Assignment Question
Art history class
Many of the artists and artworks we have studied in this class have been disruptive. In other words, the art has been a powerful expression of going against the status quo. For example, think about the 2500 years of Egyptian art interrupted briefly by one leader and his differing ideas about how art should appear and why. We have seen dozens of similar instances during which artists (or leaders) wanted to move away from the way art was “expected” to be created and viewed.
Think of three such examples that you have seen in class this quarter, and tell how and why the art was disruptive. Tell about what the artist was rebelling against. Were they rebelling against a previous art movement, or a war, or corruption?
These are just ideas – think about why and how these three works were disruptive. Also analyze the three art pieces – in the past, students have sometimes focused almost entirely on the time period, and just wrote a sentence examining the art.
Within your responses, think of modern events to which you can compare each of the three artworks. The modern event should have occurred at some point within the last two years, and it can focus on any event worldwide. The majority of your response should focus on the artwork and how and why it was disruptive. Just a small portion of your discussion will be on the modern event. So much has happened politically, culturally, technologically, economically, and religiously in the world in the last two years, so you have quite a bit of material to select from.
The three chosen artworks are: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, and The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin.
