen as a way of oppressing the student’s opinions and restricting them from contributing to their own learning.

Unit 1 in Art history has been a refresher to my learning, but has also added to the information I already knew.  It has also taught me new things and made me understand how to correctly “read” an artwork.

Unit 1 Summary

When deciding to take the course of Art History & it’s Meaning, I wasn’t sure where one would even begin in learning about a subject that seemed so broad and substantial. In looking at the syllabus and taking in what would be discussed in Unit 1, I was still lost. What is Formal Analysis? What is Critical Pedagogy? How do both of these fit into art history and it’s meaning? Despite being unsure, I was open to learning about both. All it could do for me is unlock the door to a subject that always intrigued me and further help me understand what it is I’ll be learning this semester.

It turns out that formal analysis is where one must start before delving further into art history and it’s meaning. Without learning about formal analysis, we wouldn’t be able to analyze or depict the artwork we’d evidently be exposed to further along in the semester. All formal analysis is asking us, as viewers, to do is simply take note of what the artist has done visually in his or her work. In formal analysis it is important to hone in on visuals such as color, line, space, mass/scale, material, contrast, position, composition, and illusionism. Taking note of each of these components works to conceptualize the artwork at hand and form an idea of what it is the artist is trying to express. An artist’s use of a certain range of color, their emphasis of line and linear contours and the space they create within their work are integral to the message the artist is trying to convey. Other vital components to pay attention to when using formal analysis is subject matter and historical context. While subject matter is more blatantly obvious to analyze in artwork, it still aids us in understanding the artwork at hand, what or rather who’s important. Historical context, however, requires some outside research. Once this outside research is conducted, we can understand the artists choices much better and it becomes clearer why certain elements were incorporated.

I enjoyed learning about critical pedagogy because my own beliefs were finally being firmly relayed before my eyes. My opinions in relation to the education system that we subject our children to have never been formed in an honorary degree. I have always believed it to be corrupt and degrading, and Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy and Power reaffirmed this for me. In his famous novel, Friere ridicules the education system by constructing the banking model of education. In doing so, he argues that the relationship between teacher and students is an oppressive one. The teacher is assigned all of the power and knowledge and all of the student’s previous knowledge before entering the school system is completely dismissed. Instead students become “empty vessels” in which the teachers simply deposit knowledge in them. In this kind of relationship, not only is knowledge limited but creativity is stunted. The teacher’s intelligence and authority can never be questioned, even if it should be, and the student can never pass along any information or intelligence of their own, because it’d be deemed unworthy and illogical. The students simply receive and memorize the knowledge bestowed upon them and spit it back out when taking standardized testing.

In learning about formal analysis, art history and it’s meaning is prescribed a meaning. Without taking formal analysis into consideration, without using it, we’d be looking at art but we wouldn’t be seeing it. Formal analysis is integral to art history, without it one can argue that the study of art history and it’s meaning would be rendered useless. In also learning about Paulo Friere’s critical pedagogy, I’m even more aware of the faultiness of our education system. It helps me  appreciate the open and creative environment that I’m privileged with in attending college, where students thoughts and opinions are heard and valued. I believe unit one will prepare me immensely for the units that lie ahead and I’m interested in seeing how they aid me in my further understanding of art history.

Unit 1 Summary

Unit 1 Summary–Tell me what you learned as we worked through Unit 1 (formal analysis and critical pedagogy). The ideal summary will put two or three concepts, ideas, or quotes from the reading in dialogue with each other. This is your opportunity to show me that you have learned something, and to tell me what that is and why it matters to you.

In Unit 1 we learned about the critical pedagogy through Pablo Freire’s Banking model and we learned how to utilize formal analysis when encountering art pieces. Pablo Freire’s banking model is a criticism of the current way of teaching.  He compares the information given by the teacher to student as a deposit from an individual to the bank. He also adds that the student is asked to retain the information for the sole purpose to spit it back up and not to analyze and study it. Friere’s banking model makes it clear that he advocates for a more interactive form of teaching in which teachers aren’t restricted to a criteria and forced to repeat the same lesson over and over again and for students to be actually voluntarily invested in what they’re learning for the sake of their education and not for some test.

Formal analysis is a perfect technique satisfying Freire’s ideal teaching method when it comes to Art pieces because it allows for an individual to analyze every single element that makes up the piece and to fully interpret the meaning behind it which Anne D’alleva describes it best as she states it is  not “simply describing what you see in an artwork” but  tackling “what the artist wants to convey visually” (27). Formal analysis looks at four different characteristics within the art piece: color, line, space and mass, and scale, but contextual analysis (looking at a pieces cultural and historical context) may also contribute to an art piece interpretation as Anne D’alleva adds that “it’s hard to separate them out completely. Often, art-historical analysis requires us to do both at the same time” making contextual analysis an unofficial but important characteristic for students to look out for when approaching an artwork (26).

Friere’s banking model is something that I very much believe in and have dealt with my entire school life; In elementary school, I was trained for state exams; In middle school, I was trained for finals and mid-terms; and in High school, I was trained for regents and SATs. Now looking back I vaguely remember what I was taught or the last time I  applied what I had learned to my present day-life but with the introduction of formal analysis, I’ve been able to enrich my knowledge of different art pieces I’ve always admired. I from a very young age have always loved to visit museums, especially art museums and I look forward to going to the Met and enriching my self by taking my time to analyze why a canvas is as big as it is; why an artist chooses a certain palette; or why he chooses to use oil painting rather than watercolor. Discovering formal analysis has forever changed the way I view art and it has allowed me to transition from a casual viewer to an academic art student.

Unit 1: Summary

In unit 1, we began with sharing our thoughts on what art is to us and how do we express and are able to connect to it. Art comes in all different ways and forms, from historic painting to graffiti on subways to even music and dance it is all a form of expression. Art can show viewers an artist mood and creativity, although each viewer may read any way of art in a different perspective which makes it more interesting. We were later introduced to formal analysis in art. We learned that it focuses on the elements and principles used by the artist. The elements of art include, shape, line, form, color, texture, mass and scale. While the principles of art include things such as pattern, contrast and balance in a piece of art.With formal analysis we as viewers are able to learn about the visual facts of the artists work and begin to interpret what the artist is trying to portray. Everyone has a different idea when looking at a piece of art even without referring to any outside sources, though we do use historical context of an artwork to helps understand why the artist did such and such in the piece of art. We look at elements such as color used and what mood it may represent, we also look at lines to helps tell if artwork is two or three dimensional. Overall with formal analysis we have a better understand on how to interpret artwork in a whole and what things we can point out that others may miss in order to understand what the artist is trying portray.

We also discussed the “Banking Concept of Education” by Paulo Freire which described a way of education in which the educators/teachers deposit information and “knowledge” into students as if they were actually just a bank. This concept relied on teachers just needed to teach and students are taught, they were taught just to listen and memorize without being able to express any opinion on anything they were being taught, in simpler terms “teachers knew everything.” Student memorized and repeated, which lead them to not be able to be creative thinkers but only have their thinking controlled by an educator. I believe this only holds a student who may be a genius from the future, it did not allow them to actually understand the why’s and what if’s, and it didn’t allow their opinion or expression to be heard which ruled out an creativity they may have had.

Throughout this unit I learned how to look at art differently especially ancient art, I am now able to point out things I missed before. I can tell how color and lines can change an entire perspective of a piece of artwork. I was also able to realize how much art has changed throughout the years and how every detail in a historic piece of art can have so much meaning.

 

KBR7ED Praxiteles Giving Phryne his Statue of Cupid, Angelica Kauffmann 1794

Unit One Summary

In Unit One, there were many things that I’ve learned. First, I learned about formal analysis. In formal analysis, the viewer looks at the visual components of the work of art. Some components of formal analysis includes color, line, scale, and space/mass. In color, I would examine how the artist uses the range of colors (from warm to cool) in the work of art. In line, I would examine how the artist uses smooth continuous lines or broken lines in a painting. In scale, I learned that an artist uses this component to indicate the importance of a figure. In space and mass, I learned that these two components mainly refers three dimensional works of art and to the weight of the artwork.

I also learned about the banking model/concept. This model was created by Paulo Freire. The model was created for educational purposes and it basically stated that teachers knew everything and that students didn’t know anything except what the teachers told them. In my opinion, the model was created to lift up teachers and degrade students. The model stripped students in expressing themselves and their creativity. I believe many people has experienced this model at least once in their years of schooling. The teacher would know the material but not know how to teach it. This caused students to then space out or fall behind and possibly fail the class.

Lastly, I learned about art in the Ancient World. In the Ancient World, I learned that in most works of art, the king was always the biggest figure in the entire piece. My favorite work of art was the “Standard of Ur”. It was cool to see the various layers in which the work was portrayed. Seeing both sides that told two different stories was also nice to see. It was also great that it has many colors instead of one specific color. One side of piece was about social class and status. You could easily distinguish the different classes from laborers (who were at the bottom) to the king and his wise men (who were at the top). On the other side, it showed a battle scene in where there were enemies who trampled by chariots and people who were taken into prison.

Overall, I learned a lot in Unit One. I learned the various ways to view a piece of art. The many components that goes into evaluating a work of art is important because not all artworks are the same even if they were in the same time period. I then learned about the banking model which really empowers teachers and students have a disadvantage in showing their capabilities. From the banking model, we finally moved on to the Ancient World. I saw the different works of art that the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt did. It was interesting to see how the pieces of art flowed as time went on.

 

Michael DeGennaro Unit 1 Summary

Michael DeGennaro Unit 1 Summary

In this unit, we really were able to  explore with the idea that art is a vehicle for expression that comes in limitless forms such as music, dance, doodling, drawing, painting and much more.  It has a different connection with everyone.

Something that especially resonated with me was learning about Freire’s banking model of education.   It is  a concept in which the teacher is the active being and the students are passive “objects” in the classroom.  The students are essentially sitting down and listening to a teacher making “deposits” of education into their head, which they memorize information, and repeat this process daily.  Frier explains that this type of education allows for no intellectual growth in students, as they are simply intaking information that means nothing to them. It was interesting to conceptualize this experience, as in sophomore year of high school, my geometry teacher perfectly emblemized this model.  We as the students sat down for an entire hour, No speaking, no questions, no interactions, listened to him talk about factoring polynomials , pack up, leave, and repeat this for an entire school year. We were overwhelmingly being fed geometric concepts. We didn’t make connections with the material being “collected.”

“Art is one’s own world of creativity”. From this basis, we were able to dive into the meaning of formal analysis, questioning and seeking answers to these visual and physical elements of a piece of artwork and determining the message that the artist is trying to convey.  We were able to explore the different elements to look for in a formal analysis. Line including emphasis and contour, color including identifying different hues, space/mass including dimension, form (weight and volume), and scale in terms of relative size of objects are all elements that we as the viewers take into consideration. We got to explore these concepts by looking at ancient artwork in class, ranging from Mesopotamia to Egypt.  

Shortly after learning about formal analysis, my family and I took a trip to the Brooklyn Museum, and I was able to practice my own formal analysis on Johnson, A Ride for Liberty — The Fugitive Slaves.  The painting depicts a family of slaves on a horse, crossing battlefields from the Confederate South to the Union North in order to escape the treacherous conditions of life.  The main focus of the painting is the horse, as it is placed in the middle of the work, and it is the largest piece in the work.  The artist placed emphasis on it with his use of contrasting colors: dark colors in the horse against a light background. The artists light brush strokes on the horses tale, and its placement slightly above the ground, with legs in a galloping motion, indicates that it is running.  The sheets on the horse are very silky and airy and the horse is very majestic and beautiful. This concept to me was interesting because it symbolizes something beautiful bringing peace and aid to a treacherous situation.

 

Unit 1 Summary

In this unit, we focused on Pablo Freire, the banking model and how to do formal analysis of piece of art. Formal analysis and critical pedagogy are essential because they help the audience analyze and understand the work more in depth. From this unit I have also learned that art is a form of communication. It’s meaning is whatever the artist intends it to be as well as how it’s audience perceives it. Art is influenced by the materials, techniques, and forms it makes use of, as well as the ideas and feelings it can create in its viewers. 

Works of art are always crafted, never natural or choice free. Formal analysis is an attempt to describe physical entity such as a piece of art. For formal analysis, our vision is our primary source thus making formal analysis subjective. We look at a piece of art’s formal properties, subject matter, and historical context for a formal analysis. Formal properties refers to looking at the line, color, composition, size, scale, modeling, and etc. Subject matter would be what the artist has chosen to paint, draw or sculpt. If something is analyzed “in historical context,” it means the historical circumstances in which it was produced affected the work and it’s meaning or message. Without an understanding of the era, a full understanding of the piece will be impossible. Historical context can play into artists’ influences, intentions and state of mind. 

Freire calls traditional pedagogy the “banking model of education” because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge. However, he argues the learner should be treated as a co-creator of knowledge. Freire rejects the banking approach, claiming it results in the dehumanization of both the students and the teachers. He also argues that the banking approach stimulates oppressive attitudes and practices in society. Instead, Freire advocates for a more world-mediated, mutual approach to education that encourages the co-creation of knowledge. According to Freire, this “authentic” approach to education must allow people to be aware of their incompleteness and strive to be more fully human. I agree with Freire, I think that the only way to be successful in current academic settings is simply memorization and not actually learning. That’s we we forget everything when classes end. 

Rudolf Adis Unit 1 Summary

So far, in ART 1010, I have garnered a significant amount of knowledge in the history of art, the conceptual side of art, and even theories by other artists/philosophical thinkers of art. Nevertheless, one of the concepts we were introduced to so far is the Banking Model. The Banking Model is a theory/term created by Pablo Friere, a 20th century educator and philosophical thinker. This term, seen depicted in Friere’s work, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, basically envisions students as containers in which knowledge is stored by the teachers in the classroom. Friere uses the Banking Model in order to critique the approach used in the educational system, in that students should be able to express themselves within a classroom just as much as the teacher should, being that they would be able to use the knowledge attained from the teacher and mix it with their own knowledge in order to gather a better understanding of a certain concept. That brings us to Friere’s concept of Critical Pedagogy.

Critical Pedagogy is a concept that builds itself hand-in-hand with the Banking Model. However, the slight difference is that Critical Pedagogy critiques classrooms and pushes for students to have a tenfold increase in their own independence within a classroom. Furthermore, Critical Pedagogy inspires students to question and challenge “domination” within the classroom. The reason for this is because Friere believed that students do not have freedom of thinking, and are even oppressed within the classroom. So much so, that in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, Paulo Friere stated, “Education is suffering from narration sickness…”.

Formal Analysis is a type of visual description of Art that we learned about in class. Specifically, formal analysis is not only about describing what one sees in and of the artwork, but it is also about getting down to the nitty and gritty parts of the artwork, and describing specific traits within it. To elaborate, there are 7 traits we look for when using Formal Analysis: historical context, line, space, mass, scale, color, and composition. The last mentioned trait, composition, deals with how the artist combines all aforementioned traits within their artwork and then produces a beautiful, finalized version of it. In fact, Formal Analysis is what I used when visualizing the works of art that were spoken about in class.

In specific, when analyzing Manet, Olympia, 1863/5, I noticed that a lot of dark and warm colors were used. Furthermore I have noticed that in terms of historical context, the older, black woman seems to be the maid of the younger, white woman. This is synchronous with the time period (1863) at that time. Finally, based on how eminent and bright the lights in the painting were, as well as the texture of the painting, it is easy for me to come to the conclusion that this must have been an oil painting. Nevertheless, Unit 1 has taught me a plethora of knowledge concerning art and its history, and has truly broadened my perspective/horizons when it comes to the philosophical eminence of art, as well.

Unit summary

 

In this unit, we learned about how Pablo Freire views the banking model and how to do formal analysis of an art piece. This unit has taught me that the way we are taught is seen as correct by Freire so he would be happy that it is this way, but I disagree with this banking model as it excludes certain types of people and formal analysis is something that can be done to find meaning in an art piece even if it isn’t immediately noticeable.

    Freire says that the banking model is where an audience sits front of an individual and learns from the said individual. The single teacher is water pitcher of knowledge pouring water into the students like little cups. This only works in theory because people are not cups to pour water in. The only action for the students is to be passively accepting the knowledge and the teacher actively gives it, giving him the dominant role. It limits the chance to engage with and understand the knowledge. I honestly have forgotten many things that my past classes have taught me because they were only telling me to remember, so I did. The reason why we remember other basic skills like language and manners is that we engage with it in our daily lives

    Formal analysis has you looking at specific traits. These traits are color, line, space, mass, and scale. You can even look at something that looks like trash by using formal analysis, make a case for it being art because all art is subject. An example we can look at is a crumpled up piece of paper on the floor. What is the color of the crumpled paper? Was it colored before it was crumpled up? How complex was the coloring? Was it just a white unaltered paper before the crumple? All of this can possible mean something. Lines might be a bit more difficult to see in the crumpled paper, but it’s possible. How was it crumpled? Was it compressed as hard as possible being more ball like, making lines harder to see? Was it it lightly compresses giving it more define jagged lines that stick out? Was it folded part way but crumpled at the end making it less ball like but more square like? Does the silhouette look like something specific? This can be infused with meaning.

    Space indicate whether the image conveys a sense of 3D space. It is already 3D so I can’t apply it because it is already 3D. Unless it is an actual sketching that looks hyper realistic. Mass is the space created by the art piece. I can apply this nor easily. Mass can be conveyed to the crumpled paper based on its environment. Is it surrounded by a lot of smaller items like paper clips and pins? Is it surrounded by crowds of people, giving the paper a sense of insignificance? Scale is the presentation of size portrayed in the work or in relation to the viewer. Is the crumpled piece of paper comically huge, towering over people? Or is it comically small dwarfing insects? This huge size can reference the power of trash and the destruction it causes and the small size can be the opposite. All of this is mere deep speculation of a crumpled paper. Some may ask, why did you waste all that time? I would say, “it is for the sake of art, because everything is potentially art”.

 

Couple Walking

I was honestly very moved by the ‘Soul of a Nation’ exhibition. As the name suggests, the exhibition did portray the soul of this nation during a time period where African Americans were so contested and resilient. The exhibition really portrayed a realistic view of the conditions of African Americans through the disparate artwork of more than sixty Black artists. Among some of the most beautiful pieces of artwork, the Couple Walking photo captured by Roy DeCarava stood out to me mainly because of its realistic portrayal. The photograph spoke volumes about the sense of comradery, resilience, and companionship among the two subjects. However, in light of the movement and change that was occurring for the African American community at the time, I think this photo further represents a union and love shared among the suffering Black communities all over America. Though it is a black and white photograph, there is a warmth that welcomes the observer to think about the man and the woman faced away from the camera, holding tightly onto each other. They seem to be waking away from the camera and the scene captured almost candidly by the photographer. The man in the photo is wearing a sleeveless shirt with jeans, and the woman wearing a head scarf, and formal attire. Though kind of contrast in their clothing style, their love and adoration for each other become expressed through their arms which surround one another. For me, looking at this photograph this couple seems hopeful as they walk through a historically, politically, and socially relevant time period in America. I feel hope not only for the couple but, also the African American community as they walked together holding arms in a fight for equality and justice.