Visual Language: On Images - Washington D.C.

Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content. Topics as varied as, but not limited to, illusion, analogy, metaphor, time and memory, nature and culture, abstraction, the role of the author, and universal systems can be illuminated through these primary investigations. Visits to museums and other fieldwork required, as is participation in studio exercises and group critiques.  

This section (99) runs for three weeks and takes place in Washington, D.C.; it is designed to accommodate students participating in summer internships and jobs. It will focus on direct art viewing within the rich ecosystem of DC's museums and monuments, accompanied by creative responses in the form of hands-on studio are projects, and will involve a lot of looking, walking, and movement around the city. Weekly office hours with the instructor will be required via Zoom to discuss sketchbook work. This course fulfills the general education requirement in musical, visual, and dramatic arts.