agriART | Syllabus
AVT 496: 002 | 599: 002
School of Art | George Mason University
Professor: Mark Cooley
"...the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds." - Michael Pollan
Course Description
The course brings together students with diverse interests and skills from a broad spectrum of academic programs in the interest of developing collaborative projects that explore the interdependence of our cultural and biological systems. The course proposes that, in particular, an examination of agricultural ecosystems offers an ideal site for artists working with ecological concerns. A look at the human food web reveals a series of sites and situations that dissolve the neatly divided concepts of nature and culture and open up opportunities for projects that work in the space between these opposing ideas. Every meal is a representation of our relationship with the land and the living things occupying it. But, it’s more than that. With every bite we are in fact consuming the land, becoming the land, as well as becoming the chemicals sprayed on it. With a single bite we become the nexus for a grand and elaborate cultural and biological project, the subject of decades of government policy, corporatization, marketing, branding, and so on, all tied up into the intricate (and often taken for granted) ritual of eating. The course takes a good look at the dominant food system at work on the planet today, investigates alternatives, and explores ways in which artists are challenging and inventing creative alternatives to industrial food culture.
SoA Green Studio
Located on the grounds of the Art and Design Campus, SoA Green Studio offers artists a living studio for working on eco-cultural projects that interface with the campus public. The studio exists, as any working art studio does, in constant flux, but with unique concerns. Unlike most artist's studios, in which the artist retreats to be literally and often figuratively isolated from the world, the SoA Green Studio is without physical or conceptual walls, and therefore the goal is not create in spite of the world, but rather in relation to it. In this sense, isolated concerns of building successful abstract aesthetic relationships inside the frame explode outward to take on the building of successful and sustainable relationships with the living world around us.
Course Requirements
Reading
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
ECOcentric Topics : Pioneering Themes for Eco-Art: (Series: Avant-Guardians: Textlets on Art and Ecology) by Linda Weintraub
Projects
The class will conceptualize and organize the production of several collaborative projects that respond to opportunities outlined by the professor during the initial class meetings. The class will form work groups around each project and divide the work equitably based on the interests and skills of group members. Projects will consist of several stages including: research & analysis, design, construction, documentation (media), and maintenance.Field Work
There will be two mandatory field trips scheduled for the course. We will organize transportation for those without.Attendance
Attendance and participation at all class meetings is mandatory and critical to the success of the class as a whole. In short WE NEED YOU. In the event of illness or emergency please notify the professor.Participation
Students will be expected to participate and contribute equitably to the development of projects in this course.
Assessment
There will be quarterly critical reviews with students. At this time students will present the work they have personally contributed to the class projects during the quarter and respond to questions and criticism from the professor and classmates. Critical reviews will engage student work from various perspectives taking into account the various definitions of effectiveness and quality offered by various disciplines. The interdisciplinary nature of the course necessitates a questioning and recreation over time of the standards of quality developed for independent studies. For example, what might qualify as an effective aesthetic choice in a given instance may not qualify as an effective ecological choice in the same instance. Evaluations will take these competing interests under consideration and begin to try to bridge these gaps by examining the ultimate cultural and biological goals established for each project and beginning to learn how to harmonize disparate standards of evaluation. Regardless of the philosophical dilemmas inherent to interdisciplinary discourse, students will be rewarded for hard work and consistent participation in the class. Following critical reviews, students will receive a letter grade representing their contribution to the class for the quarter. Contributions will be determined by reviewing each student's participation (including attendance) and workload within the class, the quality and vigor of their work and the success to which they contribute to the collaborative process. Quarterly evaluations will be averaged to obtain a final grade. Letter grades represent the following:
A Work that represents an excellent contribution to the class. Work that is consistently conceptually vigorous and skillfully applied.
B Work that demonstrates a knowledgeable and creative understanding of relevant tools and concepts and contributes significantly to the class.
C Work that satisfactorily meets the requirements of a given project and displays adequate know-how.
D Work that may or may not meet the minimum requirements of the project and is unsatisfactory.
F Work that does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment, incomplete or excessively late, and/or work that displays very little effort and interest.
Important University Dates and Deadlines
Once the add and drop deadlines have passed, instructors do not have the authority to approve requests from students to add or drop/withdraw late. Requests for late adds (up until the last day of classes) must be made by the student in the School of Art office (or the office of the department offering the course), and generally are only approved in the case of a documented university error (such as a problem with financial aid being processed). Requests for non-elective withdrawals and retroactive adds (adds after the last day of classes) must be approved by the academic dean of the college in which the student’s major is located. For AVT/School of Art majors, that is the CVPA Office of Academic Affairs, Performing Arts Building A407.
Important School of Art Dates
ArtsBus
The dates for this fall’s ArtsBus trips are September 25, October 23, November 13.
- If you need ArtsBus credit for this semester, you MUST enroll in AVT 300 (CRN 72362, 72363, 72364) before September 14, 2010. Anyone who intends to travel to New York independently, or do the DC Alternate Assignment for credit MUST enroll in AVT 300. There will be NO exceptions. If you need multiple AVT 300 credits this semester, you must enroll in multiple sections of AVT 300. Please go to the ArtsBus website: http://artsbus.gmu.edu "Student Information" for additional, very important information regarding ArtsBus policy.Visual Voices Lecture Series
Visual Voices is a year-long series of lectures by artists, art historians and other art professionals that enriches the School of Art curriculum. Visual Voices lectures are held on Thursday evenings from 7:30- 9:00 p.m. in Harris Theater. The fall schedule includes four lectures:
September 30, 2010: Julie Belcher and Kevin Bradley, “Yee-Haw Industries, 32 Flavors of Gravy”
October 14, 2010: Enrique Chagoya, “Illegal Aliens Guide to Reverse Anthropology”
October 21, 2010: John Carson, “TimeLines”
December 2, 2010: John Mason, “ Art and Law”
University and School of Art Policies
As a courtesy to others in the class, and in accordance with George Mason University policy, please turn off all beepers, cellular telephones and other wireless communication devices at the start of class. The instructor of the class will keep his/her cell phone active to assure receipt of any Mason Alerts in a timely fashion; or in the event that the instructor does not have a cell phone, he/she will designate one student to keep a cell phone active to receive such alerts.
Commitment to Diversity
This class will be conducted as an intentionally inclusive community that celebrates diversity and welcomes the participation in the life of the university of faculty, staff and students who reflect the diversity of our plural society. All may feel free to speak and to be heard without fear that the content of the opinions they express will bias the evaluation of their academic performance or hinder their opportunities for participation in class activities. In turn, all are expected to be respectful of each other without regard to race, class, linguistic background, religion, political beliefs, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, veteran’s status, or physical ability.Statement on Ethics in Teaching and Practicing Art and Design
As professionals responsible for the education of undergraduate and graduate art and design students, the faculty of the School of Art adheres to the ethical standards and practices incorporated in the professional Code of Ethics of our national accreditation organization, The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).Open Studio Hours
School of Art teaching studios are open to students for extended periods of time mornings, evenings and weekends whenever classes are not in progress. Policies, procedures and schedules for studio use are established by the AVT studio faculty and are posted in the studios.Students with Disabilities and Learning Differences
If you have a diagnosed disability or learning difference and you need academic accommodations, please inform me at the beginning of the semester and contact the Disabilities Resource Center (SUB I room 234, 703-993-2474). You must provide me with a faculty contact sheet from that office outlining the accommodations needed for your disability or learning difference. All academic accommodations must be arranged in advance through the DRC.Official Communications via GMU E-Mail
Mason uses electronic mail to provide official information to students. Examples include communications from course instructors, notices from the library, notices about academic standing, financial aid information, class materials, assignments, questions, and instructor feedback. Students are responsible for the content of university communication sent to their Mason e-mail account, and are required to activate that account and check it regularly.Attendance Policies
Students are expected to attend the class periods of the courses for which they register. In-class participation is important not only to the individual student, but also to the class as a whole. Because class participation may be a factor in grading, instructors may use absence, tardiness, or early departure as de facto evidence of nonparticipation. Students who miss an exam with an acceptable excuse may be penalized according to the individual instructor's grading policy, as stated in the course syllabus.Honor Code
Students in this class are bound by the Honor Code, as stated in the George Mason University Catalog. The honor code requires that the work you do as an individual be the product of your own individual synthesis or integration of ideas. (This does not prohibit collaborative work when it is approved by your instructor.) As a faculty member, I have an obligation to refer the names of students who may have violated the Honor Code to the Student Honor Council, which treats such cases very seriously.No grade is important enough to justify cheating, for which there are serious consequences that will follow you for the rest of your life. If you feel unusual pressure about your grade in this or any other course, please talk to me or to a member of the GMU Counseling Center staff.
Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit is plagiarism, a very serious Honor Code offense. It is very important to understand how to prevent committing plagiarism when using material from a source. If you wish to quote verbatim, you must use the exact words and punctuation just as the passage appears in the original and must use quotation marks and page numbers in your citation. If you want to paraphrase or summarize ideas from a source, you must put the ideas into your own words, and you must cite the source, using the APA or MLA format. (For assistance with documentation, I recommend Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference.) The exception to this rule is information termed general knowledge—information that is widely known and stated in a number of sources. Determining what is general knowledge can be complicated, so the wise course is, “When in doubt, cite.”
Be especially careful when using the Internet for research. Not all Internet sources are equally reliable; some are just plain wrong. Also, since you can download text, it becomes very easy to inadvertently plagiarize. If you use an Internet source, you must cite the exact URL in your paper and include with it the last date that you successfully accessed the site.
A note on art and digital technologies:
Digital technologies are particularly suited to copy, sample, or appropriate, mash etc. previously created content. Many artists (visual, audio and literary) have used these techniques quite successfully in order to parody, celebrate or otherwise comment on cultural icons and what they represent. As a class, we will discuss techniques such as these and their relevance to copyright law and the university honor code, but as a rule students should always be up-front and honest with the class and professor as to what visual content has been sampled and how it has been manipulated or rearranged in any given project. Failure to do so will be considered a honor code violation.Writing Center
Students who are in need of intensive help with grammar, structure or mechanics in their writing should make use of the services of Writing Center, located in Robinson A116 (703-993-1200). The services of the Writing Center are available by appointment, online and, occasionally, on a walk-in basis.
Course Outline
Changes to this outline are likely and will be announced in class and posted here.
T 8/31
Course introduction
Video - Food Inc.
R 9/2
Site visit: Art and Design Building and surrounding areas
Video - The Future of Food
A brief history of agriArt
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 1
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 2 & 3T 9/7
Potluck
A brief history of agriArt
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 2 & 3
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 4R 9/9
A brief history of agriArt
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 4
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 5 & 6Saturday 9/11
Crop Mob at Neighborhood Farming InitiativeT 9/14
Project work - Conceptualizing & organizing projects
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 5 & 6
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 7R 9/16
Project work - Conceptualizing & organizing projects
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 7
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 8 & 9T 9/21
Site visit: GMU Organic Garden
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 8 & 9
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 10R 9/23
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 10
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 11 & 12T 9/28
1st Evaluation
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 11 & 12
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 13R 9/30
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 13
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 14 & 15
T 10/5
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 14 & 15
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 16R 10/7
Video - Fresh
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 16
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 17 & 18Saturday 10/9
Polyface Farm TourT 10/12
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapters 17 & 18
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 19
R 10/14
Project work
Discuss Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 19
Reading - Omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 20T 10/19
Project work
R 10/21
2nd Evaluation
Project work
Video - The GardenT 10/26
Project work
Discuss video - The Garden
R 10/28
Project work
Video - Killer at LargeT 11/2
Project work
Discuss video - Killer at LargeR 11/4
Project work
Video - FlowFriday 11/5
Foraging trip and garden harvest with Bill MarableT 11/9
Project work
Discuss video - FlowR 11/11
3rd Evaluation
Project work
Video - Poisoned Waters
T 11/16
Project work
Discuss video - Poisoned WatersR 11/18
Project work
Video - The World According to Monsanto
T 11/23
Project work
Discuss video - The World According to MonsantoR 11/25
Project workT 11/30
Project workR 12/2
Project workT 12/7
50 mile potluck
R 12/9
4th Evaluation