The Art Assignment

Season 2016

[Originally released on YouTube, will follow those air dates.]

Where to Watch The Art Assignment • Season 2016

38 Episodes

  • The Case For Kanye
    E1
    The Case For KanyeKanye West was given an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in May of 2015, and more than a couple of people questioned it. But why? Why shouldn't Kanye be taken seriously in the world of art? Here's our case for Kanye as an artist.
  • Caption this painting. | David Rathman
    E2
    Caption this painting. | David RathmanDavid Rathman’s paintings pair atmospheric landscapes with carefully selected phrases, playing with the relationship between text and image. This week, he created a painting for you to caption.
  • Art Trip: Washington D.C.
    E3
    Art Trip: Washington D.C.In which we explore Washington, DC's vast and diverse collection of landmarks, museums, and galleries - ranging from institutions like the Hirshhorn to the art-worthy metro system. Let's take a trip through Washington, DC.
  • Copy a Copy a Copy | Molly Springfield
    E4
    Copy a Copy a Copy | Molly SpringfieldThis week we meet D.C. based artist Molly Springfield. Molly's graphite drawings transform texts into images, and her assignment for you asks you to consider how repeating a process can turn a copy into an original.
  • Public Art Study: Fred Wilson's E Pluribus Unum
    E5
    Public Art Study: Fred Wilson's E Pluribus UnumWhat is public art? Who funds it, owns it, and shapes it? Who does it serve? And why is it important? We try to answer some of these questions by looking at an example of public art that never came to be - Fred Wilson’s E Pluribus Unum.
  • The Case for Yoko Ono
    E6
    The Case for Yoko OnoYoko Ono was an established artist before most of the world heard of her in 1968, and she continues to make groundbreaking work to this day. Who is Yoko Ono? What is her work? And why should you take her seriously? This is the case for Yoko Ono.
  • Explore a place you see every day. | Assaf Evron
    E7
    Explore a place you see every day. | Assaf EvronThis week we visit Assaf Evron in Chicago to consider how photography can help us see the familiar places we visit everyday differently.
  • Art Trip: Chicago
    E8
    Art Trip: ChicagoIn which we explore our neighboring city of Chicago, film with two local artists, and see more art in one day than is probably advisable.
  • The Case for Minimalism
    E9
    The Case for MinimalismYou've probably seen a few cubes sitting in an art gallery and questioned why they were there. How could cubes be important? How did we get here? This is the case for Minimalism.
  • Body in Place - Maria Gaspar
    E10
    Body in Place - Maria GasparThis week we meet with Maria Gaspar, an artist deeply invested in her community on the west side of Chicago. For her assignment, she asks YOU to engage with invisible spaces in YOUR community.
  • Why Murals?
    E11
    Why Murals?Today we're going to continue our discussion of public art, this time focusing on murals. We've invited Richard McCoy back to the studio to share with us what exactly murals are, where they came from, and how they can contribute to the betterment of the community.
  • Art Trip: Richmond, Virginia
    E12
    Art Trip: Richmond, VirginiaIn which we explore the great city of Richmond, Virginia, and think about its history as well as its present.
  • Measure your history with material. | Sonya Clark
    E13
    Measure your history with material. | Sonya ClarkToday we talk to textile artist Sonya Clark, who applies the techniques of textile work to represent her personal and cultural history. Her assignment draws on her insightful approach to histories and asks you to represent yours.
  • Fierce Women of Art 2
    E14
    Fierce Women of Art 2Our first video on fierce women artists didn't even begin to cover the volume of interesting and boundary-pushing work made by women, so we had to make another. This week we talk about the incredible Artemisia Gentileschi, Mona Hatoum, Frida Kahlo, Hannah Höch, and Yayoi Kusama.
  • Art Assignment Marathon
    E15
    Art Assignment MarathonThis week we gathered some friends and challenged ourselves to an art assignment marathon - how many assignments can we complete in a day?
  • Conjure a studio. | Hope Ginsburg
    E16
    Conjure a studio. | Hope GinsburgThis week we meet with Hope Ginsburg, an artist who often works outside of a traditional studio. Her assignment asks you to conjure your own studio and imagine your ideal space for learning, thinking, and making.
  • The Art History of the Selfie
    E17
    The Art History of the SelfieArtists have been taking selfies since the dawn of photography. Cameras allowed people to capture their own image in a way that had never been possible in all of human history, and today most of us carry these magical devices in our pockets, taking self portraits everywhere we go.
  • Art Trip: Los Angeles
    E18
    Art Trip: Los AngelesIn which we explore sunny Los Angeles and take in its enormous range of art offerings, from the eclectic campus at LACMA to an incredible exhibit at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel. It's all worth the drive.
  • Create a vehicular palette. | Jesse Sugarmann
    E19
    Create a vehicular palette. | Jesse SugarmannToday we’re talking with Jesse Sugarmann about the way car consumerism, and the aesthetic choices behind it, has been a part of your life and your families.
  • Art Happens at VidCon
    E20
    Art Happens at VidCon
  • Art Trip: Tijuana
    E21
    Art Trip: TijuanaOn this international art trip, we travel to Tijuana to meet with Ghana Think Tank and Torolab, explore the city, and visit artist Hugo Crosthwaite's studio.
  • What's Your Problem? | Ghana Think Tank
    E22
    What's Your Problem? | Ghana Think TankThis week we we head to Tijuana, Mexico to talk with John Ewing, Carmen Montoya, and Christopher Robbins of Ghana Think Tank, who are working on a project to encourage communication at the U.S-Mexico border.
  • The Case for Abstraction
    E23
    The Case for AbstractionFor much of human history, people made art by trying to represent the world as it appeared around them. Until about 100 years ago, when a bunch of artists stopped trying to do that. It was shocking then and it still upsets and confounds today.
  • Embarrassing Object Empathy
    E24
    Embarrassing Object EmpathyThis week we share some of your excellent responses to two assignments -- Geof Oppenheimer's Embarrassing Object and Diana Shpungin's Object Empathy.
  • Exquisite Corpse | Hugo Crosthwaite
    E25
    Exquisite Corpse | Hugo CrosthwaiteThis week we come to you from Rosarito, Mexico AND Chicago, IL to bring you an assignment from Hugo Crosthwaite. Hugo asks you to create a collaborative drawing by playing the Surrealist game Exquisite Corpse.
  • Vanessa Hill of BrainCraft
    E26
    Vanessa Hill of BrainCraftWe interview the remarkable Vanessa Hill, creator of BrainCraft, a production of PBS Digital Studios, which explores psychology, neuroscience & why we act the way we do. And we challenge Vanessa to respond to our recent art assignment Conjure a Studio offered by Hope Ginsburg:
  • The Case for Performance Art
    E27
    The Case for Performance ArtDubious of performance art? Break into a cold sweat when you realize it’s about to begin? There’s a reason. Here we present you with a brief history of performance art and attempt to sway you to its potential charms. Let us know if you buy it.
  • Try combinatory play with books. | Pablo Helguera
    E28
    Try combinatory play with books. | Pablo HelgueraThis week we meet Pablo Helguera, an artist, museum educator, and writer, at the Indianapolis stop of his Spanish language bookstore Librería Donceles. His assignment challenges you to give old books new lives through combinatory play. Here's what he means:
  • The Case for Ai Weiwei
    E29
    The Case for Ai WeiweiAi Weiwei has been called an iconoclast, a radical, a voice for the voiceless, and was once named the most powerful artist in the world. Who is Ai Weiwei? And why is he considered one of the most renowned artists of our time?
  • Draw a shape that represents you. | Tschabalala Self
    E30
    Draw a shape that represents you. | Tschabalala SelfIf you were a shape, what shape would you be? This week we meet with Tschabalala Self, whose work explores ideas surrounding the black female body, and her assignment asks you to consider your own body as a symbol too. Here are your instructions:
  • Five Favorite Works of Art with Mike Rugnetta
    E31
    Five Favorite Works of Art with Mike RugnettaThis week Mike Rugnetta joins us to share five of his favorite works of art. Thanks, Mike!
  • Public Art Trip: New York City
    E32
    Public Art Trip: New York CityNew York City offers way too many art-viewing opportunities for us to cover in a single art trip video, so this time we decided to focus on the abundant public art around the city.
  • Complain creatively. | The Guerrilla Girls
    E33
    Complain creatively. | The Guerrilla GirlsThe Guerrilla Girls are asking, nay demanding, that we complain! But we must do so in ways unique and memorable. We met up with them in London at Tate Modern's new Tate Exchange space, where the Guerrilla Girls were in residence and operating a Complaints Department. Your instructions:
  • The Guerrilla Girls Get Shut Out At Frieze Art Fair
    E34
    The Guerrilla Girls Get Shut Out At Frieze Art FairWe follow the Guerrilla Girls as they visit Frieze Art Fair in London to share their new campaign with collectors and gallerists. This is what went down.
  • Art Trip: London
    E35
    Art Trip: LondonFor our second international art trip, we travel to London during Frieze Art Fair. We saw a lot of art! Almost too much. (Definitely too much.)
  • Try these proposals! | Peter Liversidge
    E36
    Try these proposals! | Peter LiversidgeWe drop in on London-based artist Peter Liversidge, who gives us proposals in the place of assignments. Do one or do all three and show us your good work!
  • Cases for Political Art
    E37
    Cases for Political ArtThis week we explore some of the most powerful artworks ever made, making the case for political art one work at a time. Pablo Picasso's Guernica, Kathe Kollwitz's prints, Kazimir Malevich's Black Square, Iri and Toshi Maruki's Hiroshima Panels, and Martha Rosler's House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home photomontages. What do you think of as political art?
  • Landscape Archaeology | Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly
    E38
    Landscape Archaeology | Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen KellyThis week we speak to collaborating artists Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and learn about their approach to learning about and working with landscapes.

 

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