UPDATE: 11.19.09

In today's class session, we viewed and, to a certain extent, participated in renditions of John Cage's piece 4'33'', as seen below:

To a large extent, Cage's composition challenges our accepted notions of what constitutes music by forcing us to examine a) sound, b) "silence," and c) our expectations for a performance within a particular context. The composer says as much in the following interview:

Likewise, today's class session, I would hope, challenges us to reconsider our accepted notions of what constitutes a class session, writing instruction, teacher-student dynamics, etc. By creating a space in which the instructor remains silent and leaves the "music" of the class session up to the students, how are traditional instructional and institutional roles altered? Furthermore, how does the performative aspect of today's session change our perspectives? While, no doubt, every class session is its own type of performance, how does the hyperbolic use of performance re-align the educational space in-and-of-itself?

With these questions in mind, your next pre-writing assignment will ask you to think through these issues with regard to your sculpture. For example, how does the fact that your art-objects are located outside of the museum's confines ask us to approach the pieces differently than those inside the museum? Or, perhaps more curious, how does the fact that these art-objects are found outside force us to reconsider the "natural" (outdoors) environment? Additionally, many of your sculptures are representations of animated objects or re-creations of other art-objects; as such, how can we determine the rhetorical effects and affects of our pieces by thinking through what they are not? Or to state this differently, Cage asks us to reconsider music through silence (i.e. "what it is not"); by the same token, how can we reconsider sculpture through animated matter, non-sculpted art-objects, or art-objects found within the confines of galleries or museums? In response to these questions, compose a 500 word blog post that contains 1 mutlimedia element and 2 relevant hyperlinks. DUE: Tuesday, November 24th @ 12:30PM.

NOTE: This weekend, I will email all of you a link to one of the images I took during Tuesday's session. I would like for this to be the multimedia element you use in your post. The remainder of the images will be sent to you over Thanksgiving break.

UPDATE: 11.15.09

For Tuesday's class session, we will meet in front of the Sheldon Art Museum located on UNL's campus. During this session, you will be observing and reflecting upon an outdoor sculpture that will be your primary text for WP3. Your assignments are as follows:

James: SANDY in Defined Space; Mahli: Woman Lying Down (II); Kyle G: Ouranos; Dan G: Fragment X-O; Ayana: Variable Wedge; Amanda: Willy; Bryan: Torso; Brittany: Story; Tiffany: Floating Figure; Kayla: Superstructure on 4; Katie: Serenity; Curtis: Monet's Table (from the Lily Pad Series); Megan R: Daimaru XV; Kailey: Nanticoke; Danny S: Untitled Relief; Alexis: Birth of Venus; Marcus: Pieta; Kyle V: Bather; Kelsey: Fallen Dreamer; Megan V: Arch Falls. So that you may locate your primary source easier, here is a map of the sculpture garden.

If you and one of your peers want to switch sculptures, that is fine, but you a) have to inform me of the swap during Tuesday's class session, and b) it must be one of the sculptures already on the list. I will take photographs of all your sculptures during class so each of you will have access to images of your primary text.

You will also so want to check the weather forecast for the day and dress appropriately, as we will be spending the entire class period outside.

For your first pre-writing assignment for WP3, you will need to write a 300-500 post on your previous experience with art-objects (you may interpret this as liberally as you would like). If you don't have any, or have very limited experience, you might want to address reasons for this absence, or apprehensions you might have with regard to writing a rhetorical analysis about an art-object. In addition to the word count, you will need to incorporate 1 multi-media element and 2 relevant hyperlinks. DUE: Wednesday, November 18th @ 2:00PM.

For your second pre-writing assignment for WP3, you will need to write a 500 word, cursory analysis of your sculpture, recording any salient information about it. Specifically, what rhetorical techniques, strategies, concepts, and appeals do you think the art-object evinces? Look through chapter 9 in CDA if you feel that you need a refresher on some of the rhetorical terminology we use for visual compositions. DUE: Thursday, November 19th @ 12:30PM.

Finally, I need 4 volunteers to bring, what the kids call, a "boombox" into class on Tuesday, November 25th. Your cooperation is much appreciated.