Julietta Cheung

Core Studio is a year-long course that introduces students to both disciplinary and interdisciplinary art practice. Students learn about the methods, materials, tools and concepts in the areas of Surface (2-dimensional), Space (3-dimensional), and Time (4-dimensional), both independently and in relationship to one another. Students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials and themes being presented by faculty. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, historical with the contemporary, and makes visible the possibilities and variety of approaches in contemporary cultural production.

In this course we will focus on the development of artistic research skills for students already engaged in a practice. Students take this required course in order to experience and develop a variety of research methodologies, both conventional and alternative, which include utilizing collections and archives in the School and the extended community.

Students will undertake various types of research activities: a) collecting and classification, b) mapping and diagramming, c) systems of measurement, d) social interaction, e) information search systems, f) recording and representation, and g) drawing and other notational systems.

Faculty directed, open-media, interdisciplinary, idea based assignments are designed to help students recognize work habits, biases, strengths, and weaknesses. Through this course work students will be able to identify the most productive research methods and making strategies to bolster their emerging studio practice. Critique as an evaluative process used in art and design schools, is a focus in this course. Various methods and models of critique are used in order to give students the tools to discuss their own work and the work of others.

In this open genre studio course, students take the concept of 'structure' as a lens through which to examine their artistic practice and topical interests. In lectures, readings, and discussions, contemporary questions surrounding the body, identity, shelter, ecology, institutions, and community will be explored. The works of artists, such as Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Jumana Manna, B. Ingrid Olson, Sarah Sze, Tauba Auerbach, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Alvin Lucier, and more will serve as entry points to our explorations. There will be three major studio assignments and several in-class studio experiments. Students will be encouraged to explore interdisciplinary forms of making and there will be opportunities for collaborative approaches.

This seminar consists of weekly lectures, colloquia, and studio visits. Students are expected to arrive with completed and semi-completed works and be prepared to make and re-make new works throughout the summer sessions. A wide variety of readings chosen by faculty will guide discussions that concentrate on problems concerning methods of artmaking, distribution, and interpretation. Readings will include examples drawn from the emerging category of conceptual writing as well as crucial art historical texts, literature, and poetry.