Image & Text

This week, Dr. Hall and I would like to utilize the Image & Text blog to facilitate completion of the ePortfolio, which is due on Monday, May 6th.  Per the assignment's instructions, the ePortfolio is to contain two reflective components, one pertaining to the first half of the semester and the second to the semester as a whole. For this week's blogging activity, we would like you to post a draft of the final reflection that you will include in your ePortfolio.  This will allow all of us to have an engaged conversation about our learning community; additionally, it should offer each of you some insight into your colleagues' various approaches to this component of ePortfolio.  We hope this exchange of ideas and approaches will stimulate further reflection and offer ways forward to revise and amplify final reflections prior to submitting the ePortfolio for evaluation.  And, of course, we hope this blogging activity will help fend off the procrastination bug. As y...

Damaris, Hannah, and Darrick have developed a prompt that will introduce you to a new style. Engage with them to learn about the multi-faceted manifestations of Art Nouveau at the turn of the 20th century. Due to the lack of time we have left in the semester, many art styles that occurred alongside the ones we’ve been learning about have sadly been neglected. One of these styles—Art Nouveau—flourished with Post-Impressionism and was particularly popular and influential at the turn of the 20th century.  Art Nouveau (French for “new art“) was a direct reaction against academic art, and represented a radical departure from tradition. Art Nouveau favored references to nature, with whipping vines and curvilinear lines. Predominant colors included muted olive tones, pastel pinks, and periwinkles; images of nature and animals were frequently depicted ( Art Nouveau--Overview ). Art Nouveau artists were skeptical of industrialization and valued the fine craftsmanship required for handma...

This week Noemi and Vanessa invite us to consider the legacy and applicability of some of the central ideas of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.  The questions they ask are challenging.  Give it your best shot! Friedrich Nietzsche introduced many different and new philosophical themes in the 19th century, and he could be said to be one of the most influential modern philosophers. Ideas in his works outline different concepts that dealt with one’s individuality, morality, and religious beliefs. Nihilism is a term specifically associated with Nietzsche because of his belief in perspectivism (see Dr. Cleworth's In Brief). Nihilism, similar to pessimism, in the most extreme way, rejected religious and moral values which ultimately leads people and societies to adopt positions where life itself becomes meaningless. Some of Nietzsche's books which we would like you to consider this week are The Antichrist and Will To Power. Keep in consideration that some of his other works to...

For this week’s blog, Lizzy and Yasmine invite you to consider the importance of art museums and the role they play in our perception of the art they present. In class, we had an opportunity to visit the Phoenix Art Museum and witness what it has to offer. Drs. Hall and Cleworth invited us to join them on a ‘tour’ of the museum, where a few of us walked around the galleries and identified what appealed to us the most. The word “museum” originates from Greece, specifically the nine Muses (goddesses of inspiration), but also referring to the Museion of Alexandria, essentially a university library that housed manuscripts. Traditional art museums, as we know them today, originated in 18th and 19th-century Europe. For instance, the Louvre in Paris officially became a museum after the Revolution in 1793. Hence, museums have a rich history. The overarching purpose of art museums, throughout history and currently, is to collect, preserve, interpret and present works to visitors, and encourag...