ART1000C The Creative Process
M/Th, 9:05 - 10:30, 10:40 - 12:05, Semester: Fall 2013
Prof. Michael Marfione
marfionm@stjohns.edu
Office Hours: Monday 12:10 -1:10 in SJH B3 Adjunct Lounge
"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in
the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And
they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they
change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as
the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they
can change the world, are the ones who do." – Steve Jobs
Course Description:
This class explores the concept of creativity and its process. We will be viewing clips from film,
listening to music, looking at all different forms of art to collectively come to an understanding of
how to confront art in today's complex world.
Course Requirements:
09/05 Thu. Intro What is Creativity?/ Syllabus/Exercise/TED Talk
Due next class: Power of the Habit, Chpt 1
09/09
Mon. **HABIT** View artist : Sol Lewitt and Chuck Close
Assignment 1: A second look (mind map)
Due next class: Power of the Habit, Chpt 2
09/12
Thu. **HABIT Cont'd**
View: Vito Acconci, Art 21
Due next class: Power of the Habit, Chpt 3; A Life of Montaigne, Chpt: Awake from the
sleep of habit
09/16
Mon. **HABIT cont'd**
ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE!!
Group exercise
Due next class: Jesper Juul's The Art of Failure, Chpt: TBD
09/19
Thu. **Failure and feeling wrong**
Art 21, James Turell
Assignment 2: Resume of failures
Due next class: Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
09/23
Mon. **Failure and feeling wrong**
View: TED Talk 'On Being Wrong' by Katheryn Shulz
Due next class: Jesper Juul's The Art of Failure, Chpt. 3: The Feeling of Failure
09/26
Thu. **Failure and feeling wrong**
ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE!!
View: Waiting for Godot
Due next class: The History of Beauty, Chpt: The Artist Idea of Beauty and Chpt 8:
Ladies and Hero
09/30
Mon. **Beauty and Ugliness**
Ohrlan
Due next class: The History of Beauty, Chpt. 3: Number and Music
Assignment 3: Research for debate about art work (details in class)
10/03
Thu. **Beauty and Ugliness**
Listen: Stravinsky 'Right of Spring'
Due next class: Ecco's On Ugliness, Chpt: TBD
10/07
Mon.**Beauty and Ugliness**
Assignment 3 Due: In-class debate on beauty
Due next class: Clement Greenberg, 'Avant-garde and Kitsch'
10/10
Thu. **High art and Low art**
View: Ryan Tricartin/Henessy Youngmen/Banksy
Due next class: Jon Debufet's Asphixiated Culture
EXHIBITION: Mike Kelley opens Oct 13th at PS1
Assignment 4: Review of Mike Kelley show
10/14
Mon. NO CLASS COLUMBUS DAY
10/17
Thu. **High art and Low art**
Discuss exhibition!
Due next class: John Berger's Ways of Seeing, Chpt 3
10/21
Mon. **The Body**
View: Marina Abramavich, Joachim Koester 'Tarantism'
Due next class: Michael Phelps article
10/24
Thu. . **The Body**
Assignment 4 Due
View: Trisha Brown, Gary Hill
Due next class: TBD
10/28
Mon. **The Body**
Art 21, Jacolby Satterwhite
Due next class: TBD
10/31
Thu. . **The Body**
ART1000C The Creative Process
Due next class: Tarovsky's Imprinted Time
11/04
Mon. ** Temporality and Duration**
View: On Kawara "date"
Listen: John Cage, 4:33
Due next class: Tarkovky's "Scuplting in Time", Chpt: Time, Rhythm and Editing
11/07
Thu.** Temporality and Duration*
Viewing: Douglas Gordan, 24hr Psycho
Due next class: Don Dallilo's Point Omega, opening chapter
11/11
Mon.** Temporality and Duration**
Listen: Interpreter of Bach Glen Gould
Due next class: Michel Foucault intro essay The Order of Things
11/14
Thu. **Stealing /Transformation/The Copy**
View: Rauschenberg 'Erase DeKooning
Assignment 5 Transform Chinagu
Due next class: TBD
11/18
Mon. **Stealing /Transformation/The Copy**
Listen: History of Hip Hop
11/21
Thu. **Stealing /Transformation/The Copy**
View: Valezques to Picasso to Eve Sussman
ASSIGNMENT 5 DUE!!
11/25
Mon. **Place and Globalization**
TBD
11/28
Thu. THANKSGIVING NO CLASSES
12/02
Mon. **Place and Globalization**
TBD
12/05
Thu. **Place and Globalization**
Art 21: Place / Review Final
TBD
12/09
Mon. LAST DAY OF CLASS
TBD
12/12
Thu. FINAL EXAM
Grading Policy and Breakdown:
Short papers/projects: 50%
Final paper: 25%
Class participation and progress: 25%
Attendance Policy
This class relies heavily on class participation and conversation. I can't stress enough the
importance of being present in all possible ways.
Attendance to all classes is required. The Department of Fine Arts has an attendance
policy that reads as follows: 2 unexcused absences result in the subtraction of 1/2 a letter
grade; 4 unexcused absences result in the subtraction of 1 full letter grade; and 6 unexcused
absences will result in automatic failure of the course.
Course Expectations / Conduct:
Behavior: All students must come prepared to class and consistently behave in a professional
manner. Respect and common courtesy towards one another is expected. Students are responsible
for treating the equipment they use and/or borrow with extreme care. Cell phone use is not
allowed unless students are under an emergency “watch”.
This class is designed to provoke. Conversations are based on opinons and different perspectives.
I welcome debate, but you must respect, listen and act courteous toward everyone in the
classroom.
Work Load: The Department of Fine Arts requires each class to assign/expect at least 6
hours of outside class work per week from all students.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
St. John’s University complies with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
and offers accommodations to students with disabilities. If you are in need of accommodation,
please contact me to discuss this as soon as possible. All information will be held in the strictest
confidence.
Supplies / Materials / Books Required: I have scanned all the reading required for this class it
will all be available for download on WordPress.
Bibliography & Resources:
A great resource to view artists talking about their work: http://www.pbs.org/art21/
Ubu.com
Google museums
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Aldrich, Virgil C. Philosophy of Art. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1963.
Arisman, Marshall. The Creative Act – videotape. New York: How publishers, 1997..
ART1000C The Creative Process
Bailin, Sharon. Achieving Extraordinary Ends: An Essay on Creativity. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing
Corp., 1994.
Banes, Sally. Avant –Garde Performance and the Evervescent Body. Durham, NC: Duke university
Press, 1993.
Boardman, J. The Oxford History of Classical Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Booth, Eric. The Everyday Work of Art. Illinois: Sourcebooks, 1997
Burton, Raffel. Artists All: Creativity, The University and The World. University Park: Penn State
University Park, 1991.
Ceynar, Marvin E. Creativity in the Communicative Arts: A Selective Bibliography. Troy, NY:
Whitston Publshing Co., 1975
Feldman, Edmund B. The Artist: A Social History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1995.
Gedo, John E. The Artist and the Emotional World: Creativity and Personality. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1996.
Hall, Doug; Wecker, David. Jump Start Your Brain. New York: Warner Books, 1995.
Hartt, Frederick. Art – A Hisotry of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Hauser, Arnold. The Social Hisotry of Art. Vol I-IV. New York: Vintage Books, 1985.
Janson, Anthony F. History of Art. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2000.
Kagan, Andrew. Absolute Art. St. Louis & New York: Genart Books/ W.H. Green, Inc. Publishers,
1995.
Kao, John. Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Creativity. New York: Harper Books, 1996.
Knoz, T. M.; Karelis, Charles. Hagel’s Introduction to Aesthetics. Oxford at Clarendon Press, 1979.
Preble, Preble, and Frank. Artforms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Seldes, Gilbert. The Seven Lively Arts. New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc., 1962.
Company, Inc., 1969.
Splatt, Cynthia. Life Into Art. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993.
Sporre, Dennis J. Perceiving the Arts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Sporre, Dennis J. The Creative Impulse. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Thorton, Bruce S. Humanities Handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
White Harrison C. Careers in Creativity: Social Forces in the Arts. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993.
Wren, Linnea H.; Wren, David J, eds. Perspectives on Western Art. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.