Concept

Emulation is a tradition that goes back to the earliest educational institutions in the arts. To study an artist that has done something that you admire or has made a piece of art that inspires you is essential to growth in the arts. In our times, there has been negative feedback to students about “copying” others artwork. Emulation in its simplest level is copying, but it is not copying and pretending it is yours, but acknowledging that this is an effort to repeat another piece of art and learn from that repetition. When emulation is taken to its next level, it is a full digestion of the essential qualities of a piece of art or of an artist’s body of work and reaching for these qualities with your own vision, craft, techniques and heart all in the right place. It is something new inspired by another artist’s work.

Assignment

In this assignment, you will emulate either a photograph or a body of work by a photographer. Do not worry whether you are “just copying” or if your photographs are “original” “really yours.” Use this as an opportunity to see and explore, to enter a visual dialogue with your favorite artist. Play with the ideas, the visuals and the possibilities that present themselves. There is no right or wrong way to do this assignment. After careful looking and thought, you will shoot a minimum of one roll of film (or 36 digital images) emulating your photographer. In your notebook you will present copies of work by the artist you are emulating, the images you took and a paragraph on what you learned, noticed and experienced in this exercise. You will also provide a one-paragraph biography of the artist you emulated. Follow your vision, your inspiration and share this journey with us in your notebook.

In Notebook:
1. Xeroxes or postcards or digital pictures of image(s) by artist you choose
2. Your image(s)
3. paragraph on what you learned
4. one paragraph biography of the artist