Marjane Satrapi, Chicken with Plums

Marjane Satrapi, Chicken with Plums (New York: Pantheon Books, 2006), 16-19

Slavoj Ẑiẑek, Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture

Slavoj Ẑiẑek, Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1991) 97-99

Written on the Sky: Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth

Written on the Sky: Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New York: New Directions, 2009), 18, 19, 29, 40, 41

Orhan Pamuk, The Innocence of Objects

Orhan Pamuk, The Innocence of Objects (New York: Abrams, 2012), 60-61, 76-77, 82-83

Introduction

MIAD

Painting: Peter Barrickman

Sculpture: Will Pergl

Writing Workshop: Digging Deeper

Guest: Kiki Anderson

Wednesday, 31 August

In this workshop, we will pursue questions about the objects, experiences, places, and media that students address in their work. Through short related readings, timed free writing, and discussions, we hope to aid students as they further develop the forms and content of their current projects, while also shedding light on or reminding them of some of the main themes that run through the body of their work.

Sandbox at Passaic, the town where Smithson was born

I. Physical objects of interest and their forms

Describe an object of interest you use in your work.

Why does this form interest you?

What are some of the associations a person might make when they confront this object?

What might this object's form resemble?

How can these associations enrich the meaning of your work?

"...the artist seeks.... the fiction that reality will sooner or later imitate."
Robert Smithson from "A Museum of Language in the Vicinity of Art," 1968

www.robertsmithson.com

Related readings I:

Robert Smithson, “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey” in Blasted Allegories: An Anthology of Writings by Contemporary Artists, ed. Brian Wallis (New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1989), 79-81 [originally appeared as

“The Monuments of Passaic,” Artforum 6, no. 4 (December 1967), 48-51]

Orhan Pamuk, The Innocence of Objects (New York: Abrams, 2012), 60-61, 76-77, 82-83

Orhan Pamuk at The Museum of Innocence, which opened in 2012. His novel with the same name was published in 2008.

Exterior of The Museum of Innocence in Istanbul

II. An experience/place and its atmosphere

Write about a time and place that you evoke in your work.

Why is this so powerful or useful?

What do people usually do at that hour of the day or in that location?

What are some activities that people almost never do then and there? What if they did?

How does the time and place interact with the key objects and forms in your work?

Everyone is asleep

There is nothing to come between

the moon and me.

Enomoto Seifu-Jo in Written on the Sky: Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New York: New Directions, 2009), 18

Related reading II:

Ibid. 19, 29, 40, 41

III. Books, music, bands, films, podcasts, video games, etc.

What was the last movie you saw and really liked? How would you summarize it in one sentence? What do you like about the movie (set/actors/storyline, etc.)?

Do you listen to music when you create work? Why or why not? Do you play music? What are some of your favorite bands? Who are some of your favorite musicians?

What kinds of mass culture consciously inform your work? Do you consider this part of your personal history? Why or why not?

Related readings III:

Slavoj Ẑiẑek, Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1991) 97-99

Marjane Satrapi, Chicken with Plums (New York: Pantheon Books, 2006), 16-19

Robert Smithson, “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey”

Robert Smithson, “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey” in Blasted Allegories: An Anthology of Writings by Contemporary Artists, ed. Brian Wallis (New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art and Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1989), 79-81 [originally appeared as “The Monuments of Passaic,” Artforum 6, no. 4 (December 1967), 48-51]