Prompt: Select three works of art (or three examples of architecture, fashion de

Prompt: Select three works of art (or three examples of architecture, fashion design, video games, or cinema) that you have found while researching images related to class readings over the last few weeks. Analyze the works of art according to at least three themes that we have gone over in class, such as Roland Barthes’ concept of Myth, Guy Debord’s concept of Spectacle, Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, or Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism. Your discussions of visual culture should consider the formal properties of your selected examples. Your paper should also consider the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the selected works of art if they are evident.
Some things to consider in your essay:
How does the artist/creator engage with theory?
How do your examples represent or relate to a particular theorist’s arguments? For example, if I am analyzing Andy Warhol’s silkscreened portraits of celebrities I would consider how he is working against Benjamin’s theory that the aura of art is reduced when the work of art is reproduced or copied. I would also consider how Warhol is identifying the spectacle of celebrity in modern society and his interest in how images are circulated and among whom (popular culture, television, the museum or art gallery).
What is the artist/creator trying to communicate to the viewer?
What signs are they relying on to convey this message?
Who is the target audience of the artist? Is it a specific community or the general public?
Is there a visible social critique in the work? Is there an institutional critique? Is there cultural critique? Is there an attempt to subvert dominant culture?
Papers will be graded on the following criteria:
Writing is evaluated by its clarity of conception (appropriateness to the assignment) in the forming of the topic, quality of inquiry in discussing the topic, the organization of the prose (introduction, body, and conclusion; structured paragraphs), grammar (clear, complete sentences) the integration of readings in discussing the topic, and independent thinking (imagination, synthesis, elaboration of the aspects you find most interesting).