Topic 4: Landscape and Cities- Actual, Imagined, Shaped and Built

WARP Topic 4: Landscapes and Cities—Actual, Imagined, Shaped and Built

Whenever we enter the land, sooner or later we pick up the scent of our own histories.--William Least Heat-Moon

Overview

How do we represent place to ourselves? Landscapes, like cities, are made. Whether you are considering a painting or a garden, what we have come to know as “landscape” is not natural. Like cities, landscapes are a kind of built environment. They are also cultural constructs that can be put to many uses: for example, as a declaration of ownership and power, or as romantic or emotive aesthetic expressions. How we live in and move through places is informed by the images we hold in our memories, and the new images we encounter every day.In this unit we will consider literary and historical examples of landscape and the city next to contemporary artists’ use of the city as subject and material for new work.

Your assignments will be aimed at preparing you for a significant In-Depth work, and will include intermediary process and trial artworks. You will be given a set of options for your In-Depth work and will be required to choose one to follow.

In-Class Presentations 

Where We Live: https://spark.adobe.com/page/QMoTkBhUR7mJt/

We Still Live Here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/N9nltfUMzcqWl/

 

Readings

• Green Dreams; Gardens, Chapter 1 from the book Eccentric Spaces by Robert Harbison. Distributed via email with the form.  Form DUE Wednesday October 25 by 11:59 PM.

• Excerpts from the book Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino. Distributed via email.

 

Museum Visit--DUE Wednesday, November 1 by 11:59 PM 

 

You must attend one of these museum/garden options to visit and respond to:

 

A.
 Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (Coconut Grove, FL) 
3251 South Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33129

Open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Tuesdays, 
Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Student Admission $10.

Directions and parking info here. The Vizcaya Metrorail station is within walking distance to the Vizcaya Museum. 

Deals- Sometimes you can get a “Museum Pass” from your local library for free admission to Vizcaya. You may also be able to purchase discounted tickets for $5 from Culture Shock Miami if you are 22 years old or younger. If you would like to attend with a friend or family member who is not a student, they have a discount on regular admission through the end of October: “Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is offering $5 off regular admission, 10% off membership and $5 off a purchase of $20 or more at the Shop at Fairchild. Please mention Miami Magic City. Offer valid through October 31, 2017.”


B. 
Deering Estate at Cutler (Cutler Bay, FL)
16701 SW 72nd Ave., Miami, FL 33157

Open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (no admission after 4:00 pm),except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission $12. 

Directions and parking info here. Street address is different than location of park entrance

Deals- The “Museum Pass” available from the Library allows free entry to the Deering Estate. Through October, enjoy buy one admission ticket and receive a second admission ticket of equal or lesser value for free. Offer valid for general admission only. Please see coupon for more details.


C.
Fairchild Tropical Garden (Coral Gables, FL)
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156

Open Daily 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM,
except Christmas.

Admission for Non-Member Adults - $25

Directions are here. 

Deals- You may be able to purchase discounted, $5 tickets from Culture Shock Miami if you are 22 years old or younger. Through October, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is offering $5 off regular admission, 10% off membership and $5 off a purchase of $20 or more at the Shop at Fairchild. Please mention Miami Magic City. Offer valid through October 31, 2017.

D. 
The Kampong (Coconut Grove, FL)
4013 S. Douglas RD, Coconut Grove, 33133

Open for "Self-Guided Tours", 10 AM - 3 PM, Mon - Sat, reservations necessary: 305-442-7169 or kampong@ntbg.org

Students with ID, $10. 

E. 
The Barnacle Historic State Park (Coconut Grove, FL)
3485 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, 33133

Closed Tuesdays, open 9 AM to 5 PM

$2 entry fee

F.
Morikami Museums and Japanese Gardens (Delray Beach, Florida)
4000 Morikama Park RD, Delray Beach, FL, 33446

Open Tuesdays - Sunday, 10 AM - 5 PM

Students with ID $11

G.
Pinecrest Gardens (Pinecrest, FL)
11000 Red Road, Pinecrest, FL, 33156

9 AM - 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday; 10 AM - 5 PM, Monday through Friday 

$5 entry fee

  
Assignments

Small work #1- Street or Garden. DUE Tuesday, October 24 at 10 AM.

This is an observational exercise and will require you to immerse yourself in the landscape or city. For this assignment, choose either a or b. 

a) Street.
Step 1- 
Choose a street. 
Walk the length of it, as far as you can. 
Find a place to sit and observe. 
Record all the sensory information you can take in: sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and textures. In your sketchbook, write for 30 minutes (on-site), and then draw for 30 minutes (on-site). 

Step 2- 
Use this information to make an imaginary creation in your studio. Size: 10 inches minimum, shortest dimension, media of your choice.

b) Garden.
Step 1- 
Choose a garden or park, a public place, not your back yard. 
Find a place to sit and observe. 
Record all the sensory information you can take in: sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and textures. In your sketchbook, write for 30 minutes (on-site), and then draw for 30 minutes (on-site). 

Step 2- 
Use this information to make an imaginary creation in your studio. Size: 10 inches minimum, shortest dimension, media of your choice.


Small Work #2- Poetry or Prose. DUE Monday, October 23, by 11:59 PM on BLOG.

This assignment is designed to accompany Small Work #1. Write a work of fiction or non-fiction based on your experiences on the street or in a garden. Any literary form is acceptable, prose or poetry, with a 15 line minimum. This will be posted on your blog.


Small Works #3- Calvino. DUE Tuesday, October 31, 10 AM

Invisible City—Identify four different materials that convey something about the mood or tone of the Calvino City you chose. Make an exploratory work with EACH of those four materials in which you attempt to use and emphasize the material qualities to present that mood or tone to a viewer. If 2-D, these explorations need to be 8” x 10” minimum. If 3-D, these explorations must be no smaller than a 6” cubic volume. If you choose to use your materials in a durational way, the explorations should be at least a minute each.

In-Class Exercises

These will be a series of in-class exercises to help you develop your concepts through an investigation of process, techniques and materials.


In-Depth Assignment. DUE Thursday, November 9, 10 AM

You will develop a larger, more ambitious and complex work from the ideas generated in the Small Works assignments. It can develop from any or all of the Small Work Assignments. In creating this work, you must choose one of these three options to strive for:

1. 2-D—Create a series of six works, each no smaller than 12” x 18”
2. 3-D—Create a single work that will approximately fill a 24” cubic volume
3. Create a Time-Based/Durational work.: If you are making a video piece or slideshow presentation it must be at least 7 minutes in duration. If you are making an animation that you yourself create frame by frame the duration must be at least one and a half minutes. If you are creating a performance to be presented live in class it must have a duration of at least 4 minutes but not longer than 7mins. If quoted durational materials: 7 minutes.