MFA in Visual Art

ion) Same as F20 612F. First-year MFAs (only) register for F20 512F. This course examines strategies of abstraction and nonobjective image-making that originate in the painting studio, including those that are driven by concept, material, space and/ or process. Readings and discussion will examine the evolution and history of abstraction and its present applications within a contemporary studio practice. The course will engage students in both assigned and self-directed work that will enable them to experiment with a broad visual vocabulary while understanding the relationship between form and content. Credit 3 units. Art: FAAM F20 ART 513D Sculpture: Art Practice Special Topics: The Book as Object and Artifact: When we read a book, it is always the physical volume in our hands Bul le t in 2017-18 MFA in V isua l Ar t (11 /28 /17) 4 — or in some substitute for hands — that is being read. That reading is a hands-on experience we well understand, but what is to be said about artists taking hands to the book as object, transmogrifying it and separating it from readability? Participants in this studio will work with some of the great range of possibilities for using the book as a sculptural object to bring forth other orders of its meaning. Prerequisite: First-year MFA student standing. Symbiosis: This course explores numerous scenarios that create different levels of sculptural interactivity from low to high tech. Students construct devices ranging from simple mechanisms to large-scale installations fostering physical, analogue or digital interaction between the viewer and the sculptural environment. Viewer-activated systems create multiple interactive platforms, initiating a responsive relationship between the sculpture and the viewer. Lectures, demonstrations and readings devise a broad understanding of the histories and potentials of symbiotic relationships between a work of art and its audience. Prerequisite: First-year MFA student standing. Matter in Hand: This course focuses on an array of moldable and castable materials and processes that have played a key role in the history of artistic expression. In-depth demonstrations supported by critiques, discussions, lectures and historical readings provide opportunities to re-evaluate the meanings these primal materials bring to contemporary practice. Students explore these concepts through artistic and architectonic lenses and are encouraged to experiment with these processes in their work. Prerequisite: First-year MFA student standing. Credit 3 units. EN: H F20 ART 513F Sculpture: Foundry The focus of this course is to introduce students to the basic principles of bronze and aluminum casting according to the lost wax method. Students will learn mold making, direct organic burnout, ceramic shell investment, metal chasing, and patination in order to create finished sculpture. In addition to metal casting, students will use other material such as plaster, resin, steel, wood, rubber, plastic and foam to create a mixed media project that explores a specific idea or theme. Additional work outside the regularly scheduled class time is required. Prerequisite: firstyear MFA student standing or Director's signature, Bixby 1. Credit variable, maximum 6 units. F20 ART 513H Sculpture: Blacksmithing This course is an introduction to blacksmithing materials, tools and techniques. Students will explore the fundamental techniques of hand-forged metal. Metal can be manipulated as a plastic material and offers enormous possibilities for threedimensional form. In this class we will explore these possibilities and expand our sculptural vocabulary. Credit variable, maximum 6 units. EN: H F20 ART 513I Sculpture: Metal Fabrication Metal is the backbone of our modern world and a viable medium for self-expression. It can be employed as structure or as surface, it can be plastically deformed to create compound shapes or it can be connected to most any other material. Students will explore the creative potential of this material in the fabrication of sculptural forms. Students learn to weld using both gas and electric arc machines as well as the safe operation of drilling, grinding and finishing tools. Credit variable, maximum 6 units. EN: H F20 ART 513M Sculpture: Art Practice (Sculptural Bodies) This course investigates the sociopolitical issues of the body, the figure and their potential in contemporary art practice. The term "body" is used as an organism, in an expansive way, to investigate the metaphorical, physical, emotional, cultural, and spiritual bodies. A variety of media and methods are explored with an emphasis on three-dimensional work and objectbased performance. Lectures, demonstrations and readings contextualize the potential of sculptural systems to constitute the meaning of a contemporary body. Prerequisite: Sculpture Studio: Material and Culture. Open to BFA students who have taken the prerequisite, and others, including minors and MFA students, with consent of instructor.