Provisionally Approved June 16, 2002
REFLECTING ON ART
Level II
RATIONALE: The artistic experience is a process that spans the initial conception of a work of art, through the acts of creation and perception of the work, to the influence which that work has on the subsequent thoughts, feelings and actions of artist and audience.Any involvement with a work of art, whether as creator or respondent; requires some degree of reflection on the activities of artistic creation and perception. Without at least this minimum amount of reflection, the creator could not make, nor could the respondent recognize, a work of art. And, of course, we become more capable artists and more perceptive respondents of art in direct proportion to our ability to reflect on the artistic experience.
Art does not exist apart from social context. To deepen one’s appreciation of creative expression, an exploration of the artist’s intent and the broader social and historical context within which the work was created is necessary. In turn, by looking at intent and context, one can better appreciate artist transformative potential. The works of art used as the base for this competency may be from any traditional or emerging discipline of the literary, visual/tactile, musical, performing or other arts and must be approved in advance by the evaluator. They must either be within the same genre or, if from different genres, be deal with the same subject matter or themes.
COMPETENCY: Can interpret and compare works of creative expression in regard to the artist’s intentions, the aesthetic strategies employed, and the broader social and historical context within which each work was created.
CRITERIA:
1. Discuss about what the artist selected was seeking to express or explore, and what audience s/he might have had in mind.
2. Explain how the artist joined form and content to fulfill the purposes specified in Criterion 1.
3. Locate the work within its broader social and historical context, and discuss how this context may have helped to shape the creation of the work; consider how the artist (or the work) may have employed and/or reacted against ideas and perspectives that were predominant in the time, place or culture.
4. Compare works of creative expression.
Portfolio Links: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by this competency. Papers written for this competency may be considered for submission to the Writing Portfolio.
Standards:
1. For Criterion 1, the presentation of the artist’s purpose should draw upon basic background information on the artist and the sources should be approved by the evaluator. Critical readings on the artworks under consideration are not necessary, as the student is expected to bring his/her own understandings to this exploration of artistic intent.
2. For Criterion 2,, the explanation should demonstrate familiarity with the major elements of form appropriate to that artistic discipline, as commonly accepted by professionals in the field. The student is expected to explain
a. the interconnections between form and content;
b. how these interconnections further the intent of the artist, as discussed in Criterion 1;
c. if relevant, what aesthetic arguments there are within the discipline that may relate to works of art selected.
3. Criterion 3, the location of the context of the works should draw upon texts that examine the broader social and historical context within which the works were created, and utilize these sources in identifying the ways in which the artist (or the work) interacts with this reality by rejecting, modifying and/or reflecting predominant ideas and perspectives.
4. For Criterion 4, focus your comparison on:
a. what each artist was intending to say and her intended audience
b. how form and content are joined in each to fulfill the artist's intention
c. the broader social and historical context in which each piece originated and how that may have influenced the artist
Examples of Demonstration:
1. Prior Learning: A student who is familiar with the works of Virginia Woolf writes a paper in which she examines how Woolf, in her choice of both theme and literary form in two novels challenged the Victorian society from which she emerged.
2. Independent Learning: As an independent project about film, a group of students take turns presenting to each other films of the Soviet Socialist Realism Movement and films of the European New Wave Movement, providing relevant background information in the form of written notes. The group reads and discusses texts explaining the historical context and aesthetic principles of each movement. Selecting a representative film from each movement, each student writes a 10-page paper comparing the two films.
3. Course: A student takes a course that addresses this competency.
4. Field Project: A group of students working with an after school youth program arrange a concert with various forms of popular music listened and danced to by urban U.S. Latinos from World War I to the present. The class works with the youth to decide which music to select, set up the concert, make programs and put out publicity. Over the course of the semester, the students work with the youth to prepare and engage them in discussions of the various forms of music and dance, and how they emerged. After the concert the students work with small groups and facilitate discussions in which they explore the relationship between musical practices and the formation and maintenance of ethnic identity.