1. Supplemented by guerrilla girls’ Bedside companion Chapters 6-end 20th and 21st Century art What is Art? (Art is What?)Carolyn Korsmeyer
2. Feminist Art “One agenda (among many) of some feminist artists has been to question the terms of classification and evaluation employed in art and to defy those standards in their own work—thereby resisting the gendered ideals that pervade art traditions” (Korsmeyer 105). How do the artists in Korsmeyer’s article do this? What contemporary artists can you draw our attention to that do this sort of work (possible blog topic!)
5. Fine art tradition Expression Theory “Hold that an expressive work is something of power and lasting value that imparts to the viewer, reader, or listener a vision or idea or intuition that is unique” (110). How important do you think uniqueness is in a work of art? Formalist Approach “Evaluates compositional qualities above all others in assessment of works of art” (111). How do feminist critics react to formalist approaches?
6. FountainMarcel Duchamp1917/1964 “The complacency implicit in the assumption that we don’t need to formulate a concept of art because we already know it when we see it, seems an inadequate response to the puzzles that the artworld amply delivers” (112).
7. Interior ScrollCaroleeSchneemann1973 On 115 Korsmeyer discusses the difficulty in understanding works like Schneemann’s. What’s the connection between tradition, art movements, and feminism that Korsmeyer identifies? How does this combine or conflict with Kraft?
8. Questions to ask: What’s it about? What does it mean? Why was it made? When was it made? What social and artistic conversations does it contribute to? “If you get good answers to those questions, it’s art.” Arthur Danto, 1997
9. Silueta Works in Iowa Ana Mendieta, 1976-1978 Serie arbol de la vida Ana Mendieta, 1976 Use of the artist’s body as material
10. Untitled Film Still #6 Cindy Sherman, 1978 Untitled Cindy Sherman, 1989 Use of the artist's body as model
11. “Tradition remains the overarching point of reference for feminist and postmodern artists, who refer continually to the past, whether ironically, parodically, or confrontationally” (128). What is art?
