Writing a Critical Analysis

Verbally analyzing a work of art can be compared to the scientific practice of animal dissection. To dissect an animal is to learn more about it, that which would not be learned from studying its physical exterior. Although we can only analyze a work of art by looking at it, we can learn much more from thinking in depth about each of its physical characteristics, discerning the technical processes used in its making, considering both its content and context, postulating the artist's conceptual reasoning and intentions, describing our personal interpretation and physiological/emotional reactions, and comparing/contrasting all of these aforementioned qualities to other works of art that seem relevant.

If art is our science, then the act of making is our field research, and a critical analysis of the work is the dissection of those specimens we collect in the field.

You are required to write a 2-3 paragraph critical analysis of one of your classmate's performance. Take your time, and do your best to provide helpful insight, as opposed to merely stating the obvious or making vague generalizations. Post these by Midnight tonight and label your post with your name to get credit for completing this assignment!

Read this article for some helpful advice if you don't know how to begin:

"Looking and Writing About Art"

Sonic Postcard Assignment

Each student will create a 10 second audio work or ‘sonic postcard’. These postcards will eventually be heard on WALF radio and allow a glimpse into our lives here in Alfred, New York. Your recording is due next Thursday at the beginning of class. Please bring it on a thumb drive or CD and label it as follows: LASTNAMEfirstname. We will be loading them onto one computer and talking about them in class. You will also need to bring one digital image to class that can help represent your audio postcard.

1. How to begin?

Start by listening to what is around you. What did you hear on your blindfolded walk? Keep a sound diary. Write down sounds that you normally hear or sounds that are unusual, textural, part of the ambient, or that arise from a natural or manmade process.

2. Recording

Try recording in the same location on different days or hours. What do you want to share about Alfred? Develop your idea or just get started by playing with recording sounds. You may do in-recorder editing by turning on and off the recorder and making new files that will be heard together or you may make many sound recordings and take them in to a program to edit them into a 10 second piece. Many of you have Garage Band, but you may also download for free Audacity or another program. (Download Audacity here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) If you are having trouble with an editing program, you may also just import very short sounds into iTunes and order them as your audio postcard. Keep in mind, it must be mp3 format and exactly 10 seconds.

3. Image

Create an artwork or image to go with your sound. Put it on your thumb drive or CD with your mp3 file.

4. Anything ‘off-limits’?

Record any sound, with the exception of sound made with conventional musical instruments, like guitars, pianos, trumpets, etc. These are off-limits, and should be avoided. Your composition can be musical though, but the musical qualities must present in the recordings as they exist or in the way you structure a select group of sounds as you edit. Your composition can also simply be a collection of interesting sounds, edited together in an engaging way, with little or nothing to do with conventional music.

For further thought:
Are your sounds in the high, middle, or low range? How do sounds in the same range of the sound spectrum react with each other when blended? How do sounds in different ranges of the sound spectrum react when blended? How can you determine the "right" length for a sound element in relation to the duration of the overall composition? What should the transitions for adjacent but different sounds be like? How do abrupt transitions differ from gradual transitions? Do your sounds seem distant or close? How does a composition that includes sounds from varying distances differ from one that includes only sounds that occur at the same distance? Where are you positioning the listener in relation to the sounds, in front, in back or in the middle? Are the sounds still or do they move from one speaker to the other? What is the effect on the listener if the sounds move? If you had to describe a sound as texture can you visualize what that texture may be like? Can you find a way to put sound textures together so that they are no longer static but begin to influence each other in the composition? What is the effect of repeating a sound element in a composition? What is the effect of using a recognizable sound in a composition? Can you make a common sound seem "new"? What is the effect of using part of a common sound when its source is not recognizable in the composition? Are the incidental sounds that occur in a room where your composition is played to be considered as part of the work or something outside it?

Performance Assignment

(Vito Acconi's "Blindfolded Catching")


"Performance art is art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time. Performance art can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience."  


Performance Parameters and Requirements:

-Your performance will be done in class next Thursday, Febrary 4th
(it must be designed for our classroom space in Cohen...what makes sense or does not make sense for that space? keep in mind that the space itself may not be altered in any way!)

-Your performance must be between 1 and 5 minutes long
(no shorter! no longer!)

-You may work alone, or with up to two other people
(groups cannot be larger than 3 people!)

-You must incorporate at least one object into the performance
(that object should be the inspiration for your performance...how can you interact with it in a interesting/unique way?)

-You may incorporate audience interaction/participation into the piece if you choose
(but how will you let us know what we're supposed to do? will there be verbal or written instructions?)

-Plan for a "beginning" and an "ending"
(how will we know when it's happening or when it's over?)

- Rehearse!
(next Thursday should not be the first time you try whatever it is you're going to do, unless it relies heavily on audience participation...even then, there must be something you can rehearse!)

-Plan your documentation in advance
(this will only happen once, so choose a friend who's not in the performance to take pictures for you, and let them know what to expect, and what you want them to capture....this will be the only record of the event, and what will be posted on the blog, so it's extremely important!)


Videos you need to watch ASAP:

Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece"
William Lamson's "Vital Capacity"
Roman Signer's "Sleeping" (and the other "Roman Signer's Suitcase" videos on the right side)
Matt McAllister's  "Most T-Shirts Worn at One Time" (he holds the Guiness World Record!)
Jean Marc Heim's "Va et Vient" (the last minute and a half is especially relevant)
Kelly Mark's "Demonstration"
Prinz Gholam's "Ein Ding Mehr"
Sony Bravia's Bouncy Ball Commercial (for fun)

(Kate Gilmore's "My Love is An Anchor")