Pre-Write 2

The name of my sculpture is Arietta II. It was created by Catherine Ferguson in 1998. It is located directly north of the Sheldon Art Museum in front of a small parking lot. The ground slopes downward after the cement of the parking lot ends and the sculpture is placed in the middle of this plot of grass. There are three trees and some evergreen bushes that surround this section of grass which makes it seem like it is surrounded more by nature than buildings. The sculpture is made of painted black steel. There are a series of abstract birds that have been cut out of steel and welded together to produce this sculpture.

No two of the birds that make this piece of art are alike. The birds were bent and shaped to form a pyramid shaped vase. By the way it was constructed, with each individual bird connected to the one above, below and to the side of it, it is hard to determine what the black steel objects are in the sculpture at first glance. You notice more the positive/negative space relationship that the structure has. If you look at Arietta II as a whole, it is not obvious that the shapes that make it up are birds. However, if you look at it for an extended amount of time, you start to pick out each bird.

There are 12 birds that are molded together to make the statue. The birds are all flying upwards like they are coming out of the ground. It almost looks like they are escaping from underground. When you take into consideration the shape that these birds are making by the way they are bent and welded together, instead it looks like they are protecting or holding something inside.

The way Catherine Ferguson has arranged these birds within her composition creates a sort of visual hierarchy. The birds get larger and more distinctly recognizable as birds as you move up through the sculpture. There is also more space between each bird the closer you get to the top. Some of their wings are left free instead of being a connecting element and they point upward towards the sky. All of the birds’ heads also are positioned in an upwards direction. It seems that the sculpture wants your vision to end in the sky which is interesting since you would normally think of birds being free to fly in the sky but instead these birds are stuck frozen in time, yet they look like they have the intent to fly away.

It was hard to pick out a distinguished focal point in this sculpture. I was drawn in particular to a single bird that is located in the upper half of this piece of art. It is on the front or east side of it and it is the most realistic looking out of all the birds. The space left open around it forms a slight frame around its upper half of its body. This may or may not have been an intentional focal point of the her piece of work, but as a viewer I interpreted it this way.

Pre-Write 1

There are several experiences that I have had so far in my life that I feel like have given me a little experience with art objects. I don’t think I am an expert by any means, but I do feel like I have some basic knowledge and understanding of them.
I have taken two art history courses in during my college career. Both of these classes have required me to study different sculptures, from classical to more modern. This has provided me with some terminology that is used to describe these works such as high relief, low relief, contrapposto and positive/negative space. I have also been able to listen to my professors explain each of the pieces of art we were required to learn about which will hopefully help me analyze my assigned sculpture.
The second experience I feel lucky to have that has increased my familiarity with art objects is my trip to Europe when I was 16 years old. While sightseeing in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Scotland and France I was able to observe a wide variety of sculpture and art objects from statues to famous architectural buildings. We went to a number of museums in each country. The Louvre was probably the most amazing place I have ever been. It was incredible to see all the famous works by the influential artists like Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo de Vinci. This also gave me a greater appreciation for art that I probably wouldn’t have had at that age. Taking these experiences into account, I still do not have much experience in regards to modern sculpture, like we are analyzing for this third writing project. I had to draw some of the sculptures for my perceptual drawing class that I took earlier this semester so I do have an appreciation towards them from an artist’s point of view but that is about all the farther my experience goes.

WP 3 Analyzing Comics:

Author's Note:

With a small amount of experience under my belt dealing with the writing we are asked to compose in these writing projects, I assumed this second writing project, analyzing comics, would be much easier than the first one had been. I found that this assumption, for the most part, was true. I was able to write the pre-writing exercises faster than I had the first time. It was also easier for me to reach the minimum word count requirement for these assignments as well as the rough draft. I was able to pick out the argument I thought the comic was making and quickly find the elements within the comic that supported this argument. I think this was because I am now more familiar with the text we use in this class, Compose Design Advocate, and the meanings of the words from the text that I wanted to incorporate into my piece of writing. I also have a better understanding of how to write in a manner that affectively supports an argument after completing an assignment of this type once before. Although I had the luxury of these advantages, I still made many changes to my first draft and faced a few challenges during my writing process.
I made a few changes in my introduction after peer reviews. I added a link giving some background information about Natalie Dee. This provides my readers with more of an idea of what the style of her comics are. I also removed the sentence “There are different types of greetings depending on what part of the world you are in.” I realized after reading through my essay that this sentence is extremely repetitive with the one that fallows it: “People greet each other in various ways from culture to culture for example.” The last change I made to this portion of my writing was to add a sentence at the end of the paragraph outlining the elements I would be discussing in the rest of my essay which reads, “This argument is enforced in this comic through its use of visual hierarchy, abstraction and symbolization of its depicted objects.”
I added the most to the body of my writing project. After receiving feedback on my first drafts I realized I was missing some important components. All of these additions took place at the end of the body. At the end of my fourth paragraph I added the sentence: “This would change the meaning of the comic to instead making you think the dog is possibly missing his lover.” I felt adding this provided a better closing. I also added a section about the structural parallelism between the two hearts in the comic including: “This is reinforced by the relationship between the two hearts in the comic……These two objects play off of each other to help us clearly understand the dog’s intentions.” Finally, I incorporated the Scott McCloud essay into my writing by adding: “It seems to say that just because the picture’s objects are abstract does not mean that they don't make sense….the objects would be more detailed and therefore demand more attention than what they do in the simple illustration.” These last two additions provided more evidence for my argument and helped strengthen my ethos. I also added a picture in the body of my essay of a real dog that the abstract dog could have resembled. I did this to show the contrast between the comic and a real picture.
The only change I made in my conclusion was removing the adjective loyal from the sentence: “interesting Valentine that the loyal dog is giving his owner…” Loyalty was not discussed anywhere else in the essay therefore it wasn’t the best idea to bring it into the conclusion.
I made a few general changes such as grammatical errors that I found scattered throughout my essay, as well as some misspellings. I also found myself using the word picture instead of comic in my writing. This was probably what was most challenging. I had to get myself in a slightly different mindset since the genre of writing was different this time around. I went from discussing a photograph, which is a real depiction, to providing evidence about a comic, something that is not. However, I think I was able to overcome this and compose a successful essay.


First Rough Draft
Second Rough Draft
Statement of Purpose

Final Draft:

Today’s society is filled with “rules” and “expectations” that seem to govern the way we act. These regulations are known as social norms. You can observe them in action any time you are somewhere public. If you think about it, almost everything you do during a day can be related to what is acceptable behavior for the certain task you are carrying out. For example, on a normal school day you wouldn’t see someone wearing formal attire to a class. At an important event, however, this would be acceptable. When you are attending a movie in theatres you don’t sit and talk to the person you came with the whole time. You could do this at a restaurant though. Social norms depend on the culture you live in. Different kinds of behavior are accepted in different parts of the world. People greet each other in various ways from culture to culture for example. The comic Valentine From the Dog by Natalie Dee makes an interesting point in regards to social norms and how people show affection. When we look at this as humans, we don’t see it as what we would normally think of a valentine consisting of. An excretion of waste is not what our culture accepts as a way to show your feelings of affection towards another. To this dog on the other hand, it was meant as a gesture to show his love for his owner. This demonstrates how different behavior and customs can be viewed differently depending on the culture you are associated with. This argument is enforced in this comic through its use of visual hierarchy, abstraction and symbolization of its depicted objects.

There is a clear visual hierarchy in this comic that helps to shape this argument. The first thing you notice in the picture is the dog’s eyes. These eyes are not realistic at all, instead they are abstract. They are wide, round circles that are looking straight at you, the comic viewer, with almost laser-like intentions. This makes it quite obvious that the viewer is intended as the vector of attention in this comic. You are depicted as this dog’s owner. This is significant because it reveals that the valentine has been left for you and not another person or animal.

The second part in the comic that your eye is drawn to is the pink heart that is above the dog’s head. It appears that this heart is used to symbolize what the dog is thinking. A heart is widely accepted to resemble love or affection. I think that is exactly what it is intended to represent in this comic. The dog has given what he thinks to be a perfect gift to his master as a way to show his feelings towards him or her, depending on the viewer.

The first object, the dog’s eyes, and the second object, the heart above the dog’s head both begin to communicate what the comic is trying to say. The eyes have established the vector of attention, you, and the heart now tells you how the dog feels towards the vector of attention. If this heart wasn’t there to symbolize this relationship, you might get a totally different impression of this comic. The dog’s wide eyes can lead you to think in many different directions. It may seem instead like the dog is worried about what his owner is going to think about the mess he or she has left a little ways behind. It could also appear that the dog is almost surprised or alarmed at what he has done. This would make sense considering you don’t commonly come across a piece of dog poop that is heart shaped. So it is apparent that the heart above the dog’s head serves as a very important piece of information in this picture.

Finally, the item that is last in the line of visual hierarchy, the waste left behind by the dog. There is also symbolism that is apparent with this second heart shaped object. The piece of poo is meant to resemble the valentine. Like the dog’s eyes, it is slightly abstract. Many times homemade valentines are cut in the shape of hearts. Chocolates are sold in heart shaped boxes around Valentine’s Day. The heart is the shape that is commonly known to be associated with Valentine’s Day. This enforces that the poop is not ordinary, but instead intended as a gift for the occasion of Valentine’s Day. Like the pink heart above the dog’s head, the picture would be perceived differently if it was either not pictured, or not heart shaped. Without it, there would be aspects about the pictures that remain unclear. Why is the dog thinking about, showing or feeling love? It looks like the dog may be feeling lost if you just look at it and the heart, cropping out the right side of the picture. This would change the meaning of the comic to instead making you think the dog is possibly missing his lover.

When all three objects in the scale of hierarchy are put together they form a complete narration to the comic. You already know that the dog is showing affection towards the vector of attention, you, and when you add in the last object it is clear how the dog is showing his affection. He is giving his owner a Valentine. This is reinforced by the relationship between the two hearts in the comic. The shape of the pink heart above the dog’s head is similar to the shape that the dog has left with his excrement. These two hearts balance eachother out. This structural parallelism is important because it shows that his droppings were left as a sign of love. These two objects play off of each other to help us clearly understand the dog’s intentions. It is important to the comic that these three objects have a strong and clear relationship because there are no words to help us understand what is going on in the picture. We must rely on what the objects mean and how they play off on another to establish the intended idea of the comic.

The fact that this comic is abstract is another aspect to consider. Abstract can be defined as not applied or practical. (thefreedictionalry.com) A piece of poop is not exactly thought of as a gift that applies or is practical for someone on Valentine’s Day. However, in this instance it is. A dog cannot make anything or buy a gift like a human can, therefore, this gift can be defined as practical. The way all the objects in the picture are drawn abstractly serves to support this. It seems to say that just because the picture’s objects are abstract does not mean they don't make sense. In fact, this level of abstraction serves beneficial to the comic and the argument that is being outlined. Chapter 11 of the The Scott McCloud Essay discusses how abstraction in comics can focus your attention on specific deatails in the illustrations. The three objects, the dog's eyes, the heart and the feces, are the only objects that the viewer directs their attention to. If this comic was instead a photograph taken with a camera, it would not have the same affect because the objects would be more detailed and therefore, demand more attention than what they do in the simple illustration.

I think this comic asks us to think about what we consider to be socially acceptable in the places that we live in today. We may look at something as unacceptable or weird when, in some cultures, it is considered normal. Like the interesting Valentine the dog is giving his owner, we may not be looking at what we're seeing through their culture’s point of view. Sometimes if we stop and think, we realize that there is more to something than what first meets the eye and maybe what we find to be unusual is actually quite normal.

Works Cited

"Abstract." The Free Dictionary . 2009. Farlex, Web. 8 Nov 2009. .