Works of art throughout cultures

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Works of art throughout cultures and different time periods address similar themes in different ways.
Contemporary artists are still creatively addressing many of the same themes as artists of the past. For this
research paper you will focus on thematic connections between two artworks of your choosing. You will be
selecting one artwork from our textbook Gateways to Art and drawing connections with a work done by a
contemporary artist discussed in PBS’s Art 21 series. This will entail looking over past works we have covered
in your textbook, completing the remaining readings listed in your syllabus, and going to the PBS website to
watch videos. The site is organized by themes and also alphabetically by artist name. Videos can be found
HERE.
https://art21.org/artists/
Please make sure to choose works which have a unique connection with a thematic focus such as their
material, conceptual framework, formal qualities, etc. The connections you draw will ultimately become the
thesis of this research paper. Your thesis should be defended throughout the paper with careful analysis and
research of the works and cultures discussed.
Below are examples of possible essay topics. Please note that these are only examples. You are required to
think of your own topics.
1) Compare/contrast England’s prehistoric Stonehenge with James Turrell’s contemporary Earthwork Roden
Crater. Compare/contrast the scale and formal similarities of both of these works as well as the relationship
each work has with the land, the sun, and the sky.
2) Compare/contrast Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon with the work of contemporary artist Fred
Wilson. Compare/contrast the act of collecting or appropriating artifacts from past cultures and incorporating
them into new works in each artist’s practice.
3) Compare/contrast The Woman of Willendorf with Louise Bourgeois’s figurative sculptures. Compare/contrast
how ideas of fertility, gender, sexuality and the body are dealt with in both works.

 

 

 

 

Sample Solution

Concubine, Leslie did act in several other film with sexual ambiguity theme in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, these films took sexual orientation and gender identity as a joke. In the 1994 interview, Leslie showed his opposition to these films by saying, ‘people in Hong Kong apply satire and comedy on gays, it’s quite unnecessary.’ ” (He, 2018) It is until Farewell My Concubine that Leslie Cheung fully put himself into the character because he was making art and starting a campaign. According to Chen Kaige’s interview in his Alma Mater in 2018, he shared the story of meeting Leslie Cheung for the first time. “After a read the whole story of Farewell My Concubine to Leslie, he held my hand and said ‘I’m Dieyi’.” At that time, Leslie already clearly knew what he is. His way of advocating rights for himself, as well as the whole LGBTQ+ community, was fully devoting himself into this film and the creation of art. After his sacrifice, the Hong Kong media started the introspection on the negative voices of LGBTQ+, people in Hong Kong were increasingly aware of the importance of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
In the 90s of China, there is another film called East Palace West Palace concerning LGBTQ+ topic. But the story of it is much simpler than Farewell My Concubine. The story happened in 1990s when performing same-sex relationships and acts were considered as hooliganism crime in China. It talks about interrogation of a gay named A Lan by a homophobic police officer. While interrelating, the officer used words like disgracing and shameful to describe him. In comparison, A Lan was very calm about it and peacefully talked about all his stories to the officer.
There is one line in A Lan’s confession caught my attention: “They tried to cure me. They forced me to watch heterosexual pornography and treat me with good food and forced me to watch homosexual pornography and treat me with terrible food. But that didn’t work.” This showed the how China took care of homosexuality: People with homosexual mind would be sent to clinics and people who were reported to have homosexual behavior would be imprisoned. After the failure of the democratic movement in 1989, people were not able to start a second one. At the same time the legislature and police force of China became stronger. Facing this situation, along with the terror left by the cultural revolution, people in LGBTQ+ community only met secretly at secret places in mid night. No one dares to s

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