Nature of Narrative Art. Visual & Performing Arts Research Paper

The art work must choose in Toronto art gallery, bust choose is AGO art gallery.

VISC 1001: Global Visual and Material Culture: Prehistory to 1800 Prof. Carson Research Essay (20%) Due at the start of class on Tuesday, November 12, at 6:30 pm The objective of this assignment is to construct and complete a research paper on a specific work of art or design of your choosing that relates to the overarching theme of NATURE. You are to select an object in response to one of the questions below. You are to analyze and contextualize your object by researching its historical and art-historical context in relation to the theme of Nature. The finished paper will provide a rich, thoughtful discussion of your object in relation to its art historical period or culture. Question 1. What role did nature play in art and design in the period and culture in which your chosen work was created? Question 2. Representations of nature have played a central role in much religious art. What role did nature play in religious art in the time and place your chosen object was created? What role does it play in your chosen object? Question 3. What role does nature (and /or landscape) play in narrative art? What role does it play in creating meaning and/or mood? Question 4. What does your chosen artist’s representation of nature say about art and artistic creation? Method: 1. Choose an object in relation to one of the above questions. Your chosen work must fit the chronological scope of the course (that is, you must select an art or design object manufactured prior to the year 1800 CE inclusive). You must see it in person at a Toronto cultural institution (e.g. Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts, Textile Museum, Aga Khan Museum or Bata Shoe Museum). The object must be located in the city of Toronto and on display either as part of the museum’s permanent collection or part of a temporary exhibition. The object cannot be a reproduction or model (n.b. the reproduction of the Palette of Narmer in the Royal Ontario Museum is not permissible.) *You must provide some proof of recent viewing (an admission ticket, a “selfie” taken in front of the gallery, etc.) 2. Research the art-historical context of your chosen work of art or design. You must use a minimum of three academic sources (i.e. academic journal articles, books, or exhibition catalogues). You may consult your textbook, but for the purpose of this essay, it will not count as one of your academic sources). Academic research databases such as JSTOR may be used freely, as well as the Grove Dictionary of Art Online. Wikipedia is not an appropriate academic source. If you find useful information that is located in a potentially untrustworthy source it is your task to track down a better source. Regardless, you must honestly report or cite any source from which you have borrowed information or ideas, including Wikipedia. Furthermore, you should only consult the museum website to verify the artist’s name, title, medium, dimensions, date and/or place of production of your object, and to find an image of the object to include with your paper. 3. Write a research essay that responds to this question by situating your chosen work within its art-historical context. Information about the object’s specific historical context (its immediate social/cultural/political/religious context, etc.) may also be helpful. However, please remember that your work of art, artifact or design that is the focus of your essay. It is highly possible that you will not find scholarship addressing the exact piece you have selected—that’s fine. The piece you have chosen is likely representative of/related to a category of objects, or part of an artist’s body of work, on which you can find scholarship. Important: 1) Your essay must be 5-6 pages (c. 1250-1500 words). It should be double-spaced, with 1” margins, using a 12-pt font in Times New Roman on 8 ½ x 11” pages. It should be page numbered. Please include your TA’s name as well as your name and student number. Papers that do not adhere to the above format will not be accepted. You must staple your admission ticket or proof-of-viewing to your paper. 2) Include a clear and assertive thesis statement at the beginning of your essay. Your thesis should establish a clear position or argument and refer explicitly to your selected object while reflecting the question you selected. 3) Include a reproduction or rendering for your object, along with complete information (artist, title, date, medium etc.). Please ask for permission before taking a photograph of any object on display. Students are also free to print an image of the object from the museum website, to submit a postcard of it from the museum gift shop (or, with express permission of the shop owner, photograph the postcard in the gift shop), or photocopy it from a museum guide or catalogue. The image of your work of art or artifact is placed on its own page, with a caption, after the body of your essay and before your bibliography (if using the Chicago Manual of Style) or works cited (if using MLA). 4) You must appropriately reference your research sources. Include a bibliography of works cited AS WELL AS appropriate citations of your secondary sources using either the Chicago Manual of Style (footnotes) or MLA (in-text parenthetical references). Please note: “Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s ideas, opinions, writings etc. and representing them as one’s own. You plagiarize whenever you borrow another scholar’s ideas without paraphrasing or quoting directly from a source and without giving credit through proper citation or acknowledgment.” For more information see: http://www(dot)ocadu(dot)ca/Assets/content/registrarial/1014-academic-misconduct-policy.pdf 5) The largest part of your mark will be calculated according to the content of your essay, but the organization of your discussion and the style of your writing will also be considered. Good luck and be sure to pick an object that fascinates you!