DESCRIPTION

The seminar focuses on the psychological import of art productions. Analysis and discussion includes the formal elements of these productions as well as the images portrayed. Attention in this context is given to a broad spectrum of selected drawings, paintings and sculpture. The course should attract students with interests and prior course work in either art or psychology.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To give students the knowledge and insights to be able to access visual art as a possible window into personality and psychological states of being; and to give students the opportunity to understand art as a gateway towards viewing the culture of our time in a vibrant new way. To accomplish this, the seminar will address the following issues:

How art productions reveal human strivings and concerns: how art reflects the psychological needs and temperament of the artist; how art reveals the unconscious; the expression of dreams in art; psychological portraits; personal values and political perspectives expressed in art.

Artistic expression as a human necessity: how creative needs are met in the environment of art; why art is considered to be a universal language; the many faces of beauty.

Art productions as a tool for psychological assessment: how projective drawings may reveal personality defenses and disorders.

Art as a portrayal of the culture: how art productions reflect the psychological concerns and mood of the culture in which they are produced; how art may presage as well as describe such concerns. The focus will be limited to American late 20th Century culture and prioritized on psychological content, largely excluding other issues.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required readings:

Creativity and Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists. Barry Panter et al. New York: Almed Press, 1995
Varieties of Visual Experience. Edmund Burke Feldman. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
The Courage to Create. Rollo May. New York: W.W. Norton, 1975. Eleventh printing, 1985

Recommended readings:

An Invitation to See. Helen M. Franc. New York: The Museum of Modem Art, 1973. Eighth printing, 1996

Clinical Application of Projective Drawings. Emanuel Hammer. Springfield, Ill.: Charles Thomas, 1967.
Periodically, articles will be placed on reserve or assigned.

Attendance

Regular, prompt class attendance is expected; two latenesses count as an absence in consideration of grades with reference to class participation (see Grading). Students are expected to be fully prepared to participate in discussions of reading assignments and related topics.

Oral Report:

Students select a topic related to the subject matter of the course. The topic should be one inspired by matter under discussion rather than an elaboration of it. Examples: a report analyzing the psychological import of a particular artist's work, not discussed in the seminar; psychological issues raised in viewing the art of another culture; gender differences observed in the art of children; a demonstration or study using the class constituency as subjects.
The topic must be approved prior to delivery. The oral report should take 20 to 30 minutes to deliver, including a question and answer period. A typed one-page outline and list of citations referred to is submitted at the time of the report.
Oral reports are graded for these qualities:
Research: the extent of relevant research and the demonstrated comprehension of material.
Organization: the logic of sequence and appropriate focus on objectives.
Presentation: the interest generated by expressive communication, visual supplements, imaginative approach, etc.

Mid-term Paper

This paper will differ substantially from both the oral report and the final paper. It is to be a short reflection on how you personally react, respond to, or are influenced by art either as a producer or viewer of art. In this context, "art" can include the visual or performing arts.
Your essay should focus, as much as possible, on the psychological impact and import of your personal responses. Therefore, actual experiences can and should be noted, using your now educated analytical abilities to assay them for meaning. The mid
term paper will probably be about 5 double-spaced pages (see below).

Final Paper

Students select a topic related to course content. The paper should be an outgrowth of class readings and discussions and should include at least two outside resources as well; readings from other classes are acceptable. The report may be an extension of the oral report or extension of original work done in other classes (if clearly cited as such and that paper submitted). Connecting the learning from one course to another is one of the most valuable experiences of a college education.
The paper length will probably be about 10 double-spaced pages. (This number is given only as a guide for students who feel more comfortable with a number; however, a quality paper will not suffer grade-wise if content is adequately substantial.)

GRADING

The grade earned is based on several factors: The oral report (research, organization and presentation) The mid
-term paper, the final paper and active class participation.
Note: Under no condition are papers to be printed off the Internet. While specific research may be taken from Internet sources, any such reference must be clearly cited and in no case should material be taken in bulk whether cited or not. Plagiarism of any kind may result in a failing grade but students should be aware that whether discovered or not, they will have failed to get the benefits they are entitled to by using material not generated by themselves.

SCHEDULE OF CLASS TOPICS, SEMINAR DISCUSSIONS AND READINGS

Class One:

Introduction of student backgrounds: choice of this senior seminar; major field of study; career and study objectives and how the seminar might be applied.
Explanation of syllabus, including topics, assignments, grading and time tables.
A projective drawing procedure (materials provided).

Assignment: Read The Courage to Create, pp 1
Read in Creativity and Madness, "An Artist Destroys his Work: Comments on Creativity
it
and Destructiveness, p.59.

Class Two:

Dates set for student oral reports though topics need not be determined at this time.
Discussion of previous reading assignments.
Projective drawing technique: "Personal Introductions" (materials provided). Discussion of
the process, goals and value of this and other projective instruments in art.
RA
Assignment
Study pictofiM representations in Invitation to See which in various ways inform our present
culture, pp. 18, 19, 46, 104, 106, 107, 109. Be prepared to discuss ways in which this occurs
by leading a discussion on one selected painting or sculpture.ov
5 pe

Presentation of the short video, "Art and Therapy." Aspects of the processes and goals of art /\/b c~61 therapy are presented.
Discussion of reading assignments; selected phrases from The Courage to Create will be presented which students should be prepared to probe for meaning.
Discussion of insights into present culture derived from pictorial examples examined in Invitation to See.

Assignment: Read in Creativity and Madness, "Pieter Bruegel The Elder: A Psychological Study of a Man and His Times, " p. 161 and "Vincent van Gogh: Creativity and Madness, P. 1.

Class Four:

Presentation of the short video, "Art Therapy," followed by discussion about group art therapy processes and goals.
Display of the professor's collection of drawings by residents of the Rockland Psychiatric Center, predominantly schizophrenic patients. Students will independently make a list of words and phrases which evoke the style and nature of what is seen; discussion follows, pertaining to process, form and symbolism of the imagery.

Assignment: Read The Courage to Create, pp. 87
Study pictorial representations in Invitation to See which in various ways presages the future, pp. 66, 71, 92, 108. Be prepared to discuss ways in which this occurs by leading a discussion on one selected painting or sculpture.

Class Five:

In partners, quickly produce gesture drawings of your partner's head and shoulders as he or she draws you (instruction and materials provided). The projective exercise is followed by discussion of the ways in which portraits may evoke the psychology of either artist or subject.
Display of the professor's collection of jail inmate drawings and paintings. Students will independently make a list of words and phrases which evoke the style and nature of what is seen; discussion follows pertaining to process, form and symbolism of the imagery.
Discussion of previous reading assignments.

Assignment: Study representations of portraits in Invitation to See, pp.26, 27, 59, 60, 62, 639 64, 65, 76. Be prepared to lead a discussion on one selected painting or sculpture.
Read in Creativity and Madness, "Jackson Pollock: Art vs. Alcohol," p. 17.

Class Six:

Discussion of portraits in art and their psychological content.
Discussion of artists' personal expressions as seen in their productions, e.g., angst, joy, fear, passion, convictions, analysing the form as well as content of these evocations.

Assignment: Read The Courage to Create, pp. 149
Read in Creativity and Madness, "The Art and Suffering of Frida Kahlo. "
Study pictorial representations in Invitation to See, which in various ways expresses an unattainable ideal; examples: pp.25, 53, 78, 80, 84. Be prepared to lead a discussion on one selected painting or sculpture.

Class Seven:

A projective art process: "The Life Review Chart" (instruction and materials provided). Drawings are held by students for later reference.
Discussion of expressions of the unattainable ideal in art.

Assignment: Study pictorial representations in Invitation to See which explore dreams and the unconscious, pp. 13, 20, 21, 13, 40, 41, 46, 53, 659 77, 80, 81, 82, 83, 91, 95, 100, 101. Be prepared to lead a discussion on one selected painting or sculpture.
Read in Creativity and Madness, " Edvard Munch: A study of Loss, Grief and Creativity," p. 177.

4


Class Eight:

Midterm papers due.
Description given of "The House Tree Person" projective procedure with an illustrated example of a case study done by the professor.
Discussion of the evocation of dreams and the unconscious in art.
Discussion of the reading assignments.

Assignment: During the week choose a subject for "The Life Review Chart" and prepare to share the results of the procedure with the class. Please Xerox 7 copies of the executed picture to facilitate discussion.
Read the Xerox handout on the "House Tree Person" procedure to understand the objectives, process, progression and nature of the interrogations.

Class Nine:

Presentation of several illustrated examples of "The House Tree Person" procedure together with related case histories; discussion follows.

Assignment: Read in Creativity and Madness, "The Missing Mothers of Leonardo and Magritte, " p. 207.

Class Ten:

Continuation of "The House Tree Person" presentations with illustrations and case histories provided.
Student presentations of "The Life Review Process" done with subjects.

Assignment: During the week, choose a subject and execute "The House Tree Person" procedure. " Prepare to present the results in class. Please Xerox 7 copies (of the pictures only) to facilitate discussion.

Class Eleven:

Topics for final paper due.
Preparation of two foil figures in an interrelationship expressive of personal feelings or problems, connected, for example, to family problems, alcoholism, love relationships, unresolved anger, grief, fear or loss. Discussion follows about ways the project can be used in therapeutic situations.
Midterm papers are voluntarily read aloud by students, followed by discussion.

Assignment: Explore topics in Varieties of Visual Experience, preparing to lead a discussion by selecting a reproduction which evokes any of the following subjects:

Meaning conveyed beyond what is seen; reality represented other than by camera image.
Deceiving our eyes; challenging our sensual experience by the juxtaposition of objects.
The search for order in art: biomorphic order: the feeling of perfection in simple organic forms as in the sculpture of Arp; formal order: the intellectual logic of analytic cubism as in the work of Braque and Picasso; sensuous order: the appeal to emotion and a sense of internal balance through symphonic color and a tapestry of texture as in the paintings of Bonnard.
Art and architecture in kinship with nature.

Read in Creativity and Madness, "Michelangelo's Creativity: the Conquest of Adversity," p.

Class Twelve:

Discussion of passion in art: styles emotion may take: revulsion, as in Soutine's "Side of Beef"; primal terror, as in Richier's "Bat." The use of symbolism and distortion to communicate psychological truths.
Beyond imagery: the use of line, design, tension, texture and color to communicate psychological truths.

Assignment: Prepare final paper.

Class Thirteen:

The use of machines and technology in art; romanticism and fantasy in art and what these oppositional spheres convey about the experience and needs of the culture.
Student presentations of illustrated "House Tree Person" procedures.

Assignment: Prepare final paper.

Class Fourteen

Final papers due
Readings and discussions of final paper topics.

NOTATIONS

*Student Oral Reports will be appended to each class session according to the dates of oral reports selected by students in Class Two.

The above schedule of class topics and assignments may be adjusted as needed.

Please consult the instructor about any documented disabilities so that appropriate arrangements for a successful course experience can be made.