PROFESSOR ROBERT NELSEN OFFICE: JO 4.

912
EXPLORATION OF THE ARTS PHONE: 972-883-2273
ARTS 1301 E-MAIL: nelsen@utdallas.edu
MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY 5:30-6:45 SPRING 2007
OFFICE HOURS: MON. 4:30-5:30
http://www.utdallas.edu/~nelsen/

WARNING: THIS CLASS WILL CONTAIN ART THAT MAY

BE CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE BY SOME INDIVIDUALS.
IT WILL EXHIBIT PAINTINGS AND OTHER ARTWORK
THAT CONTAIN NUDITY AND EXPLICIT CONTENT. THE
CLASS MAY ALSO CONTAIN WHAT SOME CONSIDER
FOUL LANGUAGE. Students who feel uncomfortable in such
situations should consider enrolling in a different Arts and
Performance class. No student will be asked to participate in any
lecture, workshop, or event that that student finds offensive.
COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Students will formulate their personal aesthetic by drawing figures, acting in a

play, and writing a short story.

2. Students will attend three art events or performances and analyze in writing the
artist merit of those events or performances.

3. Students will describe and discuss the practices and processes involved in the
creation of art.

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE

“Creativity” can mean many things to many people, whether they are scientists or
computer geniuses or poets or sculptors or (especially) accountants. Critics often have an
entirely different notion of what “creativity” is from what practicing artists believe it to
be—then there are the politicians and the philosophers (for example, Plato) who despise
and are terrified by the term…. Artists themselves cannot agree on a single definition: a
painter has one idea of creativity, a writer another, and a musician another yet. This
course will focus on the practices and processes involved in creation, and will provide
students with tools to write and communicate (verbally and orally) about art. The course
will also require that students “get dirty” and personally experience the act of
creation.
 The course will be divided into three segments. During the first weeks of the
course, each student will be asked to begin formulating his or her own personal aesthetic
by discussing and viewing paintings, (an aesthetic is something more than “I like this”
or “I hate that”; it involves—among many other things—understanding the history
of visual, verbal, performing arts and the contexts from which each artwork is
created). During the middle of the course, the students will actually make three different
types of art—charcoal drawings, a performance in a play, and a short story. After creating
each artwork, students will present and discuss their creations. The final weeks of the
course will be dedicated (now that everyone in the class has experienced making art) to
(1) integrating the arts into an interconnected whole, (2) firming up a personal aesthetic,
and (3) understanding other people’s perspectives with regards to art.
To give students a broad perspective, the course will often center around avant
garde—art that is extreme and on the edges of established norms, not because the class
endorses such art but rather because the exposure to such art helps students clarify their
personal aesthetics. To broaden the experiences beyond the class, students will be
expected to attend at least three “artistic” events (at least two of the events on campus and
at least two of the events in different genres) and will write short, two page newspaper-
like reviews of those events. Events such a main stage rock bands, religious revivals,
high school bands, mainstream movies, sporting events, fairs, etc., are not acceptable
topics for the reviews. Reviews of paintings or sculptures must be reviews of specific,
curated exhibits—merely reviewing several paintings (for example) at the Dallas
Museum of Art cannot constitute an art review.

Required Readings
Artcyclopedia: www.artcyclopedia.com
Art in Flux: www.boisestate.edu/art/artinflux/index.html
National Museum of Women in the Arts: www.nmwa.org
Tate Modern: www.tate.org.uk/modern
Brewster Ghilsen: The Creative Process: Reflections on the Invention of Art
Richard Hugo: The Triggering Town
Plato: Ion
Steven Pressfield: The War of Art
Joshua Charles Taylor: Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts

Suggested Readings
Robert Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Assignment and Grade Information

***No previous work in any art is necessary or required; however, class
attendance is mandatory. All students may have one unexcused absence. For each
subsequent day missed without an excused written absence (no emails or phone messages
will be accepted), the student’s over-all, final grade will be docked 5 points.
***All papers can be turned in early, and it is highly recommended that the three
reviews of art events are turned in before the deadlines indicated. Late work will not be
commented on and will result in an automatic 2 point deduction for each class the
assignment is late. No work that is over two weeks late will be accepted.
***Each student will be expected to create an artist’s notebook (not a diary)
with daily entries Monday through Friday of every week—these notebooks must be
brought to each and every class. TWO ENTRIES EACH WEEK MUST INDICATE IN
SOME MANNER OR ANOTHER THAT THE STUDENT HAS READ THE
ASSIGNED READINGS FOR THAT WEEK. The notebooks will randomly be picked
up three times during the semester. Students who forget their notebooks will be docked
an automatic one-third grade point deduction from their final grade for each class
the notebook is late (e.g., if a notebook is one day late, the final grade for an A student in
the class would be an A-, for an A- student, the final grade would be a B+; for a B+
student, the final grade would be a B; etc.). Again, no work will be accepted if it is over
two weeks late.
***Extra credit of up to 5 points can be obtained by reviewing an additional
event beyond the three mandatory events. Extra credit of up to 10 points is also
available to those students who write a 7-10 page paper on how either Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance or Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind applies to their chosen career
path.
***Plagiarism, especially from the web, and from portions of papers for other
classes, and from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the
University’s policy on plagiarism (see catalogue for details). This course will use the
resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over
90% effective.
*** As per University policy, incompletes will be granted only for work
unavoidably missed at the semester's end and only if 70% of the coursework has been
completed. An incomplete must be completed eight (8) weeks from the first day of the
subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the
grade of X is not submitted by the specified deadline, the grade of X is changed
automatically to an F.

Grades
Visual Art project (drawing workshop grade)—15 points; Performing Art project
(drama workshop grade)—15 points; Verbal Art Project (3-10 page short story)—14
points; three short reviews of performances or art shows—30 points (ten points each);
collage—10 points; artist’s notebook—10 points; quizzes—6 points.

Materials
Large artist’s notebook; crayons, drawing pencils, posterboard, etc. All books can
be purchased either at the campus bookstore or at Off Campus Books.

Email
Due to past experiences with viruses, no attachments will be accepted or opened.
All assignments must be in hard copy. Email will be answered within 48 hours of its
receipt, but please do not use Web CT for email (the instructor does not use Web CT
and your emails will not be read). Also, please be apprised of the following
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL UTD STUDENTS:
 Beginning August 1, 2004, all email correspondence will be sent ONLY to the
student's U.T. Dallas email address. U.T. Dallas provides each student with a free
email account that is to be used in all communication with university personnel.
This allows the university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity
of all individuals corresponding and the security of the transmitted information.
The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for
students to forward email from other accounts to their U.T. Dallas address and
have their U.T. Dallas mail sent on to other accounts. Students may go to the
following URL to establish or maintain their official U.T. Dallas computer
account: http://netid.utdallas.edu/.

WEEKLY COURSE PLAN*

(*Please note: because of Professor’s Nelsen’s responsibilities in the Provost’s Office
some classes will meet on Saturday rather Monday or Tuesday—currently
four classes are scheduled for Saturday—one or two
more could possibly be added.*)

January 8th HAND OUT SYLLABUS

January 10th INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTS

Read: Ghiselin (Introduction)
Discussion Topics: What is creativity? What makes an artist an artist? What are
the limits to art?

January 17th CENSORSHIP: THE DANGER OF ART

Read: Plato’s Ion [recommended: Suzuki, Introduction]
Discussion Topics: Why is art dangerous? What sorts of art should be censored?
Is art an individual or a communal act?

January 20th (Saturday) FASHIONS AND TASTE: CULTURAL INFLUENCE

Read: Taylor, 51-76; Pressfield, 1-38 and 91-93; Van Gogh (“Letter to Anton”),
Einstein (“Letter to Hadanard”), Tate (“Narcissus as Narcissus”)
Discussion Topics: How does art depend upon past art? Is art nothing but a
series of fortunate circumstances? How do trends arise and change? How does
one “read” an artwork?
Assignment Due: Four full-page computer reproductions (with date, painter’s
name, place painting is housed, plus URL), two of which the student likes and
two of which the student dislikes. Three reproductions must be from three
different sites listed in the syllabus. The fourth may be from another site of the
student’s choice. These reproductions will not be graded, but failure to turn them
in on time will result in a 5 point deduction from final grade. ON THE BACK
OF EACH REPRODUCTION, A BRIEF EXPLANATION MUST BE
PROVIDED OF WHY THE STUDENT THINKS THE ARTWORK IS GOOD
OR WHY THE STUDENT THINKS IT IS BAD
January 22nd HOW TO REVIEW ART
Read: Taylor, 77-128.
Discussion Topics: How objective must a reviewer be? What should one look
for in a painting? In a play? In a concert? What are the sine qua non’s of
reviewing?
Assignment Due: Two art reviews from local newspapers or from the web—one
that the student finds stupid and one that the student finds brilliant. These reviews
will not be graded, but failure to bring them to class or to be able to talk about
why they are brilliant or stupid will result in a 5 point deduction from final grade.

January 24th DISCOVERY VS. INVENTION

Read: Taylor, 139-148; Pressfield, 39-57 and 145-151; Shapiro (“The Musical
Mind”), Moore (“Notes on Sculpture”), Mozart (“A Letter”)
Discussion Topics: Is art merely adrift on the sea of change? What is
periodization, and is it a useful device? What “types” of artists create what
“types” of art?

January 31st DRAWING WORKSHOP

February 3rd (Saturday) DRAWING WORKSHOP

Assignment Due: First two-page review of art event (not to exceed 500 words)

February 5th DRAWING WORKSHOP

February 7th DRAWING WORKSHOP

February 12th DRAWING WORKSHOP

February 14th DRAWING WORKSHOP

February 19th THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Read: Taylor, 149-160; Pressfield, 61-82 and 152-156; Hugo, 3-18; Valery (“The
Course in Poetics”); Cocteau (“The Process of Inspirations”); Yeats (“Three
Pieces on the Creative Process”) [recommended: Suzuki, Prologue and 53-71]
Discussion Topics: What rules are there to art? What is inspiration and where
does it come from? What creates “artistic blocks”?
Assignment Due: 3 best drawings and worst drawing from class and two page
review student’s best or worst drawings (a critique of the techniques used to
produce that drawing)

February 24th (Saturday) CREATIVE WRITING I

Read: Hugo, 19-26; Pressfield, 96-115 and 157-165; Housman (“The Name and
Nature of Poetry”) [recommended: Suzuki, 71-76]
Discussion: What are the rules of fiction and poetry? How does fiction work?
What should be in the first sentence? Why is repetition important?
February 26th CREATIVE WRITING II
Read: Hugo, 37-51; Pressfield, 95 and 116-141; Miller (“Reflections on
Writing”), Wolfe (The Story of a Novel”), Porter (“Notes on Writing”), Lowell
(“The Process of Making Poetry”), Preston (“A Conversation with Gertrude
Stein”)
Discussion Topics: What is the relationship of a word to a created object? How
can words be more than squiggles on the page? Is empathy, sympathy, or
identification the key to art?
Assignment Due: Three first sentences for potential stories (these sentences will
not be graded and should each be on a separate sheet of paper)

February 28th CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

Read: Hugo, 53-66
Assignment Due: Three paragraphs based on the exchanged sentences from the
previous class (these paragraphs will not be graded and should each be on a
separate sheet of paper)

SPRING BREAK—March 5-March 10

March 12th CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

Assignment Due: First draft of short story (these stories will not be graded, but
students must bring three copies)

March 14th ART AND THE SOUL

Read: Pressfield, 83-84; Hugo, 67-74; Kipling (“Working Tools”), Canfield
(“How Flint and Fire Started and Grew”), James (“Spoils of Poynton”)
Discussion Topics: What is the role of art in life? Is art a habit, a way of being,
a conscious act, or what?

March 19th DRAMA WORKSHOP

Assignment Due: 3 to 10 page short story (Story may NOT be derived in any
fashion from the work done in the previous classes or in any other classes)

March 21st DRAMA WORKSHOP

March 26th DRAMA WORKSHOP

Assignment Due: Second two-page review of art event (not to exceed 500
words)

March 28th DRAMA WORKSHOP

April 2nd DRAMA WORKSHOP

April 4th DRAMA WORKSHOP

April 9th CLASS PERFORMANCE

 Assignment Due: Third two-page review of art event (not to exceed 500 words)

April 11th CLASS PERFORMANCE

April 16th COLLAGE WORKSHOP

Assignment Due: Bring to workshop at least 5 reproductions of paintings from
the web site to be used in collage. These reproductions will not be graded, but
failure to bring them to the workshop will result in a 5 percent deduction from
final grade.
***LAST DAY TO TURN IN WORK FOR EXTRA CREDIT***

April 21st (Saturday) GENIUS AND CREATION

Read: Poincare (“Mathematical Creation”), Gerard (“The Biological Basis of
Imagination”), Jung (“Psychology and Literature”), Prince (“Subconscious
Intelligence Underlying Dreams”) [recommended: Suzuki, 59-71, 102-113]
Discussion Topics: Can we believe what artists say (the intentional fallacy)?
Nature vs. Nurture—in art, which counts and for what? Where does art come
from?

April 23rd BEING A BEGINNER ALWAYS

Read: Suzuki, Epilogue; Hugo, 98-109; Pressfield, 85-94; Zervos (“Conversation
with Picasso”), Kuniyoshi (“East to West”), Wordsworth (“Lyrical Ballads”),
Nietzsche (“Thus Spake Zarathustra”) [recommended: Suzuki, 31-43, 71-83,
127-138]
Discussion Topics: Can one dabble in the arts? What is the proper mindset of
an artist? What is the role of expertise in the arts?
Assignment Due: Collage (a defense of or attack on the arts) and Artist
Notebook

April 25th NO FINAL EXAM BUT PICK UP COLLAGES FROM 4:00-6:00

ALL COLLAGES AND NOTEBOOKS NOT PICKED UP ON THAT DATE
WILL BE RECYCLED AT 6:01 P.M. (ALL UNCLAIMED PAPERS WILL
ALSO BE RECYCLED AT 6:01 P.M.)

APPENDIX
University Rules, Regulations, and Statutory Requirements
Rules, Regulations, and Statutory Requirements
Student Conduct and Discipline—The University of Texas System and The University
of Texas at Dallas have rules and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their
business. It is the responsibility of each student and each student organization to be
knowledgeable about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and
activities. General information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the U.T.
Dallas publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each
academic year.
The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of
recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the
Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1,
Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the
university's Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations are
available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff are available to
assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents' Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to
discipline for violating its standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or
off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.
Academic Dishonesty—The faculty expects from its students a high level of
responsibility and academic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends
upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is
imperative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her
scholastic work.
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related
to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one's
own work of material that is not one's own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty
involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying
academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
proceedings.
Student Grievances—Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on
Student Services and Activities, of the university's Handbook of Operating Procedures.
In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other
fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a
serious effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or
committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called "the respondent.")
Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and
evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be
submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy to the respondent's School Dean. If the
matter is not resolved by the written response provided by the respondent, the student
may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the
School Dean's decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean of Graduate
or Undergraduate Studies who will appoint and convene an Academic Appeals Panel.
The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the academic appeals
process will be distributed to all involved parties.
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of
Students, where staff are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and
regulations.
Disability Services—The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with
disabilities educational opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers.
Disability Services is located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are
Monday and Thursday, 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 AM to 7:30
PM, and Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.
The University of Texas at Dallas
P.O. Box 830688, SU22
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
972-883-2098 (voice or TTY)
Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For example,
it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape recorders or animals
(in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind. Occasionally, an assignment
requirement may be substituted (e.g., a research paper versus an oral presentation for a
student who is deaf). Classes enrolling students with mobility impairments may have to
be rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide
special services such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.
It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors. Disability Services
provides students with letters to present to faculty members verifying that the student has
a disability and needs accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation
should contact the professor after class or during office hours.