Write a 1500-2000 word, double-spaced analytical essay for ONE of the following essay questions:
OPTION 1:
New skills
Given the many new artforms, artistic approaches, visual media, and objectives of art in the
twentieth century, what new creative skills do artists need to make art today? For the purpose of
this essay question, new skills are ones that artists prior to 1900 would not be expectedor
ableto use in their work, but become important for the new art practices the emerged in the
twentieth century. Your essay must identify, contextualize, and evaluate three distinct new skills
using the work of three artists discussed in the course as examples. You must also cite specific
information about twentieth century artistic, intellectual, and technological developments
presented in the reading and viewing assignments to support your argument. Think creatively
about the new artforms we have discussed throughout the course, especially conceptual
practices, performance, and work involving new visual technologies, activism, and science.
IMPORTANT TIP: Be creative, but make sure you define concrete skills. For example, the
argument I will show how being skilled with technology could be useful for artists does not
identify a specific skill. A proper argument would be: Since documentation of ephemeral
processes has become more important in twentieth century art, camera skills are crucial for
contemporary art-making.
OPTION 2:
Depth v. breadth
Is it better for an artist to be an expert at one medium or proficient with many media? Use the
work of three artists discussed in the course to argue which approach you support. Identify,
contextualize, and evaluate the artistic developments, theories, practitioners, and practices we
have examined in the course that support your choice. Your essay must also identify and evaluate
the counter arguments presented in the course material in order to demonstrate why your
approach is preferable.
OPTION 3
The virtues of difficulty
Art of the twentieth century has been, at different times, mechanical, austere, abstract, antiaesthetic,
and anti-authoritarian. In other words, it has embraced the virtues of being difficult.
Identify artworks by three different artists discussed in the course that are considered difficult or
challenging. Analyze the difficult nature of each work and explain why the difficulty is in fact a
positive attribute. You must contextualize your argument by discussing the artistic and theoretical
rationale behind the works, citing specific information presented in the course materials. Keep in
mind that difficulty can pertain to a works visual inaccessibility, its complexity, its newness, or its
challenge to social norms.
IMPORTANT TIP: Difficulty, for the purpose of this essay question, is not what you personally find
difficult, but what has been presented in the course material as being difficult or challenging.