ARTHI 5770 / MFA 5070 “Why I Am Not a Painter”: Frank O’Hara, Art, Poetry, & Criticism David Getsy, Art History, Theory & Criticism [email protected] Terry R. Myers, Painting & Drawing, [email protected] School of the Art Institute of Chicago Fall 2012 graduate seminar Thursdays 1-4pm, MC1501 Course Description The seminar will examine the artistic culture of the 1950s and 60s through the pivotal and contradictory role of the poet and MoMA curator Frank O’Hara. Central to the history of American poetry but often overlooked in his importance to modernist art criticism, O’Hara established a hybrid practice based on blurred boundaries. Focusing on his collaborations with artists, the seminar will provide an in-depth analysis of O’Hara’s multiple practices including poetry, art criticism, and curation. Emphasis will be placed on his relation to Abstract Expressionism, and his cultivation of such artists as Larry Rivers, Jasper Johns, and Elaine de Kooning. Through O’Hara’s example, we will seek to address the difficulties, pleasures, and rewards of bringing the visual and the verbal into intimate contact; and we will consider his unique position as a poet, Elaine de Kooning, Frank O’Hara, 1962 critic, curator, and visual collaborator as a pioneering model for today. Course Structure Each three-hour session will focus on the presentation and discussion of required texts and student research. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their preparation, attendance, and critical engagement with course readings and concepts in addition to formal written assignments. There is one required textbook: Donald Allen, ed., The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995) All other readings will be made available via the course homepage on the SAIC portal. Students should refer to the syllabus for page numbers of reading assignments. Evaluation 1. Attendance and participation All students are expected to attend class meetings prepared to discuss the required readings. This is a discussion-based class, and all students should regularly and productively contribute to class discussions. Attendance at all class meetings is essential. More than two missed classes may be grounds for a “no credit.” See the full SAIC attendance policies regarding late registration and missed classes at http://www.saic.edu/life/policies/index.html#bulletin Students are expected to be reading selections from the Collected Poems weekly. Each week, students should choose at least one poem from the book that informs the topic of that week’s discussions. 2. Leading course discussion Each week, teams of seminar participants will lead the discussion of the required readings. This should not be organized as a summary of the readings. Instead, it should be framed around discussion questions posed to the group. Teams are expected to prepare all visual materials and conduct background research necessary to lead course discussion. For each presentation, students will be required to prepare a Powerpoint/Keynote document. Your image presentation must be fully-prepared and ready to go. The professionalism of your presentations will be considered as part of the evaluation of your work. Do not expect to just grab things off of Google Image at the last minute or in class. 3. Research Project All students will engage in independent, original research on a topic relevant to the course themes. Presentations of research will commence 15 November 2012. All presentations will be 20 minutes in length (approximately 9.5 typed, double-spaced pages) and should be formally prepared, including all relevant visual material. Final papers are due on 14 December 2012 by 4pm. Master’s students in Art History, Visual and Critical Studies, and Arts Administration and Policy must submit a minimum of 5000 words, exclusive of endnotes and bibliography. Graduate students from other departments must submit a minimum of 2500 words, exclusive of endnotes and bibliography. All papers must include illustrations and be typed, double-spaced, and with standard margins. Students wanting to request alternate formats for the presentation of research should speak with the professors by 25 October at the latest. Differently-abled students Any students with exceptional needs or concerns (including 'invisible' difficulties such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, or psychiatric complications) are encouraged to make an appointment with the professor to discuss these issues by the end of the second week of the term so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged. Students with known or suspected disabilities, such as a Reading/Writing Disorder, ADD/ADHD, and/or a mental health or chronic physical condition who think they would benefit from assistance or accommodations should first contact the Disability and Learning Resource Center (DLRC) by phone at 312.499.4278 or email at www.dlrc.saic.edu. DLRC staff will review your disability documentation and work with you to determine reasonable accommodations. They will then provide you with a letter outlining the approved accommodations for you to deliver to all of your instructors. This letter must be presented before any accommodations will be implemented. You should contact the DLRC as early in the semester as possible. The DLRC is located on the 13th floor of 116 S. Michigan Ave. This letter must be presented to the instructor before any accommodations will be implemented. Plagiarism Any degree of plagiarism will result in no credit for the course and additional institutional disciplinary action. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago prohibits "dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the School" (Students' Rights and Responsibilities, Student Handbook). Plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft. One plagiarizes when one presents another's work as one's own, even if one does not intend to. The penalty for plagiarizing may also result in some loss of some types of financial aid (for example, a No Credit in a course can lead to a loss of the Presidential Scholarship), and repeat offenses can lead to expulsion from the School. To find out more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, you can (1) go to the portal, select the "Resources" tab, and click on "Plagiarism" under "Academic Advising and Student Success"; (2) go to the SAIC Web site, select "Departments, Degrees, and Academic Resources," then select "Libraries," then select "Flaxman Library," and then click on the plagiarism links under the "For Our Faculty" tab; or (3) read about it in the Student Handbook under the section "Academic Misconduct." http://www.saic.edu/pdf/life/pdf_files/rights.pdf The Faculty Senate Student Life Subcommittee has prepared a 28-page handbook entitled Plagiarism: How to Recognize It and Avoid It: http://www.saic.edu/webspaces/portal/library/plagiarism_packet.pdf. and Avoid Plagiarism: Quick Guide: http://www.saic.edu/webspaces/portal/library/plagiarism.pdf Writing Center MacLean Center Basement, 112 S. Michigan Ave., B1-03 Monday - Thursday: 10:00 AM - 7:15 PM; Friday: 10:00 AM - 5:15 PM; 4:15 PM – 7:15 PM are designated as walk-in hours. To schedule an appointment with a Writing Center tutor, use the online sign-up system: http://www.supersaas.com/schedule/saic/writingcenter Course Calendar All texts should be completed for the day under which they are listed. 30 August: Introduction Terry R. Myers, “Standing Still and Walking in Kassel,” [review of dOCUMENTA (13)], The Brooklyn Rail, forthcoming September 2012 6 September Just go on your nerve: Frank O’Hara’s everyday poetics Mark Ford, “1951: Frank O’Hara takes a job as sales clerk at MoMA,” in Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors, eds., A New Literary History of America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 814-19 John Ashbery, “Introduction to the Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara,” in Jim Elledge, ed., Frank O’Hara: To Be True to a City (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990), 125-30 James Schuyler, “Frank O’Hara: Poet Among Painters,” ARTnews (May 1974): 44-45. Kenneth Koch, “A Note on Frank O’Hara in the Early Fifties,” in Bill Berkson and Joe LeSueur, eds., Homage to Frank O’Hara (Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company, 1980), 26-27 John Button, “Frank’s Grace,” in Bill Berkson and Joe LeSueur, eds., Homage to Frank O’Hara (Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company, 1980), 41-43 Joe LeSueur, “Four Apartments,” in Bill Berkson and Joe LeSueur, eds., Homage to Frank O’Hara (Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company, 1980), 46-56 Alan Feldman, “Language and Style,” in Frank O’Hara (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979), 45–63 Frank O’Hara, “The Day Lady Died,” CP 325 Andrew Ross, “The Death of Lady Day,” in Jim Elledge, ed., Frank O’Hara: To Be True to a City (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990), 380-91 13 September O’Hara and the art world I: milieu Russell Ferguson, In Memory of My Feelings: Frank O’Hara and American Art (Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1999) John Bernard Myers, “An Enduring Aesthetic,” in Paul Schimmel, ed., Action/Precision: The New Direction in New York 1955-50 (Newport Harbor: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1984), 43-47 Carter Ratcliff, “Selfhood Paints a Self-Portrait,” in Paul Schimmel, ed., The Figurative Fifties: New York Figurative Expressionism (Newport Harbor and New York: Newport Harbor Art Museum and Rizzoli, 1988), 25-36 Robert Rosenblum, “Excavating the Fifties,” in Paul Schimmel, ed., Action/Precision: The New Direction in New York 1955-50 (Newport Harbor: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1984), 13-17 20