MONDAY

More examples of Conceptual Portraits

Work time in class

All groups must SHOW work in progress

Editing and in-progress support with Diane and Nathan

WEDNESDAY

OPEN STUDIOS – 2-530 pm and/or 7:30-9 pm Students must visit MFA studios/Captstone studios during this period. Nathan will be present to support technical questions if you would like to work on your projects in the lab.

BLOG assignment: Capture a few images of student work from Open Studios and comment on the experience of visiting the artists, studios and the works on your blog.

Diane will be leading Candice Hopkins around Open Studios and hosting the visiting speaker lecture. I’ll see you walking around – let’s high five!

Open studios 2025 information:

We look forward to welcoming everyone to Guelph for MFA Open Studios 2025! 🌟

MFA Open Studios is a free event open to the public where you can meet and greet our MFA students, see their current projects in their studios, and attend the Studio Art Lecture in Contemporary Art given this year by curator and writer @candicebhopkins!

Leading up to the MFA Open Studios and the Studio Art Lecture in Contemporary Art on March 19, we will introduce our first and second year candidates! Stay tuned to learn more about their diverse practices! 👀

Open Studios is on Wednesday March 19, 2025. The event will run from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

Please visit the link in our bio for more information about the event including complimentary parking and registration for free tickets to the lecture.

MONDAY

Complete audio critiques

Final audio blog posts due by next week!

LECTURE:

CONCEPTUAL PORTRAITS: Systems, Series, Stand-Ins

Assignment:

Make a CONCEPTUAL PORTRAIT*

Works can be in prints, slide-show images, video, audio, or found object sculptures and installations. Consider using text in your work when needed. Maximum limit for time-based works is 3 minutes.

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“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work… all planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes the machine that makes the art.”

Sol Lewitt, from Peter Osborne, Conceptual Art, Phaidon, Themes & Movements

“The system is the work of art; the visual work of art is the proof of the System. The visual aspect can’t be understood without understanding the system. It isn’t what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance. “

Sol Lewitt

For this open media project you will create a representation of someone or something – in a non-literal way. You will create your conceptual portrait by using a system – like a rule, a formula, a series of tasks, or an experiment to plan and create the work.

Your work will not be narrative or decorative – it will include only what is necessary to convey your information, follow your task, or show the results of your experiment.

 Let the system be the “machine that makes the art.” For example the work might be:

• An uncommon documentation of an aspect of life, using a series of images or forms of data
• A collection of objects to make a portrait/ represent an abstract concept
• Show the results of an experiment performed, to learn surprising truths about something

Consider, how does your series, collection, or system convey an idea, or make us understand something in a new way?

On the Blog: DRAFT a proposal of your ideas for discussion in the next class

Write about an artist reference from the lecture that informs your thinking – use images and prepare to discuss your proposal in our next class meeting:

*See schedule for work time and critique dates.

WEDNESDAY

More examples of conceptual portraits.

Brainstorm ideas roundtable and discussion

Work time

MONDAY

Audio Editing Demo with Nathan

Work time in class, recording and editing

You must show instructor work in progress

WEDNESDAY

Audio Art Critiques

MONDAY

LECTURE: AUDIO ART

No audience, no player, no composition: this popcorn controlled robotic drumset is the most hygenic and the random performance I ever built. All sounds are triggered by popcorn, sensed by piezo elements, converted to MIDI, transfered to a robotic system and played live on drums without the interference of a human composer. MORE MUSIC ROBOTS INSTAGRAM   / moritzsimongeist  

Audio Art Examples

AUDIO STUDIO ASSIGNMENT:

Make a one-minute work of AUDIO ART.

RECOMMENDED LENGTH: Approximately one minute.

Final works will be posted on the blog, or your choice of audio sharing services/sites

No late assignments will be accepted.

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Students will create an audio art piece between 30 seconds and 1 minute in length.

While the conceptual parameters for this project are open, consider some of the themes and strategies of the artists listened to in class.

Some strategies may include:

-You may assign yourself (or others) a conceptual feat, and perform it, or document it in sound.

-You may combine different layers of sounds reflecting places, times, popular music, and voices.

-You may interpret or translate non-audio experiences or spaces in sound.

-You may re-interpret noise or other found sound as music.

-You may perform a list, or other kinds of interesting found or constructed language.

-You may distort or edit found sound or music, to change its original meaning and effect.

Consider audio works by some of the following artists:

Dave Dyment

Santiago Sierra

Yoko Ono

Daniel Olson

Matthew Sawyer

Jonathan Monk

Christian Marclay

Kelly Mark

John Cage

Janet Cardiff

Steve Reinke

Emeka Ogboh

After critiques and final revisions – students will post their works with a title and short description on our class Blog.

RECORDING demo with Nathan

WEDNESDAY

More audio art examples

Audio Editing Demo with Nathan

Due: Roundtable presentation of ideas for audio art

COMPLETE BLOG POSTS due for everything week 1-6 including:

1. Km assignment with description/notes
2. Work in progress for video
3. Field Trip Notes
4. Video assignment with description/notes on each group member’s own page
5. Comments on your classmates’ blog pages about their final video
6. Response to Bridget Moser’s video My Crops Art Dying but my Body Persists

MONDAY

Final critique of final One Feat, Three Ways videos

WEDNESDAY

WATCH and COMMENT ON THE WORK OF YOUR CLASSMATES:

We need to complete our final critque of One Feat, Three Ways videos. From home, comment directly on the blog pages of the students below. Say more than “I liked x”, or “x was funny...” Comment in detail on at least three things about their video – for example: the specific significance of their references; how the video begins and ends; use of cuts, and transitions, text, image quality or other editing effects; some of the ideas, arguments, and questions raised by the artwork; and how all of these artistic decisions affect the experience of watching the video, and how they may or may not serve ideas the artist intended.

1. Haadi, Fatima and Patrizia (on Haadi’s page)
2. Melissa
3. Tumi and Zamani

*Some of these final Internet videos have not been posted yet. Please post your final videos and a description ASAP! These three works should be available for viewing by 3pm today.

Suggested time required to complete: 1 hour

WATCH and MAKE A BLOG POST REFLECTION:

“Moments of pathos and humour in Moser’s work arise from the friction between her virtuosity and ineptitude. On one hand, Moser’s writing is full of disarming turns of phrase and poetic insight (“I’m drowning in a sea of Hamlets! All indecisive and infested with ghosts. And me worst of all”), and her imaginative reconfiguration of simple props is nothing short of thrilling. Her vaguely narrative performances elicit sensations of being slightly “off” or unreconciled. They feature props and set pieces in states of becoming or collapse. They access humour and produce pathos through the haphazard and awkward. They reveal moments of beauty and insight to be the tenuous constructions that they are by allowing them to fall apart.” – Jordan Tannahill

My Crops Are Dying But My Body Persists

Meet Bridget Moser and watch the video: My Crops are Dying but my Body Persists. Read the review of this work in Artforum here:

https://www.artforum.com/events/bridget-moser-247483

Watch the video again – in light of the commentary by Charlene Lau – and comment on the ways Moser appropriates internet tropes, youtubers, pop culture references, and/or memes in this work. What are some of the things her colour choices, and/or her props and costumes remind you of? How do you experience the video physically? What are some of the ideas Moser is playing with, including questions she is raising? What is the role of absurdity in her work? In your discussion of Moser’s work, you should quote the art forum review twice.

Suggested time required: 1 hour

OPTIONAL: Dive into Moser’s other works, including performances and videos.

And Recent Work

THERE IS NO HOMEWORK DURING READING WEEK*

Note: Your blogs should be up to date with your final videos and descriptions (every member of the group should make a post) and all of the required posts so far. I will be grading all the work on your blogs when we return.

I hope you will enjoy a restful break!

Monday

Editing Demo with Nathan – Using Davinci for editing video art

Work time with your group – show work in progress.

Complete all recording before next class

Wednesday

Work time with your group – everyone should have footage by today!

Show work in progress.

Critiques for One Feat, Three Ways videos next week!