Papers
Not that long ago, I earned a Master of Fine Arts degree (MFA). It's a 60 unit master's program. Along the way, I wrote many papers about art, art history, and art criticism. I put plenty of effort into them, and some of them are pretty good. I enjoy doing research and writing. It is quite demanding, but I learned a lot from the process.
Unfortunately, once turned in and graded, the papers are usually never seen again. It seems a shame that only my professors have ever read them, and they do supply a fair representation of my capabilities as a writer. So, I decided to post them here in html format. This way, people can read them and possibly benefit from my research. If there is demand, I may post them as pdfs.
Moving Beyond Postmodernism
03/19/2007
This my answer to a question posed as part of my comprehensive exam in the spring of 2007. "In the context of the visual arts, did postmodernism ever come to an end? When? Why or why not? How would you define the state of contemporary art today?" I spent a significant portion of my time in graduate school researching and studying postmodernism in the attempt to understand what it is, what it means. I found no simple answers to that question but I enjoyed writing about it. This is a synthesis of my work over an extended period and it reads well. It is a polemical piece where I bid farewell to postmodernism, tip my hat to the late Jean Baudrillard, and make an appeal for hypermodernism. The essay is approximately 3400 words plus endnotes and bibliography. Read this paper
Coming to Terms with Motorcycles as Art
11/29/2006
This is an examination of the Art of the Motorcycle exhibition that opened in the summer of 1998 at the Guggenheim. I wrote the paper in the fall of 2006 for an art history course. It is a complex work pulling together several ideas including the role of art museums, the role of art in industrial design, the validity of commercial manufactured goods as works of art, and my analysis of the sincerity of the exhibition. It is approximately 3366 words plus endnotes and bibliography. Read this paper
Art Deco and the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb
02/06/2006
I wrote this paper for a 20th century architecture class in the fall of 2006. We were asked to write about the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, IL. It is a historical landmark and a curiously lavish building for a small, rural community. I took the assignment as an opportunity to learn more about the Art Deco movement. I used a deliberately approachable writing style and I am particularly happy with the way this paper turned out. It flows well and provides the reader with useful information. Read this paper
