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Art in a Time of War
Instructor: Beverly Naidus
University of Washington, Tacoma (Spring 2005)

Course Summary

With every war there have been artists who have used their art to express feelings and thoughts about war. At this particular moment there is a veritable explosion of socially engaged art addressing this topic. We will look at both historical and contemporary examples of such art, examine popular visual media and how it frames war and violence, and make art about personal stories and community stories. Our readings will raise questions about the purposes and futility of war to solve problems, and how art might prompt our society to visualize new ways of resolving conflict.

Course Objectives

• To explore a conceptual approach to art making
• To strengthen formal skills and knowledge of visual grammar
• To experience hands-on collaborative art processes
• To be exposed to a wide variety of contemporary art forms including site-specific installations, culture jamming, posters, graphic narratives, and photo-text work.
• To develop facility with the terms INTENTION,AUDIENCE and CONTEXT when discussing the goals of an artwork
• To become familiar with a variety ways of understanding the topic of war as it relates to art and to contemporary society
• To encourage critical thinking in relation to the art making process and the topics discussed

Course Requirements

• A journal with a minimum of bi-weekly entries, including drawings, photos, notes, and stories.
• A final individual project (any medium we have explored in class) that examines issues related to course theme
• Reading: Assorted articles available on e-reserve and online articles. If you need help finding e-reserve online please let me know.
• Assigned digital photo/text piece, poster, graphic narrative, and final project – both in class projects and work done at home
• A collaborative, site-specific project that explores some aspect of war and peace in relation to community
• A research project presented orally (7-10 minutes) on an artist whose work addresses the topic of war or peace. The choice of the artist must be discussed with the instructor AT LEAST 2 weeks before presentation time. Research must include sources other than the web. Students will be graded based on the depth of understanding of the artist’s work, the ability to engage the audience with the subject matter, and sufficient research.
• A short paper (2-3 pages) about one “anti-war” film listed at the end of the Bibliography
• Class participation is essential and unexcused absences will affect grades. Attendance is extremely important in studio art classes. It will be difficult to make up the work outside of class, and your insight and participation during discussions are a critical part of the class. We all learn from each other's perspectives; and if you miss class, you will miss learning from these insights. Missing more than three class meetings during the quarter, regardless of the reason, will have a negative effect on your class participation grade.

Grades and Self-evaluation

Students will turn in a midterm portfolio that includes their journal documenting their work during the first 5 weeks of class. That portfolio will be graded. A self-evaluation statement is required as part of that portfolio. The self-evaluation should reflect on the student’s participation in class discussions, his or her art process in relation to collaborative and individual work, and the insights culled from writing, reading and research. A list of questions to answer will be posted at Blackboard.

Students are required to share their studio projects during group feedback sessions and to participate in the discussions about their work.

All assignments are assessed according to the following criteria:

1. Familiarity with visual grammar in relation to the student’s intention
2. Ability to be inventive both with content and form, and to take risks
3. Attention to craft and process - Work created with little attention or care will be graded accordingly
4. Responsiveness to suggestions to strengthen projects

Grades will be weighted in the following way: Photo/text piece: 10%, Midterm Journal: 10%, Collaborative Work: 10%, Graphic Narrative:10%, Film Paper:10%, Oral Presentation: 10%, Poster Project: 10%, Participation: 10%, Final Journal: 10%, Final project: 10%

Supplies

Blank page (UN-LINED) journal for biweekly drawings/photos/stories/notes, pencils, erasers, sharpener, glue stick, old magazines and fashion catalogs, X-acto knife and cardboard cutting board, digital camera (they can be borrowed from media services) and miscellaneous scavenged materials

Your journal is the place for writing down notes on class discussion, readings, and reflections about anything related to the course topic. You will also be using the journal for your sketches and as a place to store photos and clippings related to class projects. This journal is an essential part of the creative process and vital to the assessment of your work.

Calendar

Class #1 - Introduction to course and instructor. Discuss syllabus and goals of course. Slide show. Exercise: Pair with another classmate. Tell a story about an experience with war – either from your own perspective or that of a friend, family member or neighbor. You can talk about someone you know who went to war, your own experiences as a soldier or working in the military, someone who was involved with peace work, your own alienation from the topic and why, etc. The partner who is listening will make notes about the story. The notes will be used to create a text for a photo/text project. Work with partner to distill a few lines of text to be used in a photo/text piece. Reading of poems of Thich Nhat Hanh and William Stafford.

Homework: Read Chris Hedges article. http://www.yesmagazine.org/ article.asp?ID=1165
See also http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/ your_community/rockford/0521hedgesspeech.shtml
And http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/ your_community/rockford/20030520-4814.shtml
Make notes in journal for class discussion. Select photo of war that you want to use for assignment.

Class #2 – Discussion of visual grammar. Introduction to Photoshop. Scan photos. Play with a variety of formats to create photo/text work.

Homework: Finish first draft of photo text work. Read Claude Anshin Thomas. Make notes.
See also http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0109-09.htm

Class #3 – Share photo text first draft. Discuss Thomas.

Homework: Bring in magazine advertisements that are selling safety, patriotism, security, nationalism, and nostalgia besides the product. Read David Goodman’s Mother Jones article.

Class #4 - Media Literacy workshop. View Heartfield video, Zygosis. Discuss culture jamming

Homework: Begin work on culture jamming assignment. Read Howard Zinn’s Artists in a Time of War essay.

Class #5 – Work on Culture Jamming. Discuss Zinn.

Homework: Bring in first draft for feedback.

Class #6 – Discuss first draft.

Homework: Rework first draft.

Class #7 – Look at Culture Jamming assignment. Rework after critique. Discussion of Photography and War. Visit http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/
http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/ watch excerpts of War Photographer, look at Palestine, Maus, Persepolis, and various children’s drawings of war

Homework: Begin work on a graphic narrative – either an autobiographical piece or a third person study, looking at the process of looking at war.

Class #8 - Bring in graphic narrative to work on in class.

Homework: Work on graphic narrative. Read Edward Said’s forward to Palestine.

Class #9 - Bring in graphic narrative to work on in class. Discuss Said. Choose artist to present on.

Homework: Write self-evaluation and prepare portfolio.

QUESTIONS FOR MIDTERM SELF-EVALUATION

Please answer the following questions (no more than two pages single-spaced, and not less than one page single-spaced).

• How have the discussions about art and war helped you to develop your opinions on this topic?
• What are some aspects of the readings that have opened your eyes to new ways of thinking about the topic?
• In what ways are the photo-text-collage exercises helping you connect with the topic?
• How do you feel you are growing in terms of your visualizing-conceptualizing skills? Where are your strengths? Where do you feel you need or want to improve?
• What do you feel has been one of the most important things you have learned about your creative process so far this quarter?
• What are you looking forward to during the next five weeks of the quarter?
• How do you feel about your participation in class discussions?

Please begin your research on an artist whose works deals with the topics of war and peace - you may choose someone from the list below. You will be doing an oral presentation (7-10 minutes). Present a few examples (minimum of 5, maximum of 10) of the artist's work and discuss the meaning and/or questions that you have about it. After reading 3 articles by art writers of critics, summarize what you think that these writers feel are the intentions of the work. Offer us a rough bio about the artist - it would be good to know where and when the artist was born, where or if s/he went to school, what class background the artist has, whether s/he teaches somewhere and what you think or what s/he says provoked him or her to be an artist dealing with the topics s/he is dealing with. In your conclusion, suggest a question that the class might want to respond to regarding the work. Presentation format can be in power point or you can just project scanned images of the artist's work on the large screen. Holding up books with reproductions is not acceptable and very hard for a group as large as ours to enjoy or see.

Leon Golub
George Grosz
Otto Dix
Nancy Spero
Francisco Goya
Pablo Picasso
Josep Renau
Kathe Kollwitz
Ed Kienholtz/Nancy Reddin
Komar and Melamid
John Heartfield
Maya Lin
Sue Coe
William Pope L.
Martha Rosler
Dread Scott
Robbie Conal
Pat Ward Williams
Fred Wilson
Carrie Mae Weems
Ann Messner
Barbara Kruger
Kat Skraba
Mark Lepson
Micah Wright
Tom Tomorrow
David Alfaro Siquieros
Oyvind Fahlstrom
Seymour Chwast
Ben Shahn
Art Spiegelman
Joe Sacco

YOU MUST USE SOURCES OTHER THAN THE WEB for this presentation – a bibliography is required and must be submitted! Questions to address in presentation: the artist’s education, why is s/he doing this body of work, what do you find meaningful about the work, how does s/he use visual grammar, what question do you have for us about the work. Artist chosen must be mentioned in midterm self-evaluation.

Class #10 – Midterm evaluation and portfolio due. Documentary videos from Media Education Fdtn.

Homework: Watch film and write 2-3 page paper. Summarize the plot of the film in one or two paragraphs. Then answer the following in the next page or two (no papers should be longer than 3 pages): Did the film make you think anew about the topic of war? Do you the film promotes peace? Are there contradictory messages in the film? Name some of the most powerful, disturbing, or transcendent moments of the film and explain why they affected you that way. Conclude with a statement about how seeing this film in the context of this course has influenced your creative vision or opinions about the topics in the course.

Class #11 - Turn in film paper. Poster project begins. Slide show and poster display. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/~lcushing/CubaGen.html
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/~lcushing/temp_files/TGP.html
http://www.politicalgraphics.org/home.html

Homework: Poster project. Read Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others essay

Class #12 – Discuss reading. Poster project.

Homework: - Finish poster project. Read John Mohawk, Bill Weinberg, and Riane Eisler’s articles in YES magazine http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1170
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1173
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1167

Class #13 – Present 1st draft poster project. Discuss Mohawk. Brainstorm collab project.

Homework: Begin final project (open media).

Class #14 – BN in Atlanta. Guest artist facilitates class discussion.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work, Read War is Peace essay by Arundhati Roy
http://www.zmag.org/roywarpeace.htm

Class #15 - Presentations on artists. Brainstorm collab project. Discuss Roy.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work. Reading from Postmodern War by Chris Hables Gray.

Class #16 - Presentations on artists. Brainstorm collab project. Discuss Gray.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work. Read Gwynne Dyer http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1230-05.htm

Class #17 - Presentations on artists.Brainstorm collab project. Discuss Dyer.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work. Reading: Guy Brett chapter in Through Our Own Eyes about The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp

Class #18 – Work Session. Discuss Brett.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work. Read Carol Becker’s essay from Surpassing the Spectacle

Class #19 – Work Session. Open discussion.

Homework: Final project and collaborative work

Class #20 – Install collaborative work and feedback session.

Homework: Finish final project and prepare journal.

Class #21 - Critique of final projects. Turn in journals and final drafts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Al-Radi, Nuha, Baghdad Diaries : A Woman's Chronicle of War and Exile, Vintage, 2003
Andrews, Julian, and Moore, Henry, London's War: The Shelter Drawings of Henry Moore, Lund Humphries Publishers, 2002
Baigall, Matthew and Williams, Julia, Artists Against War and Fascism: Papers of the First American Artists' Congress, Rutgers University Press, 1986
Becker, Annette, Otto Dix Der Krieg/the War, 5 Continents, 2004
Becker, Carol, Surpassing the Spectacle, Rowman and Littlefield, 2002
Brett, Guy, Through Our Own Eyes: Popular Art and Modern History, Library Company of Philadelphia, 1987
Bruckner, D.J.R., Art Against War: Four Hundred Years of Protest in Art, Abbeville, 1984
Eisler, Riane, “Spare the Rod”, Yes Magazine, Winter 2005
Eberle, Matthias, World War I & the Weimar Artists: Dix, Grosz, Beckmann, Yale, 1986
Goodman, David, “Hell No: America’s Soldiers Speak Out Against the Iraq War,” Mother Jones, December 2004
Goya, Francisco, Disasters of War, Dover, 1968
Gray, Chris Hables, Postmodern War, Guilford Publications, 1998
Hanh, Thich Nhat, Being Peace, Parallax, 1987
Hedges, Chris, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Anchor, 2003
“Love and Resistance in Wartime,” Yes Magazine, Winter 2005
Leon Golub and Nancy Spero: War and Memory(catalog), MIT List Visual Arts Center, 1995
McConnell, Carolyn, “Finding a Way Home,” Yes Magazine, Winter 2005
McCormick, Ken, and Perry, Hamilton, Images of War, Orion Books, 1990
Mohawk, John, “The Warriors Who Turned to Peace,” Yes Magazine, Winter 2005
Roy, Arundhati, An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, South End Press, 2004
Rubin, Susan Goldman, Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin, Holiday House, 2000
Sacco, Joe, Palestine, Fantagraphics, 2002
Satrapi, Marjane, Persepolis, Pantheon, 2003
Sontag, Susan, Regarding the Pain of Others, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2002
Spero, N, Golub, Leon, & Storr, Robert, Nancy Spero: The War Series 1966-1970, Charta, 2004
Spiegelman, Art, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Pantheon, 1993
Stafford, Kim(ed), Every War Has Two Losers: William Stafford on Peace & War, Milkweed, 2003
Thomas, Claude Anshin, At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace, Shambala, 2004
Vidal, Gore, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, Nation Books, 2002
Zinn, Howard, Artists in Times of War, Seven Stories Press, 2003

You will choose one of the following “anti-war” films (for more information about them, please visit the websites below) to write about in a 2-3 page paper:

Grave of the Fireflies, Dr. Strangelove, Das Boot, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Catch 22, Grand Illusion, King of Heart, Land and Freedom, Slaughterhouse Five, The Great Dictator, Salvador, Full Metal Jacket, Born on the Fourth of July, Red Badge of Courage, Breaker Morant, Gandhi, Johnny Got His Gun, Wag the Dog, M.A.S.H., Testament, The Day After, War Games, Night and Fog, The Killing Fields

http://worldfilm.about.com/ cs/toppicks/tp/antiwar.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ tg/listmania/list-browse/-/ 1TMFOV7JRIW99/104-5792679-1597565
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/ issues/peace-&-war/start/ antiwar-movies-books/