Assignment #2 instructions and rubric: Art in the Museum

Assignment #2 (750 -1000 words) (20%)

This assignment asks you to consider what it means to encounter work in the context of a
museum.

If you are at the AGO: After you finish the audio tour, you will choose a single artwork to
be the focus of your assignment. Find a work that you are drawn to. Maybe you find it
visually appealing. Maybe you find it emotionally moving or intellectually interesting. I
encourage you to make the most of your visit and choose an artwork in the Canadian
Galleries that was not included on my tour. This way you have the opportunity to bring
more of your own insights to the assignment.

If you are watching the slideshow of the AGO: you can choose one Canadian artwork
from the works featured. (However, not the Reihana video work.)

This assignment asks you to:

1. briefly describe the work

2. consider its meaning and why it might have been chosen by curators

3. discuss how the context of the museum and the Canadian Galleries impacts the way you
understand the artwork.

If you are at the AGO: Once you have selected a work that interests you and before you
leave the gallery, you will need to do the following:

- take a photograph of the work (it is important that you do this without using a flash)

- take a photograph of the wall label to ensure you have a record of the artist’s name,
title, year created and the medium (painting, print, photograph, sculpture).

If you are watching the slideshow of the AGO: you can take a screenshot or you can look
up the artwork on the AGO website.

Please be sure to include the image of the work you are discussing in your paper. It
can be placed at the start or the end of the text along with the identifying information
- artist’s name, title, year created and the medium (painting, print, photograph, sculpture).
You should make notes based on the following questions in order to provide evidence for
the points you will make in your paper:

What does the work look like? (This need only be a sentence or two of its most important
formal qualities. The focus of this assignment is not formal analysis.)

What is the subject matter of the work? How did you come to identify the subject? Did you
discern this by looking at the work or by reading the title on the wall text or information on
the AGO"s website?

Does the work provide a particular point of view? How did you come to this conclusion?

Does the work have something to say about wider societal issues? If so, do you know this
from your visual analysis of the work or from reading the wall text or both?

How do the other works in the exhibition affect the way we understand this work? Does it
stand out? Does it draw meaning from being seen next to the works around it?

This is not a research assignment. The information you glean from our course materials or
find in the museum (or on the museum website) about the artist and the style or period of
the artwork should suffice. This assignment asks for your thoughts and reactions to the
work. You have developed tools of formal analysis and you have listened to lectures about
art, museums and the politics of representation. You have learned about several well-known
Canadian artists and you have read a few short texts that help to outline issues in
indigenous and settler colonial Canadian art. These will all help to shape your response to
the work and you should reference at least 3 of those lectures, videos and readings in
writing your paper. For this assignment, we will use a shorthand style for citations. Because
we are drawing only on course material, you can simply add the author or lecturer's last
name in brackets at the end of the sentence. Don't forget to include the image you are
discussing. It should be placed in your paper and not uploaded as a separate file.

Some reminders on visiting the AGO:

● You will have to stow any large bags, or umbrellas, at the coat check.

● Wear comfortable shoes… there is limited seating in the main galleries.

● No outside food or drink is allowed; there are water fountains on each level and a cafe on
the 2nd

floor at Galleria Italia.

● Please do not touch the art unless it is explicitly allowed. There may be ropes or lines
painted on

the floor that indicate how close you can get to certain works, and those are sometimes
equipped

with sensors that make noise if you cross them.

● Bring a notepad and pencil (as opposed to a pen) to take notes about your impressions of
the

artworks.

● If you have any questions, feel free to ask the security guards and volunteer docents.

● If you like the audio tour and want more information on the galleries, the AGO runs
thematic tours

on a daily basis: www.ago.net/tours

Assignment #2 AGO Rubric

Artist and Artwork Info (out of Full marks require: The artist’s Excellent 13-15
15) name, artwork title, date
created, and medium, all Good 11-12
spelled correctly. Includes an
image of the artwork. The Average 9-10
paper includes a brief visual
description of the work using Below Average 8
the language of formal
analysis. Fail 0-7

Meaning (out of 25)
Full marks require: The text Excellent 22-25
includes eloquent and
thoughtful assessment of the Good 20-22
possible meaning of the work.
This assessment is tied to a Average 15-19
consideration of why the
curators might have chosen the Below Average 13-14
work for this space. Includes
discussion of how you Fail 0-12
determined the meaning of the
 work (visual observation, wall
labels etc.)

Museum context (out of 25) Full marks require: The text Excellent 22-25
includes eloquent and
thoughtful discussion of how Good 20-22
the context of the museum and
the Canadian Galleries impacts Average 15-19
the way you understand the
artwork. This discussion Below Average 13-14
includes reference to the
artworks place in the Fail 0-12
exhibition as well as the
physical space of the gallery.
Evidence (out of 20) Full marks require: Excellent 19 - 20
Suppositions, assessment and
arguments should be supported Good 16 - 18
by accurate visual evidence
and/or by relevant reference to Average 12- 15
at least 3 relevant lectures,
videos and readings from the Below Average 10-11
course.
Fail 0-9

Writing Style (out of 15) Full marks require: The text is Excellent 13-15
clearly written and uses
sophisticated language with Good 11-12
multiple instances of course
vocabulary, and the text does Average 9-10
not struggle with flow or
clarity. It displays no examples Below Average 8
of awkward writing,
inappropriate word choice, or Fail 0-7
grammar and spelling errors. It
uses language to creatively
convey ideas while
maintaining the conventions of
academic writing.