ARC 303 INVESTIGATING THE EXHIBITION PROFESSOR ASHLEY SIMONE ESSAY #1 PROMPT Requirements: Provide ...
ARC 303 INVESTIGATING THE EXHIBITION PROFESSOR ASHLEY SIMONE ESSAY #1 PROMPT Requirements: Provide Citations per Chicago Standards. Check the resource section for a guide to citing sources and tips on successful writing. Please use at least 2 sources, beyond the course texts, from JSTOR. You can find the JSTOR database here: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/az.php?q=jst... *There is a tutorial on how to use JSTOR accessible using the link above. Provide at least 3 illustrations with captions. Please review this Image caption guide: https://libguides.csusb.edu/chicago/captions 750-1000 written words + illustrations using the written assignment template Preamble to the essay question On the first page of her book Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thorton writes: “The contemporary art world is a loose network of overlapping subcultures held together by a belief in art.” I would argue that the field of architecture operates in a similar manner. The quote could easily be recast: The contemporary ARCHITECTURE world is a loose network of overlapping subcultures held together by a belief in ARCHITECTURE. Over the course of the last five weeks, we did readings about the shifting nature of curatorial practice. Jean- Louis Cohen introduced his observation that curatorial practice has shifted from one that was preoccupied with traditional documentation strategies to one that commingles with artistic practice in the sense that the curator has his or her own original messages to construct using the medium of the art, and production of others. The definition of a curator overlaps with the definition of an artist. We also took a cross-section through the art world using Thorton’s book and through the weekly lectures where we examined “architecture’s corollaries” to the elements and entities that comprise the art world. In doing so, we came across an art venue, the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum designed by the contemporary architect Frank Gehry, which is a building that formally (physically) and culturally, resides at the intersection of art, architecture, and technology. When the museum opened in 1997, it quickly developed into a “symbol” and had a drastic effect on the worlds of art and architecture, and as an economic and sociological model. It jolted a Spanish city back to life. Architecture has often taken on symbolic meaning in the past, especially through civic, cultural, and religious institutions. In Bilbao, Gehry’s architecture established a symbol that transcends traditional typologies; his museum brought the discipline of architecture closer to the discipline of art. Formally, the sculptural museum appears as a large-scale artwork. ARC 303 INVESTIGATING THE EXHIBITION PROFESSOR ASHLEY SIMONE ESSAY #1 PROMPT For ESSAY #1: Read The Bilbao Effect: Ethical Symbolic Representation (PDF included in the Content section and is cited below). Taking into consideration the readings and discussions we have done so far in this course, comment on the Guggenheim Bilbao as a symbol and make an argument for whether you think the architecture is good. The prompt is intentionally open-ended. Explore the “overlaps” and effects of Gehry’s museum. You may approach it based on your individual backgrounds. For example, it can be discussed in terms of its economics; you may choose to take a position on whether architecture can (or should) be art; you may want to discuss the building formally and explore its relationship to the context. You are the critic, the curator, make an argument. I have offered one outside article to help with the generation of your ideas and positions. Please use at least two other sources from JSTOR**. Required Reference (see content section): MacCannell, Dean. "The Bilbao Effect: Ethical Symbolic Representation." In The Ethics of Sightseeing, 158-66. Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press, 2011. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.pratt.edu:2048/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppn0n.17.
