Why?

To better familiarize yourself with the artists associated with new genres, you will do a deep dive on an artist of your choosing for an oral presentation. You will then also hear of artists each of your classmates selected to get a more well-rounded view of the field.

Brief

Prepare and deliver in class an eight-minute oral and visual presentation on a new-genre artist from this spreadsheet (select only from the Video, Animation, Performance, Video Performance, Sound, and Installation Art tabs). Your oral presentation should include visuals (and sound when appropriate). I recommend Google Slides for easy access during class. You will find the date your presentation will happen in the list at the bottom of the assignment brief.

Note: Not all artists on the list work exclusively within new genre, but the work you choose to highlight should focus only on video, animation, performance, video performance, sound and installation. Keep it BYU-appropriate in your topics and selection of works.

You will not be submitting anything for the assignment. Your grade is based solely on your oral and visual presentation.

Submission Checklist

Practice your presentation out loud a number of times! This will help you feel and sound more natural with your presentation, identify which names and words you need to learn how to pronounce, and work through kinks in your audio-visual material. Get to the point where you can give the presentation with minimal references to your notes. Write up notes to which you can quickly and easily refer during your presentation. Do not format it like a script because you should not be reading from these notes—only glancing down for reference on occasion. Test all A/V elements in advance. Have a timer for yourself that you can see during your presentation so you can pace yourself and fully use the time allotted. If you plan to use your own device to connect to the classroom TV, make sure you have the appropriate adapter. If you plan to use the instructor’s laptop, please email him a link to the presentation in advance, and make sure that anyone with the link can access it (so you don’t have to take time to log in to the instructor’s computer).

Tips and Considerations

• Select an artist that excites you, so you are invested in the project.
• Use your entire eight minutes and no more. Pace yourself so you use your full time and stay within your allotted time.
• Some biographical information is appropriate, but the main focus should be on their work and discussing its importance to the field. If you choose include biographical information, it should be no more than 20% of your presentation (1.5 minutes).
• Find high-quality images, video, and sound (when appropriate), to add liberally to your presentation to illustrate your points and help other students connect to the work.
• If using sound or video, edit them down to brief clips so that the work does not take up more that 1.5 minutes of your overall presentation. It is OK if you show a soundless video that you talk over. That would not count toward your 1.5 minutes.
• Avoid subjective terms and focus on what the work is doing and how it is operating in the world. Think of this like our critiques. This is more about what the work is doing, and less about what the artist (or a curator, or an historian) says the work is doing. Express your own views on the work.

Assignments

Learning Outcomes Addressed

Non-Traditional Approaches

Students will expand their art practice by engaging in a variety of non-traditional approaches to art production, while incorporating a conceptual framework in their exploration.

New Genre Art Practices

Students will develop a basic understanding of New Genre art practices and their origins, including relevant themes and concerns.