1. MODULE 15
COURSE REVIEW
Art 100
Understanding Visual Culture

2. part 1 definitions m1-4
 Definitions
 What is “visual culture”? How is it different from
art? From craft? From decoration? From other
kinds of artifacts?
 What is art? How have different cultures defined it
differently? What is its relationship with rituals
and ceremonies?
 What has art become in the modern world? Where
do you find it? Who looks at it? What uses does it
serve?

3. part 2 skills
 what is formal analysis? what are some of the
key formal qualities to look out for in two and
three-dimensional visual works
 why is it important to observe images in close
detail?

4. part 2 skills
 what is semiotic analysis?
 what is a signifier? signified?
 how do signifiers and signifieds work
together to create possible meanings for
visual forms?
 how do I choose which signifieds are most
likely for a given work of art?

5. part 2 skills
 what is contextual analysis?
 how does the reading of the work change if
the context is thought to be historical?
 military/political history
 social/cultural history
 history of everyday life
 labor history
 history of images, such as painting, or
photography

6. part 2 skills
 what is contextual analysis?
 how might the reading of a work change if
the context is considered to be:
 the society’s attitudes toward gender, race, class,
ethnicity, or disability?

7. part 2 skills
 How do these various approaches work
together (or at times, against each other), to
produce an interpretation?
 What is an interpretation?
 What makes something a good
interpretation, rather than a mediocre or
lousy one?

8. part 3 domains
 photography
 media and technology
 material culture
 design
 architecture
 urban planning

9. part 3 domains
 What unique qualities are possessed by each
domain that differentiates it from other
domains present on the list?
 With what specific problems or challenges
does this domain deal?
 What are some of the tensions experienced
within this domain, and what creative
solutions have been proposed to address
those tensions?