ARTD 383 Why Art Matters: Research Project

This assignment asks you to look closely and explain how meaning and value are created in
artworks, advertising, wider visual culture, or in the museum, using visual analysis and
contextual research.

Start by investigating the artists and subjects below. Choose two or three works by an artist, or
images that represent your chosen subject. Research the form, content, and context of those
example images. Explain why the image looks the way it does, and what it’s meant to tell us.
Where does it get its meaning? How is that meaning constructed? What is its takeaway
message?

Artist’s Reinterpretations of “Classic” Art:

• Édouard Manet (Luncheon on the Grass or Olympia)
• Yasumasa Morimura
• Kehinde Wiley
• Awol Erizku

Renaissance Art appropriated by contemporary ads/visual culture:

• Mona Lisa: KnowOne.de, Garnier, Pizza Hut ads
• Michelangelo’s David: Levi’s, Samsung, Vintage Guitars ads
• Botticelli’s Venus: Top Model, Portraits of Beyonce

Institutional Critique/The Museum as Subject:

• Mark Dion
• The Guerilla Girls
• Hans Haacke
• Barbara Krueger
• Amalia Mesa-Bain
• Mierle Landerman Ukeles
• Fred Wilson

You may also choose other artists, images, or sites to compare, but please run your idea by me
before starting research.

In your analysis, apply one or two of the themes or methods we’ve discussed in class. Here are
some to consider; you may find others in our readings.

• Iconography and the way meaning is made in an image

• The impact of the camera on how we see
• How reproduction changes the value or meaning of an artwork
• How images are changed by fragmentation or collage
• The relationship between oil painting and advertising
• The museum as a sacred space
• The practice of collecting and how it creates value
 Project Component % of class grade Deadline

20. Oct.
Thesis and Research Plan 20%
(new date!)

Presentation 15% 3/5/13. Dec.

Final Paper 25% 15. Dec.

Part I: Thesis and Research Plan

Due 20. Oct. to Sakai Assignments tool

1. Thesis: Write two pages introducing the theme you want to work with and one or two
possible artworks or images you’ll use. Write two pages on what you imagine your main
research questions will be, and what theme/theory/method you plan to use.
Ø 4 pages total; Word or RTF format—no PDFs! Double-spaced, 12 point Times New
Roman, 1.25” L/R 1” T/B margins.

2. Bibliography: Find five sources that help you explain your artist, artwork, or image. In
addition, include one of our class readings that you feel is helpful for your method. For each of
these six sources, write two to three sentences explaining why it’s important to your argument.
This should be single-spaced.

3. Illustrations: Include your images at the end of your essay and before the bibliography.
Label each image with artist/maker, title, and date, as well as where you got it (source).

Part II: Final Version

Due 15. December to Sakai Assignments tool
• Finalize your research, analysis, application of theory, and conclusions. Follow formatting as
described above.
• Be sure you’ve included citations throughout the paper, wherever you’ve made use of your
sources. See page 3 below for instructions on citation style.
• Include all images and any new support images, as above. Don’t forget to label them and cite
your source for the images!
• The final version should be approximately one to two pages introduction; two to three pages
description, context, and analysis for each image, and two to three pages of conclusion (7 - 10
pages total).

Note on Acceptable Sources:

Your final paper must have 7 - 10 sources. At least half your sources must be peer-reviewed
publications (academic journal articles or books), and of those, at least three must be books
you’ve found in the library. The remaining sources can be journalistic (newspaper or magazine
articles). If you’re not sure whether a source is valid, please ask me so you don’t lose points for
a source that’s not appropriate.
Style Guide for Foot- or Endnotes in Chicago Style
The following summary shows the format for A: foot- or endnotes; B: second reference in foot-
or endnotes; and C: bibliography entries (where the order of the elements is different!). Consult
the website at the bottom of the page for formats for additional types of sources.

Books, one author:

A: 1. Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
(New York: Penguin, 2006), 99–100.
B: 2. Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, 3.
C: Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.
New York: Penguin, 2006.

Editor, translator, or compiler instead of author:

A: Richmond Lattimore, trans., The Iliad of Homer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1951), 91–92.
B: Lattimore, Iliad, 24.
C: Lattimore, Richmond, trans. The Iliad of Homer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1951.

Article in a print journal:

In a note (A and B), list the specific page numbers consulted, if any. In the bibliography (C), list
the page range for the whole article.

A. Joshua I. Weinstein, “The Market in Plato’s Republic,” Classical Philology 104 (2009):
440.
B. Weinstein, “Plato’s Republic,” 452–53
C. Weinstein, Joshua I. “The Market in Plato’s Republic.” Classical Philology 104 (2009):
439–58.

Article in an online journal

Include a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if the journal lists one. A DOI is a permanent ID that,
when appended to http://dx.doi.org/ in the address bar of an Internet browser, will lead to the
source. If no DOI is available, list a URL. Include access date.

1. Gueorgi Kossinets and Duncan J. Watts, “Origins of Homophily in an Evolving Social

Network,” American Journal of Sociology 115 (2009): 411, accessed February 28, 2010,
doi:10.1086/599247.
2. Kossinets and Watts, “Origins of Homophily,” 439.
Kossinets, Gueorgi, and Duncan J. Watts. “Origins of Homophily in an Evolving Social Network.”
American Journal of Sociology 115 (2009): 405–50. Accessed February 28, 2010.
doi:10.1086/599247.

1. “Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide,” last modified August 22, 2006,

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.