Blanton Scavenger Hunt Assignment

Blanton Museum Scavenger Hunt and Analysis

Choose any seven of the questions below. Among these seven, you must include question nine, in which you construct your own work of art.

For this project, you will work in groups of four. Answer each question with a good-sized paragraph—no less than ¾ of a page, typed and double-spaced. Each prompt includes space to take notes while you’re at the museum, but the final product should be typed.

For EVERY work you mention, you should include the title, artist, and date. Your textual evidence consists of details from the work of art. Do not speak impressionistically: “This painting feels dark,” or “This statue seems as if it is about to take flight.” What about the colors/size/arrangement of objects/lines in the painting makes it feel dark? What aspects of the statue’s stance/clothing/body make it seem as if it is about to take flight? Give specific details, and then analyze those details, explaining how they illustrate the claims you make about the work of art. To reiterate: YOU MUST SUPPORT THE CLAIMS THAT YOU MAKE BY DESCRIBING PHYSICAL DETAILS FROM THE WORK OF ART AND THEN ANALYZING TO EXPLAIN HOW THOSE DETAILS SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT.

You will not have time to write your analyses during this museum visit. Instead, you should jot notes about as many specifics as you can, writing down bits of analysis that come to you instantly. Do stop and talk about a work of art with your group. Do make certain that you take notes about the details in a work of art. Do read the placards that accompany each work, as they often contain helpful information. Do not stop and complete the assignment fully.

When you do sit down to write out your responses to the assignment, you may split up the questions among your group members, if you like. However, since you will all receive the same grade, you should work together to edit your responses to everyone’s satisfaction.

UPSTAIRS:

15th-18th century Paintings:

1) Find a picture of a saint. Explore the symbolism in the picture: What symbols are included, and what do they tell us about the character of the saint? You may have to research the saint at a later time in order to understand all of the symbols. Entertain yourself and me: Choose the most bizarre picture you can find.












Modern Art Galleries:

2) Choose one of the following paintings, which are hanging near each other in the largest modern art gallery: Gorky’s “Dialogue of the Edge,” Rothko’s untitled work, Hoffman’s “Elysium,” or Gottlieb’s “Cadmium Red Over Black.” Make certain you read the placard that accompanies the painting you choose. How does this painting embody Freudian thoughts about the unconscious, or the interaction between the id, the ego, and the superego?











3)  Explain how the art installation “How to Build a Cathedral,” by Cildo Meireles, uses Marxist ideas to make a statement. What statement does the installation make?











4) Choose one of the following works: Diego Gravinese’s “I Used to Love That Suicide World,” Kehinde Wiley’s “Le Roi a la Chasse,” Conrad Bakkar’s “Untitled Project: Muscle Car,” Benito Laren’s “Buscando Precios (Looking for Prices),” or Kerry James Marshall’s “Black Painting.” Or choose another work of art from this room. What does this work of art say about the artist’s society?













5) Compare one painting of a human being from the 15th-17th century art galleries with a painting of a human being from the modern art galleries. (Perhaps look at Otto Dix’s “Self Portrait Facing Left with a Black Collar,” Robert Henri’s “The Old Model,” Stanton MacDonald-Wright’s “Synchromy in Purple Minor,” Manierre Dawson’s “Woman in Brown,” or Kehinde Wiley’s “Le Roi a la Chasse.” Ultimately, though, the choice is yours.) How have our thoughts about human nature changed from the time of one portrait to the time of the other? This question involves two works of art, and thus will require a more extensive explanation than some of the other questions.











6) Dee Wolff’s “Selah” series—Examine one set of Stations of the Cross, paying special attention to the symbols she uses. She is transforming this genre from a set of scenes depicting the death of Jesus into a set of scenes depicting…what, exactly?  










DOWNSTAIRS:

Jorge Macchi: The Anatomy of Melancholy:

7) According to the introduction to the exhibit, Macchi finds “poetic meanings in everyday objects” and means his works to evoke “emotional and personal” readings for viewers.  Pick one work by Macchi and explain it in Freudian terms. What does it say about our ability to access our unconscious mind, about repressed thoughts and feelings, or about the seemingly absurd symbolic language of our unconscious minds?









The Virgin, Saints, and Angels: South American Paintings 1600-1825:

8) Pick a painting of the Virgin Mary. Some appropriate choices include: “Our Lady of Candlemas,” “Our Lady of Pomata,” “The Child Mary Spinning,” “Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners,” and “Our Lady of Mercy,” but you may choose another painting as well. Examine how Mary is portrayed—her race and especially her attire.  Give a Marxist reading of the painting.  What did the patrons of this work of art want to convey about Mary to the indigenous peoples who saw the painting?












Drawing it all together:

9) Finally, create a work of art that you think belongs in the Blanton Museum. Write a paragraph explaining the social, political, philosophical, or aesthetic meaning of your work, and explaining why you think it would fit well with the other works in the Blanton. You might create a Freudian, Marxist, or Sartrean work of art, but using one of these theorists is not a requirement.






Bonuses:
10) 15th-18th century gallery: Find two pictures that relate to The Bakkhai at the literal level. In what ways do they differ from each other? What is the significance of these differences?





11) 15th-18th century gallery: Find a Veronese or a Rubens painting (pick just one). What statement do you think the author is making about human beings in this painting?



12) The Virgin, Saints, and Angels: Find a painting of The Last Judgment. What political role did this painting serve? Examine the details to explain how it fulfilled this role.