work express emotion according H u m a n i t i e s

(1)  Describe the work of art, as described and shown below 

Vanessa German

American, 2019 

Mixed Media on a tennis racket 

(2)  Describe your overall aesthetic experience (what aesthetic qualities can be ascribed to this work of art, and why?)  

(3)  Give your reaction to the work

(4)  Interpret the work:  What do you think the artist was trying to say, if anything?  Support your interpretation with evidence from the work and from information about the work, the creator(s) of the work, or the style of work.  (Information can often be found in the gallery or museum itself. There may be information about the artist in the library or on the web.  Or you could interview the artist or someone else related to the show.)

(5)  Evaluate the work. How good is it, as a work of art?  Questions you might consider here are: Did it provide a good aesthetic experience?  Was the experience valuable? How does your interpretation and evaluation compare to that of other people who viewed it?  

(6)  Explain and defend your evaluation.

and answer the following questions:

(7)  What role did emotions play in your experience?

(8)   Did the work teach you anything?  Does it help us to know something? 

(9) Relate your discussion of the work to the ideas in one or more of the readings we have done in this class, for example: (1) How can the idea of (name of philosopher) be applied to this work? (2) What aesthetic qualities are involved in this work?  (3) What special processes, if any, were involved in the creation of the work? (4)  Does your aesthetic response tend to support or oppose what (name of philosopher) says about taste, beauty, realism, kitsch, the nature of art, or one of the other topics we have discussed?  For example:  Does the work express emotion according to Collingwood’s definition?  Did it give you “an experience” in Dewey’s sense?  Was it “kitsch” in Solomon’s sense?  Did it have any qualities related to Aristotle’s idea of the tragic?  Was it “art” in Dickie’s sense?