Visual Culture 2: Unpacking Art, Power, and Modernity

Welcome!

This LibGuide intends to support students taking Visual Culture 2: Unpacking Art, Power, and Modernity, a requisite foundation-year Liberal Arts and Sciences course at Otis.

Here, you can find information that can help you with the course's signature assignment, including how to find, cite, and annotate sources as well as information about preparing your curatorial statement, wall text, and checklist.

Signature Assignment

For this course, students will work in groups to curate an exhibition. This project includes a few writing components in which students must properly utilize, cite, and annotate sources.

Where citations and annotations come into play for this project:

• Curatorial Statement: Use four relevant sources. When referenced in your text, be sure to include an in-text citation. Include citations to all of the sources you consult within a works cited list. In this list, annotate two of the sources.
• You must also cite any sources you refer to in your wall text.
• Your checklist should be properly formatted and include the appropriate identifying information for each artwork or artifact.

Full Assignment Requirement and Guidelines:

1. Form 5 groups of 4 students
2. Your exhibition will include 3 rooms, each representing one of the three units of this class. Each group will select those works that they think best illustrate the key concepts for each of the three units; no more than 25 objects in total, works from both Western and non-Western artists, as well as those traditionally marginalized in art history. Compile a checklist of your works.
3. As a group, think about the ways in which your three rooms and units are connected. Develop a curatorial theme that addresses the overarching premise for your exhibition. Select a title that captures this premise. Here are some ideas to consider:
   • The impact of colonialism on artistic representation
   • The role of art in reinforcing or challenging power structures
   • The exploitation of marginalized cultures in modernist art
   • The evolution of artistic voices from underrepresented communities
4. Create a curatorial statement (1200 - 1500 words) that:
   • Explains your exhibition’s theme and its relevance to the course 
   • Uses at least four relevant sources to support the premise of your exhibition. Include a bibliography with two annotations
   • Discusses how your selection and arrangement of artworks challenge dominant narratives
   • Reflects on the ethical considerations of displaying and interpreting these works
   • Each student in the group will contribute 300 words and no more towards the curatorial statement
5. Design a floor plan for your exhibition, considering how the physical arrangement of artworks can influence visitor interpretation and experience.
6. Write brief wall texts (one per room, 250 words each) that comment upon the key concepts that are being investigated and relate this to 1-2 featured visual examples in the room. Consider:
   • The artist’s background and context
   • The work’s significance in relation to your theme
   • Any problematic aspects of the work’s creation or reception
7. Propose one supplemental element for your exhibition that encourages visitors to engage critically with course themes (i.e augmented reality element, musical concert, fashion show from the period, documentary video–see examples)
8. Deliver a group presentation (minimum 15 minutes, maximum 20) on your exhibition