|
The Honors College at FIU
LA RÉVOLUTION FRANÇAISE: BOX PORTRAIT PROJECT
Joseph Cornell. Medici Boy, 1945-52. Estate of Joseph Cornell. Project Description Content You are to create a portrait in a box format. The portrait must be that of the character that you will be playing in the Reacting to the Past game, Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791 by Marc C. Carnes and Gary Kates. For those with named roles, this is straight-forward enough…but for others of you with ‘generic roles’ you are allowed a little more latitude. For example , if are to play as a Jacobin, your Box Portrait can be of Robespierre, Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Paul Marat, or any other actual historical figure. If you are to be a Feuillant, you may portray Antoine Barnave, Jean Sylvain Bailly, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, or any number of others. If you are an advisor to King Louis XVI, you may select any member of the Royal Family. If you are an advisor to La Fayette, you may select any member of the Garde National. A list of possible historical figures is listed below. Students with indeterminate roles, however, are allowed to create fictional characters based on their role. For example, an ‘indeterminate’ member who is a lawyer from Dijon, for example, should take on board the likely perspectives and concerns of the character in question. You must also submit a brief explanation of the reasons you have selected the objects you did, and the reasons you placed them in the manner you did. You should cross-reference the research paper you are writing for Professor Davies. In both these projects REMAIN true to character! Method The box can be of any shape or format you wish. It can be a fishing tackle box, a milk crate, a jewelry box, a cigar box, a cardboard box, a glass case, a metal box, a mailbox, a safety deposit box, or whatever you feel represents the person you are portraying; it can even be a readymade item from the Container Store. Place objects within the box that you feel embody the person you are depicting. Tell us their story or portray their ideas through objects in the way that Zacharek (below) describes the manner in which she discovered the history of other people through items at antique shows. Use any item you wish, except a traditional photograph. You are allowed to use one existing painted representation of the character you selected. Create a portrait of your chosen figure using objects rather images. Historical figures of la Revolution Française Note: Due to the rapidly changing events and loyalties, many of the figures listed below can fit into more than one faction (Marat, Lameth, Duport). Also, certain individuals start as a crowd member and then are elected as Deputies. King Louis XVI La Fayette Jacobins Feuillants Clergy Nobility Crowd: Female Crowd: Male Philosophe The website of l'Assemblee Nationale features a list of its members: Many other figures are depicted on the Centre d’Histoire du droit de l’Université Rennes website : http://www.chd.univ-rennes1.fr/Icono/Thiers/ThiersHRF1865.htm Artistic References “To begin to understand the power of things, you have to accept that they have lives of their own. I was lucky enough to have a mother who took me to lots of antique fairs and flea markets when I was a kid. She didn't tell me anything about fancy china or glassware or silver. Instead, unwittingly, she taught me a kind of history spelled out in everyday things -- a sort of anthropology of hopes and dreams. She pointed out dolls and toy animals that were similar to ones she'd loved in the '20s, and showed me the handbags and compacts that proper ladies used to carry. I learned that one of the most popular souvenirs of the 1939 World's Fair was a tiny pin in the shape of a Heinz pickle (she'd had one herself). I learned that during the Depression, men used to spend long hours making chains out of cellophane strips because they had nothing else to do. By looking at the objects people had left behind, I knew the kinds of things they did when they wanted to look good, express love, have fun or at least convince themselves they weren't miserable.” Stephanie Zacharek in a review of Deborah Solomon’s Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell ( http://www.salon.com/march97/cornell970331.html) Artists have used found objects (objet trouv é) and appropriated images to make art since the beginning of the 20 th century. Art that uses found objects as a medium usually do so because of the cultural associations with the existing objects. Artists you may wish to look at for inspiration: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Hans Arp, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Hoch, Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Kienholz, Joseph Beuys, and Dan Eldon. The Honors College at FIU |
|
