Special Topics

A variety of courses are taught as Special Topics courses.

Special Topics Courses

SART 17.01 Collage: Bridging the Gap
An exploration of the design and construction of imagery through the medium of collage. Students will work in mixed media collage materials from a variety of subject matter with a focus on the development of critical abilities and an individual esthetic. Assignments will make use of collage as a connection between two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork, addressing collage work in relationship to drawing, painting, relief sculpture, photography and architecture.

SART 17.08 - Digital Drawing
This class will explore the connection of hand drawing and digital drawing to create original images. Students will explore the implications, opportunities and technical issues of using the computer as a drawing tool and combine computer-generated drawings with those done by hand. Drawings may combine layering, collaging and converting 3D form to 2D hand drawings using PhotoShop, Illustrator and Rhino software, among others.

SART 17.13 - Drawing with Van Gogh
Students learn to draw as Vincent Van Gogh did throughout various stages of his life, with similar instruction, purpose and drawing materials.  The class will see and draw from the art that influenced him, work from subject matter similar to his, and experiment with his particular techniques.  Students will copy a range of Van Gogh drawings, draw directly from life as he did, and read many of his extraordinary letters.  At the end of the term, each student will develop a suite of drawings, embodying their own idea of how Van Gogh's work might have further evolved.  Supplemental course fee required. All levels of drawing experience welcome.

SART 17.16 Personal Iconography & the Public Debate: Text, Image and Form
This class will give students the chance to explore the relationship of what you want to say to how you say it in art, with a strong focus on combining image, text and material. How do text and image work together to create art that engages and demands its place in the public exchange of non-art related ideas? Making use of research students will work in the studio to realize their ideas. Students will make broadsides at the Book Arts Workshop in Baker-Berry, and create a public intervention at a place of their choosing.

SART 17.18 - Art & Activism
This course will look at various international and domestic artists to examine how contemporary visual art can be a form of social activism. Instead of working in one medium, students will have the opportunity to experiment with multiple media like drawing, painting, digital photography & collage, and video. The focus of the course will be on art practices in the context of social activism and its potential to interrupt conventions surrounding history, culture, identity and politics. In the spirit of its subject, students will utilize a range of media with the goal of visualizing the relation between medium and concept, art and thought, self and world.