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Art History Summary Unit 1

During this unit there was a lot of emphasis on formal analysis. Formal analysis asks to look at the painting for physical elements like line, color, composition, and size as well as understand the historical contexts behind its origin. Once both aspects of the painting is considered the the art can be better understood to a viewer. As a class we looked at the painting “Venus of Urbino”, and we were able to analyze the picture through careful observations and discussion. We also went into thinking about pedagogy and power in relation to the banking model of teaching. It was really a great way for us to open our feelings of traditional pedagogy and how we can innovate it. I think understanding formal analysis will be the foundation of this class, and it will be a concept carried throughout the course. It is also important that we had the opportunity to discuss pedagogy and power since we can try to move away from the harms of it and be a little more independent in our critical analysis.

Analyzing an artwork through the critical eye helps to reveal so much information about the picture that may be unknown at first sight. The time spent looking at the artwork is the viewers experience of the artist and the artwork. This unit really delved into the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words. The artist has the freedom to express his or her thoughts into an artwork however, the fascinating part about art is that it is subjective. Subjectivity of the artwork makes it not limited by boundaries or definitions. Formal analysis is the tool used to understand it but in the viewer’s own perception and conclusions. This makes the art experience a more spontaneous adventure, giving a possible equal responsibility to the artist and the viewer.

Comment on Sabrina Novacov’s post

Like in my post, Sabrina’s post explains formal analysis and its components which are the composition, color, line, shape, contrast, texture, and technique. We also agreed on the the function of formal analysis which is to try to understand the artists intentions and what they want to convey in their piece. Unlike my post, Sabrina used colors and clearer organization and made her post very appealing and intriguing. I enjoyed reading her post and look forward to future posts!

Critical Pedagogy

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire is a critique on the traditional education system. According to Friere, the traditional pedagogy is the “banking model of education” because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge. The banking model of education is the standard format of a classroom where a teacher, the knowledge holder, shares their knowledge with the students, whom are the receivers, without any feedback from the receivers themselves.  This leads to an unfair distribution of power between the teachers and the students. The teachers ultimately have an excess amount of power, and can grade students subjectively and as they please. The students are essentially powerless because the amount of power they have relies solely on how much the teachers have given them.  I’ve been in many science and mathematics classes that were the same power dynamics between teachers and students. The banking model has led me to rely on myself more than my professors when it comes to learning the course material. In addition, I also focus more on passing the class with a good grade and less about retaining the knowledge learned in class and applying it to real life situations.  The banking model makes students memorize facts without enjoying seeking knowledge and thus are not prepared for the real world.  They may lose independence because they are trained not to think for themselves.  One advantage of the banking model that I have realized is that it can teach individuals discipline as well as being independent, which are necessary skills for real world situations.

Comment to Alex’s post

I really agreed with everything Alex posted on his blog post.  Art is a way for a message to be conveyed and for creativity to flow.  His post is similar to mine in the set up as well as the context.  I also like him took a class my senior year and it gave me so freedom to explore all types of arts.  Art is a great way to send a message out as well as express feelings that can not be said.

Comment on Sairah Sajid (9:30AmClass) Pedagogy and Power post

I found it interesting and very cool that Sairah applied the Banking model to a scenario outside of your typical desk, whiteboard, school scenario. In her Sairah used the banking model to speak on when she used to take karate lessons. I thought this was interesting and I wanted to commend her for it because it only goes to prove how applicable and common this model is, that it exists in many other dimensions in our lives outside of typical classrooms and this can be problematic when the desire for knowledge is interfered by position of authority.

My post was similar to Sairah’s because we both could relate to the positives and negatives that come with this specific model. We both indirectly agreed that the Banking model may lead to more independence and to successful learning skills which is a pro of this model; however something Sairah had mentioned that I didn’t consciously think about was the significance the “position of authority”  has, as they are the ones who choose if you can “move forward” or not. In the scenario of academic school, a lot of teachers can determine some students future simply off a grade, and many teachers can abuse this, and this just shows one case in which the Banking model may not be the best model, for a reason like this.

Thank you for sharing your post, it was interesting to see a different perspective and how it can align to mine. I enjoyed reading it!

Comment on Javier Vazquez Morales blog post

Like in my post, Morales post explains formal analysis and its components which are the color, line, space, and etc. We also agreed on the the function of formal analysis which is to try to understand the artists intentions and what they want to convey in their piece. What he did differently compared to me was including an explanation of contextual analysis too. Morales explains that contextual analysis is to use external resources to understand the art piece. And he explain that using them formal and contextual analysis together can help when you are confused or want a deeper look at it historically.

My Comment on a Colleague’s Blog Post (My Art Story- Alexis Felicianio)

 

I completely agree with you that art is a way to express yourself depending on what you are going through on a daily basis. Those who create art do it for themselves and for the world to resonate or interpret the work of art on their own. I love the fact that you see make-up in an artistic way and that you wear it with pride and show it off! In my case my form of art is drawing. In my post I expressed that I find art in the human body in general. Therefore I chose this post to comment on because make up is something I actually find artistic too. The reason being is that it takes creativity and time and tools to make the perfect cat-eye or to make the eye-brows to be on fleek. Furthermore whenever I see an interesting body (depends on lots of things eg. attractive, non-attractive, strong, weak, etc) I stare and try to draw it. I know of artists who choose to paint the human body and in my case I have no talent what so ever but I try.

 

Formal Analysis

Formal analysis is the way you describe a visualization through the use of colors, lines, contrast, position, material, illusion, space and mass. You can use colors because the pallet that the author chose to use in his painting can help determine the mood that the painter was feeling. You can use the the size of certain objects to see the importance of the item to the artist see if they saw it as important. The way things are modeled in a painting are important because you will be able to see how the artist intended for something to be looked at.

Blog Post: My Comment on a Colleague’s Blog Post.

I recent commented on a colleagues well- written blog post on their art story and the  similarities in both our  post. We bove agree on the how subjective the meaning of “art” could be and the variety of art forms that exist that is not just limited to paintings, sculptures, and photography. I also commented that we only have one differences in our art story which was our favorite art form, theirs being Photography and my being Painting and sculptures. Through their interest I was also able to notice that they seem more interested in modern art. Despite having different interests in different art forms it is not big deal because we are different people with different art stories who happen to agree that “art” has no definite meaning.

Formal Analysis

The Formal Analysis of a painting is the physical look of the painting.  There are many different properties (ie: line, color, size, material, composition, etc.)

Not only do you have to discuss what you see, but also figure out what  the image is portraying and analyzing the meaning.  By looking at the physical features and focusing on exactly the way they are placed within a piece of art might give you insight of why the artist placed it there.  Most of the placings are intentional and you will turn up understanding the artists mindset by just looking at the physicality of the piece.