In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. — Sol LeWitt, “Paragraphs on Conceptural Art”, Artforum, June 1967.
In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.
— Sol LeWitt, “Paragraphs on Conceptural Art”, Artforum, June 1967.
This project takes inspiration from American artist Sol LeWitt’s influential body of work titled “Wall Drawings” which began in the 1960s and ’70s. As a conceptual artist, LeWitt created a plan—a list of instructions for others to execute on the wall. His work asks important questions about artistic authorship and the relationship between the idea and the artwork a given idea might produce. In the present digital era, we can see connections between LeWitt’s approach to his art and the relationship between a computer programmer, the program, and what is produced. In both cases, a set of instructions (like a program) is made by one person, which becomes a mechanism for another (whether person or machine) to create art.
For this project, working in pairs, you will adopt Sol LeWitt’s approach of making a list of instructions in two formats, digital and analog, to create two works of art.
Each person creates a written list of instructions for their partner to carry out on paper to generate a dynamic drawing with depth, texture, and variety of shape. Like LeWitt, you will limit yourself to only basic lines and shapes and use repetition strategically to create depth and movement in the image.
You and your partner should discuss and decide which of the three digital tools (recursivedrawing.com, EscherSketch, or Context Free Art) you will use for your digital artwork. Both partners must use the same tool.
Each person creates a written list of instructions for their partner to carry out using the chosen digital tool to generate a dynamic image with depth, texture, and a variety of shape. Note that these tools already necessarily limit you to using only basic lines and shapes, as in LeWitt’s work, although of course the possibility of much smaller and more numerous repetitions can create the illusion of more complex, organic shapes.
Note that some iteration will probably be required! If after executing your partner’s instructions, the final image does not meet the criteria in the rubric below (the image should use the whole picture plane, and use a variety of elements, e.g. lines, shapes, colors, and textures), it could be because you did not execute the instructions well, or it could be because the instructions were insufficient, or both. Discuss with your partner, write some new instructions, and try again. Repeat until you are both satisfied with the result.
Each partner should write 1-2 paragraphs reflecting on your creative process in this project. For example, you might consider questions such as:
Your reflection does not need to answer all the above questions, and you could also answer other, related questions instead. These are just example prompts to get you thinking. You will not be graded on things like grammar, punctuation, etc. (although writing well is always a goal worth striving for); we simply want to see evidence of thoughtful reflection.
Decide which partner will actually submit your files. They will collect all the files (as described below) for both of you and upload them all. Only one partner should submit.
You should submit:
You should be submitting a total of TEN files (four sets of instructions, two photos, two digital images, and two reflections).
All files should be uploaded via this DropBox link. Remember that only one partner needs to upload all the files.
The project is worth a total of 200 points.