Artist Julie Mehretu at work in her Berlin studio
How do artists get to work? What do different studio practices look like? These videos focus on how artists manage their production time, work with studio assistants to make big projects happen, as well as show the production of work for presentation at museum and gallery exhibitions.
View these videos:
- Kara Walker: Starting Out (Links to an external site.) (4:31)
- Julie Mehretu: Workday (Links to an external site.) (2:08)
- Julie Mehretu: Studio Assistants (Links to an external site.) (4:50)
- Stephanie Syjuco in "San Francisco Bay Area" (Links to an external site.) (14:48)
QUESTIONS TO GET THIS DISCUSSION GOING:
- How hard is it for you to start on new projects? What are the "tricks" that you do to get yourself to start? Do you identify with how any of these artists work?
- Can you see yourself scaling up a professional practice that would incorporate working with others to produce your work? What do you see as the benefits this could bring, as well as how this would affect how you think about your work? In other words, is it important for only you to be making your work, or can you see spreading out this labor in order to grow in scale and size?
HOW TO COMPLETE THIS ASSIGNMENT:
Video Viewing/Discussions will take the form of an online "discussion" in which you will be asked to POST on the assigned videos by a certain deadline, and then COMMENT on at least 2 other classmates' posts. This will function to let the instructor know that you have absorbed the material, and helps prepare for the short discussion that will take place during the next class. By beginning the discussion outside of class, all students can participate asynchronously — at different times. This format makes sure that each student is able to participate in the discussion at some point, even if they do not speak in class.
How this works:
1. POSTING: Please share a short response to the videos by the due date. I'll provide some question prompts to get you started. Include any ideas, epiphanies, and especially questions that may have come up for you. You can write about how this relates to your own way of thinking about art work, or the larger art world in general. What did this text make you think of?
Your post should be approximately 1-2 short paragraphs. (1 pt.)
2. COMMENTING: Once you have posted, you will be able to see others' posts. You have until the assignment closure date to comment/respond to at least 2 of the posts in some way.
Each comment you add should be 1-2 sentences long, and up to a short paragraph or more, if it moves you. You may comment on more than 2 posts and you can engage in multiple back-and-forth dialogue — there is no limit as long as you comment on 2 posts. Avoid short meaningless responses like "I agree," and then just restating the person's post — make sure you add to the conversation in a further way. Use full sentences. Build on what was previously said and add your perspective. Ask each other questions if you want. Feel free to agree or even disagree, respectfully. (1 pt.)
