FAA 199d, FALL 2008

ART\CREATIVITY\ DIVERSITY

 

M T W TH F

KAM / KCPA

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

KRANNERT ART MUSEUM + KRANNERT CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

INSTRUCTORS: ERIC BENSON + GEORGE GOLLIN

 

EBENSON@ILLINOIS.EDU

G-GOLLIN@ILLINOIS.EDU

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

High art and street art, tradition and experimenta­tion, the familiar and the unfamiliar, creativity in America and around the globe provide the founda­tion for this course that welcomes curious students from all disciplines on campus. Students will attend performances and exhibitions, meet and interact with artists, and examine core issues and values associated with diversity and the creative process in the context of our increasingly complex society and global human collective. Faculty teams from the arts, sciences, humanities, and other campus domains will lead students through a variety of visual arts, music, dance, and theatre experiences throughout the semester at the Kran­nert Center for the Performing Arts and the Kran­nert Art Museum — two of the country’s leading university-based cultural institutions — to spark investigation and dialogue. Admission to perfor­mances and exhibitions will be provided without charge to students enrolled in this course.

 

“Untitled Study in Graphite,” Eric Benson (2005).

 

 

HOW THIS COURSE IS DESIGNED

The students and instructors in this course come from various backgrounds, experiences and disciplines, however everything that we do is in someway interconnected. This course is de­signed to allow you to examine the fractal shapes of things and the threads that bridge the various performances and artwork brought to you by the Krannert Center and Krannert Art Mu­seum this semester. The instructors have specifically chosen a number of “ingredients” that take the form of dance, music, theater, spoken word, two-dimension & three-dimensional art, and new media that are diverse but connect. It is your job to combine the diverse themes from these ingredients and construct a creative narrative describing the interconnected­ness of it all.

 

 

COURSE WORK

You will be keeping a document that evolves weekly with new thoughts and points of discussion that are

 

 

 

 

affected by course discussions and performances you experience. Initially this document will be a reflection of how your classmates/instruc­tors think and begin to tie together the diverse and creative methods in which they work. This one page reflection will evolve on a weekly basis (adding one page per week) constructing new connections from the performances you experience.

 

 

GRADING

60% of your grade is determined by your essay reflections and 40% by your participation in events/discussion.

 

 

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is mandatory. In addition, promptness and par­ticipation are required. Failure to arrive on time to class and/or lack of participation will affect the student’s overall grade. Student is also responsible for content of missed classes or events. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE

 

T 08/26

Class Introductions/Discussion + Project Introduction [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 08/28

 

Exhibitions: School of A+D Faculty Show, The World of Yugen (Kyoko Ibe), The Rise of Abstraction in Post-War Japan (Sosaku Hanga, Woodblock Prints), Collecting East Asia; The Lee Wonsik Collection [5:00 – 7:00 at KAM]

T 09/02

Discussion of Exhibitions + Page 1 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 09/04

Birds as Art – Ernesto Scott  [6:00 at 62 KAM]

T 09/09

Discussion + Page 2 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 09/11

IPRH Film, [5:30 PM at 62 KAM]

T 09/16

Discussion + Page 3 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 09/18

Murder by Death and Evangelicals [6:00 in Link Gallery at Art & Design] - Optional

F 9/19

Builder’s Association: Continuous City [7:30 at KCPA]

T 09/23

Discussion + Page 4 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 09/25

No class for Friday Performance

F 09/26

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago [7:30 at KCPA]

T 09/30

Discussion + Page 5 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 10/02

No class for Friday Performance

F 10/3

Druid: The Playboy of the Western World and the Shadow of the Glen [7:30 at KCPA]

T 10/07

Discussion of paper evolution + Page 6 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 10/09

No class for Friday Performance

F 10/10

Compañia Flamenco José Porcel [7:30 at KCPA]

T 10/14

Discussion + Page 7 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 10/16

Sudden Sound Performance [7:30 at KAM]

T 10/21

Discussion + Page 8 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 10/23

Out of Sequence Opening [6:008:00 at KAM]

T 10/28

CultureTalk: Merwin, Pinsky and Powers [7:30 at KCPA]

TH 10/30

Anon(ymous) [7:30 at KCPA]

T 11/4

Discussion + Page 9 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 11/6

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra [7:30 at KCPA]

T 11/11

Discussion + Page 10 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

W 11/12

Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa [7:00 at KCPA]

TH 11/13

No class for Wednesday Performance

T 11/18

Discussion of paper evolution + Page 11 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

W 11/19

Takács Quartet/Muzsikás/Márta Sebestyén [7:30 at KCPA]

TH 11/20

No class for Wednesday Performance

T 11/25

THANKSGIVING

TH 11/27

THANKSGIVING

T 12/2

Discussion + Page 12 Due [6:00 – 7:20 at KAM]

TH 12/4

Work on finessing paper

T 12/9

Working Document Due

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRADING SCALE

 

100% A+                      79% - 77% C+

99% - 95% A                76% - 74% C

94% - 90% A-               73% - 70% C-

______________               ______________

 

89% - 87% B+              69% - 67% D+

86% - 84% B                66% - 64% D

83% - 80% B-               63% - 60% D-

 

 

GRADING EXPLANATIONS

 

A = Excellent (Excellent concept, excellent execution)

The grade “A” is assigned in situation where students clearly excel in their mastery of course topics both intellectually and visually. This grade indicates sound engagement with the course material, the ability to verbally articulate the process, and success in synthesizing ideas into form and content.

_________________________________________________

 

B = Above Average

(Better than average conceptualization, or average conceptualiza­tion and excellent execution)

The “B” grade is assigned to student performance that reaches beyond the minimum in grasp of the topic and / or execution. Often students are able to engage course matter at a higher

intellectual level than their visual sophistication allow; i.e., their form-giving skills are not yet developed adequately to allow them to express their ideas visually. Thus, an ambitious attempt at extending themselves out beyond their own comfort zone, even though it may not succeed as an end product, may constitute the “B” level performance.

 

 

C = Average

(Average performance; all minimum requirements met)

It is assumed at the beginning of the course that all students are capable and at least willing to perform at an average level; therefore, “C” is considered average performance. It is left to the individual student beyond that point to distinguish himself or herself, rising to the levels of “B” or “A”.

_________________________________________________

 

D = Below Average

(Less than average concept, or average concept with poor execution)

“D” grades are intended to communicate to students that they are not performing even to the average basic level in the project or course. It is absolutely imperative if you receive a “D” grade that you set up an appointment with your instructor and discuss means of improvement.

_________________________________________________

 

F = Failure

(Non-fulfillment of minimum requirements)

A failing grade of “F” is given when students have not demon­strated a sufficient degree of mastery of the course content to proceed to the next level in the curricular sequence.

_________________________________________________

 

Pluses and minuses are assigned as grades to students to evaluate varying levels of craft and comprehension on a particular project and also as the overall semester grade.

 

With appreciation to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Office of the Provost, and the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership for their generous support of the  FAA 199d 2008, ART\CREATIVITY\ DIVERSITY course.