Stranger Things: Exploring Historical Artworks in Bone, Metal, Parchment and Glass
Instructed by Charlotte Gray
Sundays, 1:30-3:30pm
November 9 - December 7
(no class November 30)
Registration Deadline: November 6
[ REGISTER HERE ]
Tuition
$150 for 4-week class
Description
A piece of whale bone carved with runes…and a scene from the Hebrew Bible…
A lapis lazuli head of Venus…serving as Christ’s head on a medieval crucifix…
A stained glass window…designed by Gerhard Richter…
What questions would you ask of these artworks? What messages do their materials convey?
Are these objects strange, or are we just strangers to their histories?
This course explores artworks created with materials and techniques that were once primary components of western artistic production but have now fallen out of mainstream contemporary practice: ivory and bone carving, painting on parchment, gilding and metalwork, and enameling and glazing (stained glass). We will devote one seminar meeting to each of these media (broadly conceived), discussing both wide-ranging cultural topics—such as spirituality and cross-cultural exchange—and medium-specific technical topics including modern conservation techniques. By engaging with artworks created in unusual media, we will bring fresh eyes to the the interpretive issues raised at the shifting intersection of making and meaning. How do the circumstances of an artwork’s production contribute to and construct its meaning? How do we know?
Guided discussions will progress by means of selected texts, digital resources and original artworks which will be available in the classroom for study, written analysis and sketching. In studying the history of these artistic media, we will develop our ability to draw closer to objects from historically distant contexts, thereby augmenting our frames of reference for the objects we create and encounter in the future.
This class will cover the following topics:
• the history of (primarily western) objects in bone, metal, parchment and glass
• how to evaluate the material, cultural and conceptual aspects of an historical artwork
• an introduction to some of the interpretive lenses art historians bring to their work: materiality, iconography, narrative, etc.
• a collaborative introduction to written visual analysis
• an introduction to current methods for the technical examination of artworks
Texts or other Required/Recommended Materials
(download/print PDF here)
Level of Study: Beginner+
This class is open to all students who enjoy approaching the past with curiosity and courage.
Suggested Prerequisites: none
LOCATION: Unless otherwise specified, all courses are hosted at Manifest's new facility at 'M1' in Clifton at 3464 Central Parkway (see map and directions below). Manifest's new facility provides multiple studio classrooms, private lesson space, a darkroom, a film processing room, and a multi-purpose lecture and class meeting space as well as on-site parking, grounds, and exterior spaces in which to relax, discuss, and make art. The studios are outfitted with professional equipment, furniture, and study aids.
Map to Manifest's M1 Studios | Studio Calendar | Darkroom Calendar
Manifest's new home on Central Parkway is a historic 1932 structure ideally suited to the various programs of the Manifest Drawing Center (and future Manifest Gallery).
|
About the Instructor
Charlotte Gray holds a Ph.D. in Art History from Harvard University. She has curated exhibitions and taught art history courses at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and the University of Connecticut, where she recently concluded a collaborative research project about Parkinson’s disease and the history of photography. Outside of art history, she enjoys learning about herbalism, Irish and American fiddling styles, classical chamber music and percussive dancing.
|
