WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Task: Write a 1,000-word critical response to a difficult work of art from the field trip.
Use the points listed below as a guide to structuring your paper. You must use the concepts found in Art
with a Difference to frame your ideas. Use a MINIMUM of two additional library related resources to
elaborate the concepts sourced from your textbook. These sources must be scholarly resources (both
books and journal articles are acceptable and AT LEAST ONE needs to have been retrieved from a
library), no popular resources (such as articles from Wikipedia). Properly identify any key concepts or
quotations (use MLA style citations. Refer to http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/%7Ectl/twc/citesources.htm for
assistance with MLA style citations).
Objective: To demonstrate an understanding of concepts covered in the book, an ability to apply these
concepts and to be able to articulate what you see and think in response to an artwork.
In Art with a Difference, the authors consider the concept of “difficult art”. Several ways in which art can
be difficult are identified and some of the responses that such art can provoke in audiences are
considered. Using some of the concepts explored in the book, write about your own encounter with a
“difficult artwork” during the field trip.
In your essay DO:
? Write an accurate description of the work itself. Your description should make the work
clear to someone who had not seen it. Describe:
o elements/materials
o size
o how it is constructed
o how it is exhibited
o etc.
? Write a description of the formal and expressive qualities of the piece.
o e.g. composition, colour, texture, energy.
? Use key concepts from the book:
o What type(s) of difficulty did the work present? How did you respond and why?
o Why do you find it difficult? What did the work evoke?
o Can any of the book’s ways of framing work be applied? (Make sure to
acknowledge your use of the book through citation.)
? Provide an indication of the context of the work. This may entail
o some research into the artist
o her/his stated intentions
o critical and public reaction
o research into the content of the work
o reference to other artists
o reference to art discussions, histories, theories (for example, text based art?s
relationship to conceptualism)
o etc.
? Describe your interpretation of the work upon reflection.
o What do you think its message is?
o How successful do you think the work is and why?
o In engaging with the work in this critical way, has your reaction changed?
o Are there any levels on which you can appreciate this work?
? You do not need to organize your paper in exactly this order.
In choosing a work DO:
? Initial research to make sure you have sufficient material to support your paper. On the
field trip take notes (have all the information about the work), ask questions, do sketches
of the work or ask if you can take pictures.
? You may need to return to the exhibition a second time. Do you know when the exhibition
ends?
? Have you done your reading? The text will assist you in your thinking about difficulty and
art. Read it!
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