Field of Engagement Diagram: Asking Questions

But is it ART? courseKnowledge

TEXTWhat is art?

How do I recognize an art work? What help has the professor provided?Visual Analysis is the process of Visual Literacy Workbookunderstanding what is an art work Homeworkbecause it looks at both text and object. Class exercises 3

1 Readings

Subject Purpose Information ObjectProcess Problem

2How do I learn to do visual analysis? How do I apply the information to

Visual analysis has two parts: understanding a particular work of art? 4

Contextual Analysis which deals with frames of reference which require knowledge.

Formal Analysis which deals with how the work is constructed visually.

PerformanceExperience

Next Diagram—Applying the process of Visual Analysis

The Process of Visual AnalysisKnowledge

Contextual AnalysisRecognize Research

What kind of art work is it? The answers to the questions below need to be written out This stage involves placing the work in the because that is the most efficient way to process the appropriate context: Historical, Cultural, Physical information.in order to come up with an inquiry question. What do I already know about this work? How do I

know it? Is my knowledge based on internal or external evidence?

Medium—What medium/media were used toCreate the work?—this question can involve Physical context as well as historical and cultural ones.

Visual Style—What clues does the visualappearance of the work provide?

What other information would help meGenre—What kind of subject matter is this understand this work?work?—this question helps you to place thework in a historical or cultural context. What external contexts (historical/cultural) do I need

to know more about?

Subject Label Frames of Reference for the work ObjectEvidence from the Work Writing the Paper

Re-engage Respond/InterpretBasic Visual analysis: What formal elements and principles of design did the artist THESIS STATEMENTchoose to use to create this work? Supported by internal and external evidence=

research paper

Relevance: If the information helps me How do I know if I am getting it right?understand the work, then it is relevant. I can answer the questions using appropriate evidence

from the work itself [formal analysis] and external sourcesEnough: If information adequately supports my [contextual sources].paper thesis, then I have enough.

True: How reliable are your sources of information?

Formal AnalysisExperience

Constructing Sequences Using Visual Elements:

This diagram illustrates how the different elements are related to form the basic building blocks of the sequence that in turn creates flow. In formal analysis of sequential art any one of these elements—image, word, frame, moment, flow—can become the primary compositional device that

holds the work together as unified whole. For example, in artist books, the basic visual unit is the page and the binding controls how the pages are related and therefore constructs the flow of the work. In graphic literature, the basic visual unit is the framed moment which is constructed from choice of image. When words are used as part of the image, they function as both written language and visual image as they do in the example by poet/printmaker, William Blake. In this case, the images often inflect the words and vice versa and so their relationship can become critical to understanding the meaning of the work. In the re-engagement stage of the process of visual analysis, you must determine which element is the primary carrier of meaning in order to use it effectively as evidence to support your thesis. In a research paper dealing with a work of art or literature, you must include both internal evidence and external information to support your interpretation of the work.