Anti-Monument

1. Students will be able to define the role that monuments play in society.

2. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of scale, proportion, texture, and value.

3. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the need for research and how to appropriately develop ideas that are enriched by that research and explored through their visual work.

4. Students will be able to demonstrate excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail.

For this project, you will create a monument to the unheard and unseen parts of history using cardboard. This project will require extensive research and planning. The aim of this project is to get you thinking about both aesthetic and conceptual ideas. 

For the aesthetic portion, I want you to investigate the use of form, balance, scale, proportion, texture, and value. You will need to consider how the scale of your project informs the viewer – does the scale of your monument feel imposing, welcoming, or threatening? When the scale changes, so does the texture. You will need to consider how you use texture on a potentially much larger work of art. Monuments are typically located in outdoor areas or places with uncontrolled lighting. Use that uncontrollable and unpredictable nature as part of your work. 

Conceptually you will be asked to create the opposite of the traditional monument. Although your final project might (or might not) look like a traditional monument, what it memorializes is up to you. Focus on institutions, ideas, and beliefs that you admire or despise. Pick them apart.