Essay Instructions: Term Paper Instructions (full instructions to be sent)
The term paper gives you an opportunity to do your own research, synthesize the material discussed throughout the semester, and demonstrate your knowledge of the readings and understanding of the issues raised in the course. It is crucial to keep in mind that a major premise of the course is that the meanings of the terms public, public art and public space cannot be assumed to be self-evident but are, rather, open to debate. You must explain what you mean when you use these terms and support your definitions.
This is the artwork to be discussed in the term paper (including some suggestions of resources to introduce you to the topic):
Ana Mendieta, Rape Scene, 1973
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art and MIT Press, 2007.
Kwon, Miwon. "Bloody Valentines: Afterimages by Ana Mendieta." In: Catherine de Zegher (ed.), Inside the Visible. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston & MIT Press, 1996.
The Subject of Rape, Whitney Museum of American Art, exhibition catalogue, June 23-August 20, 1993.
Tanya Horeck, Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film, Routledge, 2004.
II. Write a paper about the work you’ve chosen that includes the following:
• a visual description of the work
• a description of the work’s location, the circumstances in which it was produced, and the aesthetic, social, historical, and political issues it addresses,
• a contextualization of the work within the artist’s larger body of work and concerns.
You do not have to do exhaustive research, but read enough to be well acquainted with the work and to write intelligently about the artist. In the bibliography for the paper, cite at least four references about the work and/or the artist.
• a discussion of the ways in which the work might be called “public”?
Length: 7-10 double-spaced, computer-generated pages, excluding title page, bibliography, and illustrations; maximum 12-point type
Must include quotes from at least 4 of the following:
1. Krzysztof Wodiczko, “Public Projection” (1983) and “The Homeless Projection: A Proposal for the City of New York” (1986), in Critical Vehicles, MIT Press, 1999, 44-48, 55-56
2. Henri Lefebvre, “Spectral Analysis” and “The Right to the City,” in Writings on Cities, Eleonore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas, eds., Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1996, 139-159.
3. Michael Warner, “Zoning Out Sex,” in Warner, The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life, Harvard Univ. Press, 1999, 149-193.
4. Fred Siegel, “Reclaiming Our Public Spaces,” City Journal 2, n. 2, Spring 1992, 35-45
5. Rosalyn Deutsche, “Uneven Development: Public Art in New York City,” Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1996.
6. Richard Meyer, “Most Wanted Men,” in Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentierh-Century American Art, Oxford Univ. Press, 2002, 95-156.
7. Theodor Adorno, “What Does Coming to Terms with the Past Mean?” in Geoffrey H. Hartman, ed., Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective, Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1986.
8. Michel Foucault, “What is Critique?” in the Politics of Truth, Semiotext(e), 1997, 23- 61.
9. Michel de Certeau, “General Introduction,” “ ‘Making Do’: Uses and Tactics,” and “Walking in the City,” in The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkeley, Univ. of California Press, 1984, xi-xxiv, 29-42, 91-110.
10. Rosalyn Deutsche, “Breaking Ground: Barbara Kruger’s Spatial Practice,” in Barbara Kruger, Thinking of You, Museum of Contemporary Art, L.A., and MIT Press,, 77-84.
Some other possible sources to get you started (use as many sources as needed):
http://www.alisonjacquesgallery.com/artists/47-Ana-Mendieta/press/
http://www.alisonjacquesgallery.com/usr/documents/press/download_url/264/ame-financial-times-oct-2013.pdf
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mendieta-untitled-rape-scene-t13355/text-summary
“Bloody Valentines: Afterimages by Ana Medieta,” by Miwon Kwon.
Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film, by Tanya Horeck
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art and MIT Press, 2007.
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