Posted: September 13th, 2017

6 ASSIGNMENTS of a class- from galleries to graffiti

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

 

 
Art / Work Research Project(4 PAGES)

Part 2: Research Report (I chose an artist or artists who works with labour related themes (Carol Condé + Karl Beveridge) ONLY THIS TOPIC CAN BE USED!

 

For this the second part of our major Art / Work Research Project you will need to hand in a well-researched creative project on a subject pertaining to labour art. The research component of your project should comprise 4-6 pages of double-spaced word processed material. Not every project will include a written component, of course, but it is very important to be sure that the researched aspect of your work is sufficiently represented.

 

Your project should include the following details:

 

• A clearly worded thesis, related to some aspect of labour art— see below for some sense of where to begin in terms of choosing a subject.If you are having trouble with how to work this into the creative work you have chosen to do, do not hesitate your professor for insight; for some projects, a brief artists statement will suffice for presenting a thesis.

 

• Details about who was involved, why they became involvd, when the work, movement, union, etc. existed— as a general guideline, try to provide as much detail as possible.

 

• Your project should include statistics, facts, and / or concrete data from valid sources to support or illustrate your claims.

 

• Those statistics, facts and data should be analyzed and explained in detail; i.e. what does a particular stat, law, or fact mean to women? What does it tell us about your topic? How does it relate to women’s work?

 

• If and where you are providing written material correct and completeAPAcitations will be required; if you deliver your details verbally, in some other way where text is not used, then you will need to provide a separate works cited list.

 

• A creative framework: this might mean working your research material into a video presentation, a short play, a blog or website, an illustrated essay, a fictionalized account— you are free to choose the creative medium you work with; however, the medium will have to allow for you presenting research. Be sure to provide sufficient detail of the medium you will work with for your research project in your outline, so your professor can offer suggestions about the presentation of your research.

 

Tips for the successful completion of this assignment:

 

• Your report should answer in sufficient detail the questions you have set out in the outline component of this assignment.
• Clearly organize your work in order that your viewer, your community, knows what it is they are looking at.
• Be sure that all relevant terms and concepts used in the project are explained and the information given is contextualized. This will help the person encountering your work to follow you through your presentation.
• Be sure to double-check your work for errors of grammar, spelling, and logic.
• Try to choose a medium that will allow you to present your research in a clear and detailed fashion.
• Make you work creative and original in your work; marks will be awarded to more creative works.
• Depending on what it is you are researching, finding valid material beyond that on the group’s website may be difficult, you should therefore choose a subject that you feel you are able to adequately research.

 

Hint: to maximize your mark, present your project to a friend before submitting it.

 

 

If you have a subject in mind that you do not find on the list here, feel free to email your professor to see if it fits this project. You should in any event email your topic selection to me, as I do not want multiple people working on the same subject.
 

Hint: A great resource for getting started with this project is the book compiled by Karl Beveridge and Jude Johnston titled Making Our Mark: Labour Arts and Heritage in Ontario. You might also check out the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre website to get a sense of the sort of work they are currently showing (www.wahc-museum.ca/).

 

 

 

 

Possible Presentation Media

• an illustrated essay (an essay with photos, pictures, stills, etc.)
• a zine
• a blog / website (Tumblr or Blogger are simple sites to use for this)
• a video or videoblog
• a play (this would likely have to be video documented)
• a work of fiction
• a graphic novella
• a piece or portfolio of visual art (this will require a 250 word artist’s statement and a 1000 word essay describing your research and how it relates to the work)
• a piece of music or song cycle (this too will require the artist’s statement and mini-essay)
• a collection of photographs (with artists statement and mini-essay)

 

 

If there is a medium you would like to work in that you do not see listed above please email your professor to discuss ways that your idea might work for this project.

 

Note: I appreciate that some of the options listed above might require significant creative investment. A discussion board thread will be opened in week ten to allow students to share their work with the rest of the class; this will mean your work will be shared more broadly. Depending on what subject you take, the union, or arts program you take as your subject may also be interested in seeing your completed project. Also, be sure to ask your prof about the Labour Fair Film festival.

 

 

 

 

 

other assignment 2. Class Wars / World Wars: Industrial Labour and Art before WWII

due time FEB 14

 

DB 4: Class Wars / World Wars: Industrial Labour and Art before WWII (2pages WORDS:500)

  

Last week you should have found a group, selected topic, and emailed your professor to have your topic approved. Upon having your topic approved, you should open a DB thread included your names and the topic you will be writing on. This will function as a place marker so your peers know what topic you’ve selected; you will be able to edit its content later!

 

This week and next you should get together with your group on your assigned DB thread to prepare and complete the presentation you will make together.

 

Remember, only one member per group need submit a presentation. When you submit your presentation under the DB 4: Class Wars / World Wars: Industrial Labour and Art before WWII (10%)thread, remember to include your assignment’s theme or subject and the names of all of your group members in the thread. Your subject line should look something like this: The Communist Party in Canada (Karl Marx, Freidrich Engles, Leon Trotsky, Vladimir Lenin)

 

 

Assignment Guidelines

 

For this research based assignment you will be asked to produce a short presentation on one subject or theme related to labour art prior to the conclusion of the Second World War. Topics might include:

 

• Socialist realism
• Print-making
• Protest songs
• Labour poetry / fiction
• Bands, floats, or banners of early May Day Parades
• Labour Related New Deal / WPA art works
• Art of the Canadian Communist Party
• Trade Union Banners
• Vancouver Progressive Arts Players
• Winnipeg City of Immigrant Culture
• Montreal The New Theatre Group
• Theatre of Action
• Art of the Knights of Labour
• New Frontiers Magazine
• Specific strikes, actions, or events (the IWW led Canadian Northern strike of 1912; the BC Labour Arts Guild Exhibitions of the ‘30s and ‘40s)
• A topic of your own choosing (subject to your prof’s approval)

 

Along with your group you will be asked to produce a brief illustrated (this means you should include pictures and images) Word or Power Point document exploring the subject of your group’s choosing. You are allowed to use material presented in our course readings and videos, but that material must be supplemented by at least two other sources (this means using books, articles, .gov, .edu and other valid web resources; if you ever run into trouble finding material for research assignments of this kind, remember, a librarian will always be happy to assist with a clear query).

 

Wherever necessary, please cite all sources using APA citation style (marks will be deducted where necessary citations are not included); be sure to include artist’s names, and the titles and dates of their work production where relevant.

 

Submission Guidelines

 

After completing your work please have one member of your group post it under the thread titled DB 4: Class Wars / World Wars: Industrial Labour and Art before WWII (10%).

 

When posting your work include in the subject line the topic of your presentation and your group members.

 

 

Tips for the Successful Completion of This Assignment

 

• Successful postings should be made in Word or Power Point, running from 500-1500 words in length. What is important here is making sure that you have explored your topic in sufficient detail. You are free to go over the limit in the case of more involved responses. Strive to create organized readable material.
• You may wish to make each group member responsible for discussing one or two key elements of your subject; for example, if you choose a particular work of art, one person might be responsible for an artist’s bio, another for an interpretation of the work, another for the labour theme it relates to, another for the social context out of which the work emerged, etc.
• Be creative and try to make your response as original as possible.
• READother postings before making your commentary; make reference to other students’ postings where you can, and respond to them to show your consideration for their contributions.
• Be considerate of other student’s ideas and be polite.

 

 

assignment 3 Labour Fiction （1page words:300）

 .deadline :FEB 20

 

For this week’s graded component you may choose one of three possible discussion board topics.

 

 

Assignment Guidelines

 

Please choose one of the following options:

 

1. Please chooseone of the two fictional works provided in this module. Read the work carefully, and make notes in answer to the questions posed in the Works: Introduction. Then, conduct some research in connection to some of the themes and subjects explored in the story; i.e. you might look at migratory labour (that of Western Europeans to East Coast Canada or the migratory patterns of labourers within Canada for instance), the real Springhill mining disaster, or actual strikes that might relate to the fictional strike discussed in ‘Praxis’. Then present a brief of exposition of your research and how it related to the story you have chosen. Be sure to carefully indicate your chosen story, the theme or subject you have chosen to research, and to cite all of your sources.
2. Readboth stories making notes in answer to the questions posed in the Works: Introduction section. Then provide a post in which you compare and contrast the two works. Try to think about the ways the stories are similar, and the ways they are different.  For instance, how is the division of labour presented in the two stories: that is, what sort of work are women depicted doing, and what sort of work are men depicted doing? What is significance of this division in the stories? How do the differing work roles play into the stories? How do the characters from the two stories relate to their work? How does work impact the lives of the story’s characters? How is work show to influence the migratory patterns of the working people in the stories? How does location or the region the story takes place in affect the narrative? In general, try in your post to address similarities and differences of the stories over all?
3. Choose a short work of fiction related to labour that you might have encountered elsewhere. The narrative does not need to connect to labour trends in mid-century Maritime Canada, nor mining work, nor necessarily migratory labour. You might for instance look at other stories in Crummey’s short story collection, or at Fred Wah’sDiamond Grill, or at Michael Ondaatje’sIn the Skin of a Lion. A brief internet search will provide you with other fictional accounts of how work is done in Canada. You may also ask a librarian for assistance in this. If you are not sure if your story qualifies, please email your professor for clarification. In your posting talk about how work is presented in the narrative you’ve selected: how does work affect the lives of the characters in the story? Is the account sympathetic? Why or why not? How does race and gender play in to the work explored? In both ‘The Vastness of the Dark’ and ‘Praxis’ class plays a central role in the lives of the characters of the respective stories, how does it play in to the lives of the characters the work you have chosen?

 

 

Tips for the Successful completion of this Assignment

 

• Successful postings should be made in Word or Power Point, running from 300-600 words in length. What is important here is making sure that you have explored your topic in sufficient detail. You are free to go over the limit in the case of more involved responses. Strive to create organized readable material.
• Be creative and try to make your response as original as possible.
• READ other postings before making your commentary; make reference other students’ postings where you can, and respond to them to show your consideration for their contributions.
• Be sure to provide original  Student work that repeats something stated in another posting will receive lower grades.
• Be considerate of other student’s ideas and be polite.

 

ASSIGNMENT 4 Critiquing Hip-hop (1page WORDS：300）

 deadline: march 6

For this week’s graded component you will be asked to choose a music video, or track that explores crime as work. Among this week’s learning materials were a number of video’s that explore the theme of crime as work, and which in general speak to an otherwise unaddressed class of society.

 

 

Assignment Guidelines

 

Please take the following steps to complete your contribution to this week’s discussion board:

 

1. Choose a music video or track that you will be able to share with the class, and which takes up the theme of crime as work, or that explores the life and history of a class or group whose story is not often told in the words of those people.
2. In the thread titledDB 6: Critiquing Hip-hop (5%) post a link to the video or track you have selected. In order to make the link accessible from within the DB thread, you will need to create a hyperlink. Create a hyperlink using the html editor toolbar to be found above the text window you will post your video and critique.
3. You should then offer a mini-critique of the video. Your critique should consist of two parts.Part one should point out where in the music or video of your choosing you see themes of crime as work, poverty, the concerns of the working class, and the impact of racism being discussed. Part two should explore whether or not crime, violence, misogyny, sexism, homophobia, or any other negative message is presented in the music or video.

 

Note: in your mini-critique be sure to refer to this week’s reading, and documentary video. Where necessary, be sure to cite your sources.

 

 

Tips for the Successful completion of this Assignment

 

• Successful postings should be 300-600 words in length. What is important here is making sure that you have explored your topic in sufficient detail. You are free to go over the limit in the case of more involved responses. Strive to create organized readable material.
• Remember that some videos may offer good points and bad points. Take a look at Frank Ocean’s Pyramids. The song’s lyrical content does attempt to humanize sex work by offering an account of the conflict the lover of a sex worker experiences in watching his lover prepare for work. The video depicts scenes from a strip club; do these scenes themselves manifest a critique, or do they do little more than maintain sex workers as screens for masculine sexual fantasy?
• Be creative and try to make your response as original as possible.
• READother postings before making your commentary; make reference to other students’ postings where you can, and respond to them to show your consideration for their contributions.
• Be sure to provideoriginal  Student work that repeats something stated in another posting will receive lower grades.
• Be considerate of other student’s ideas and be polite.

 

 

ASSIGNMENT 5 : Artists and Unions (1page words: 300)

 

 deadline: March 20

For this week’s graded component you will be asked to explore either the work of an artist whose material has been presented or performed in Mayworks or a Canadian artist’s union. A good place to start with this assignment is the Maworks website (www.mayworks.ca). There you will find links to artists whose work has been featured in past or upcoming Mayworks, and a list of artist’s unions associated with the festival You might also try exploring the websites of Mayworks festivals held in cities other than Toronto, or searching for alternative artist union websites.

 

Our object with this DB is to get our thread looking like a who’s-who of Mayworks artists and artists unions.

 

Furthermore, in module 11, we have explored one aspect of the relationship between artists and unions: that of artists who create alongside unions. This DB will allow us to learn a bit about individual artist’s unions.

 

This assignment may be completed in partners or as individuals.

 

Assignment Guidelines

 

Before you proceed choose one of the following:

1. an artist whose work has been or will be featured in a Mayworks festival
2. an artist’s union (it is not necessary that the artist’s union you choose be associated with Mayworks.)

 

Proceed with step A if you chosen an artist, or step B if you’ve chosen a union.

1. If you’ve chosen an artist whose work has or will be featured in Mayworks, focus on a piece of labour related work the artist has undertaken.  In your DB posting describe the work in detail (where possible provide a visual or video), and provide some information about the artist (what sort of work she does, what sort of themes she takes up in her work in general, etc.). Discuss the themes taken up in the specific work of art on which you have chosen to focus, and what makes it relevant to the Mayworks festival.

 

Try to think of your posting as a mini-presentation or critique of the artist and her work. The object is to share about and explore some of the work one might encounter at the Mayworks festival

 

1. If you’ve chosen a union, visit the union’s website. In your posting, provide some background information about the union, its members, and the sort of work it sets out to do. Provide a link to the union website in your posting.

 

Think of your posting in this case as a mini-presentation on the artists’ union itself. The object here is to talk about some individual artist unions, their membership, and the sort of work they do.

 

Note: in your mini-critique be sure to refer to this week’s reading. Where necessary, be sure to cite your sources.

 

 

Tips for the Successful completion of this Assignment

 

• Successful postings should be 300-600 words in length. What is important here is making sure that you have explored your topic in sufficient detail. You are free to go over the limit in the case of more involved responses. Strive to create organized readable material.
• Be sure to include the artist’s or union’s name in your posting title along with your own and your partner’s name.
• Be creative and try to make your response as original as possible.
• READ other postings before making your commentary or your posting; make reference to other students’ postings where you can, and respond to them to show your consideration for their contributions.
• Be sure to provide original  Student work that repeats something stated or explored in another posting will receive lower grades.
• Be considerate of other student’s ideas and be polite.