Visual Language: On Images (99) - in Washington D.C.

Course Code

ARTV 10100 99

Course Description

This section (99) runs for three weeks and takes place in Washington, D.C.*. This course is designed to accommodate students working and interning in the DC area. It is open to all students.

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.

Washington DC is not only the nation's capital, but the country's capital of museums and monuments. Fulfill your Arts Core requirement by taking a class that will enable you to engage with artistic forms through immersive visits to DC museums, including the National Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Through studio exercises, critical discussions, and outings, students will connect deeply with an array of two-dimensional artistic traditions. Students will come away from the class with a robust foundation for carrying out artistic analysis and interpretation, as well as a depth of familiarity with some of Washington DC's flagship cultural institutions. This class will meet twice a week for a three-week Summer Session term, in the evenings at the UChicago Office of Federal Relations*, and Saturdays for day-long learning excursions to museums and public spaces. This class fulfills the general education requirement in musical, visual, and dramatic arts.

*UChicago’s Office of Federal Relations 1730 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 275 Washington, DC, 20006

Course Criteria

Instructor(s)

Scott Wolniak

¹ UChicago students can self-register.

² Visiting students and pre-college students apply through the same application.