PROJECT
Deconstructing Identity
COURSE
Interdisciplinary,
2D, 3D, 4D
LEVEL
Foundations-Seniors
INSTRUCTOR
Sandra Erbacher
FDC OUTCOMES
Core Concepts/ Language
Making
Inquiry
Reflection
Synthesis
Community
MATERIALS/TOOLS
Course Dependent
RELEVANT ARTISTS/ DESIGNERS
Wangechi Mutu
Martha Rosler
Hannah Hoech
Ellen Gallagher
John Stezaker
Arthur Jafa (Video)
Huma Bhabha (Sculpture
DOWNLOAD
Wangechi Mutu Histology of the Different Classes of Uterine Tumors 2004 - 2005
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
For this project students will use the inherent qualities of collage - fragmentation, rupture, contradiction and multiplicity - to question the notion of a unified, coherent and stable identity. Make references to portraiture and the body in your work (may be abstract/ obscure).
Integrate 2-D (or 3-D, if assemblage) design elements and principles into your composition such as: shape, form, value (light/ dark), color, balance, and emphasis to create spatial ambiguity.
Write an artist statement of half a page elaborating on the ways in which your use of color and compositional principles supports your narrative/ concept. How do you explore/ subvert notions of identity? How do you engage/ challenge 2-dimensional space and compositional principles?
PROCESS
● Project intro and artist examples
● Socio-cultural and art-historical context: Read “Practices of Looking” (from ‘The Gaze and the Other’) and “The Invention of Collage” and answer the following questions: How is identity constituted? How can collage challenge traditional notions of identity (not least in terms of color and composition)?
● Define technique: If 2-D this could be a Photoshop Intro, i.e. Watch tutorial:
● Research, brainstorm, ideate, collect source material; put together a proposal + rough draft or sketch
● Group presentations of proposal+drafts
● Individual critiques with instructor
● Final group critiques: present your work to the class and submit with an artist statement explaining your idea, form, medium and process.