Assignment # 3: Comics and art as transformation

Anthropology 33:Culture and Communication

Syllabus for Anthropology 33

Instructor: Prof. Alessandro Duranti

[Updated on March 9, 2006, at 5pm]

Goal

This assignment is designed to get students to apply the concept of art as transformation, introduced in the lectures about art, and to think about some of the key concepts in the course.

Final product

You will need to produce a comics strip (of various length, see below) that illustrates ONE of the following concepts or themes introduced in the course: (1) heteroglossia, (2) crosstalk, (3) social identity, (4) the family as a political institution, (5) indexicality, (6) formality, (7) the socialization of emotions. The comics strip will have to be based on already existing drawings by one of the American authors represented in the exhibit Masters of American Comics (see below), which you will TRANSFORM by changing the text and, if necessary, parts of the drawings. You will also write a short discussion of the connection between the concept/theme you chose and the aesthetics of the author whose comics you used and transformed.

Procedure

To complete this assignment, you will need to:

A. CHOOSE NUMBER OF PEOPLE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. Decide whether you want to do it individually or with a group (with students who are ALL in the same section or with the same TA). See below for what is required for single author vs. group.

B. GO TO THE MUSEUM. Go (with the rest of your group, if you are in a group) to the: Hammer Museum, located in Westwood (for information on hours and days to visit, clic on "Information" and then on "Planning Your Visit"). You need to visit the Masters of American Comics (entrance is free of charge for UCLA students).

C. CHOOSE ONE AUTHOR. Once you are at the Hammer Museum, go through the exhibit on American comics and choose ONE author whose work reminds you of one or more of the themes of the class listed above. Study as much as you can the work of the chosen author to get a sense of the author's aesthetics (including style of drawings, types of stories, use of symbols, types of characters, etc.).

D. GET SOURCE MATERIAL. Then, you will need to get access to some sample of the author's graphic WORK. This can be done in a number of ways, including: (a) buying a book (at the museum or in a bookstore or newsstand) that has work by the author you chose; (b) borrowing a book with the desired comics from someone you know (e.g. a friend, a schoolmate); (c) taking a GOOD photo of some of the work exhibited at the museum (usually photos WITHOUT flash ARE allowed, which means that you need a camera that can take photos with low light - it's a good idea in this case to have someone who knows about photography in your group); (d) using some of the work that is available on the web site under view selected works; (e) looking up the author in a library or on line.

E. DISCUSSION WITH YOUR GROUP. After the visit, if you are in a group, get together with the other members of your group in a place that could be conducive to having collective epiphanies and talk about how to creatively carry out the assignment. (By now you should have one or more people that you are comfortable working with. To actually produce the comics, you will need to do a considerable amount of CUT and PASTE (literally or digitally) to adapt the original comics frames to your story (ultimately, the final product should be printed or written/drawn on paper, NOT in digital form).

Final stage

F. PRODUCTION. Produce the a comics strip according to the following rationale:

  • ONE person working alone will prepare a strip of 4 frames.
  • TWO people will prepare a strip of 6 frames.
  • THREE people will prepare a strip of 8 frames.
  • FOUR people will prepare a strip of 12 frames.

    • G. BRIEF DISCUSSION. Write a brief discussion explaining your choice of a particular author and the logic of the transformation that you made of the author's work.

    The length of report should be:

  • 250 words for ONE person working alone.
  • 350 words for teams of TWO people.
  • 500 words for teams of THREE people.
  • 600 words for teams of FOUR people.

    • The report by a group should NOT be a repetition of what each person did or thought, but an integrated discussion of the reasons for choosing a particular author and adapting/transforming/reframing the author's work.

    Hand in to your TA:

    1) A hard copy (NOT a digital copy) of the comics strip and of your report.

    2) Some documentation of the original graphic material that you used to produce your strip (e.g. a book or a series of photos or photocopies).

    The assignment is due according to the schedule established by your TA.

    Grading criteria

    You will be graded on: (i) The short discussion, i.e. whether you clearly articulated the logic of your transformation of the original work into your own work (14 points), (ii) the actual comics strip you will create (criteria: creativity, clarity, use of analytical tools acquired in the course) (14 points), (iii) remembering to bring a copy of original strip that you used to create your own (2 points).