Project 2: Rauschenberg "Combines"
3-D Seminar
Project Guidelines

             Overall, the class did very well on the first projects, considering the amount of time you were given and the brief and perhaps vague guidelines I gave you on the first day of class.  Now that we have more time to spend on this project, there should be no problem in following some set of guidelines.

            By now, you should be somewhat familiar with the stylistic elements of Rauschenberg's work.  I have shown you slides and had a book passed around the class last time.  If any of you still have some questions, please come see me either after class, during my office hours, or email me.  This last option is not the best considering you only have two more days to complete the project.

            My guidelines are rather simple and should be followed:

1) It is not necessary that your work resemble the work of Rauschenberg.  What is important is that you use visual and physical elements in your work as he has in his.

 2)  More specifically, your artwork should incorporate Found Objects.  This could be discarded objects or something you buy at a garage sale or at a 99-cent store.  The objects do not have to be trash (soda cans, toilet paper, plastic bags, rotting fruit); actually, I would prefer it if they were not.

 3) These Found objects must be RECONTEXTUALIZED.  By this, I mean that you must in some way transform the objects.  This can be done by manipulating the object itself (turning a tennis shoe into a space shuttle) or presenting it out of its usual context.  I do not want a flower to be just a flower.  Granted, it's former function can play a role in the artwork, but I want you to infuse it with another, surprising meaning.  Using diverse objects in conjunction with one another can be helpful in achieving such a transformation.  Using objects as symbols is fine, but you must be aware of how well an object may or may not perform as an adequate symbol.  Using words along with the object can help with this. Please be imaginative with all of this.  Recontextualize your objects in a unique way that is successful in conveying your thoughts and the theme of the artwork.

 4) Use images in projects.  These may come from photographs, magazine pictures, images from the Internet, etc.  Recontextualize the images as well in a way that works with the objects.  For example, transform the image of a football player in a way that it is no longer a football player; perhaps it is now a warrior, a supernatural being, or a comment on the political culture of this country.  You can write or draw on the images, obscuring them or adding to them.

 5) The images and objects should be presented on a flat board no larger than 2 feet x 2 feet.  Use glue, wire, thread, or anything that will keep them on the board.  I will count off if your artwork falls apart when I try to move it or hang it.  The board should not be a stand, but as a background.  I do not expect you to make it so that I can hang it, i.e., putting a wire in the back.  That is not necessary, but if you do so, it will be considered when I grade.

 6) You may paint or draw on all aspects of your projects, including your objects and on top of your images.

 7) If you want, you may follow the "theme" you used in your first project, and even use similar objects and images as before.  You may also reuse the objects from the first project.  If you do this, I expect you to expand on your ideas and consider my comments on your first project.  Just because you use the same objects and the same ideas does not mean you will have an easier time on this project.  I expect changes in the presentation and a stronger artwork.  I expect the project to be more successful as well. 

 8) What do I mean by "successful project?"  I mean that your project should convey and evoke certain intentional ideas.  These ideas are up to you, and I hope you keep them rather simple because more complex ideas will be more difficult to convey.  I also mean that the project should thoughtful and interesting.  The project does not have to be "beautiful," but I do expect some attention to detail.

 9)  I want a one-page, typed, double-spaced essay talking about your intentions and a brief description of the creative process.  I don't want to know where you found certain objects unless it is important to the overall idea of the artwork.  I don't want to know the step-by-step process, either.  I am interested in why you have made certain decisions.  Obviously, one makes, possibly, dozens of decisions in the making of an artwork.  Pick out one or two and focus on them.  Tell me why you think your project is successful.  In doing this, I hope you think about how an artwork effects an ignorant viewer--someone who doesn't have any information before walking up to an artwork.  I don't want your work to be oversimplified, though.  If there are ambiguous qualities to your work, tell me why they are important.

 10) Look at what other students in the class are doing.  Talk to each other about your projects.