For our third and final unit this semester our class explored the various forms and methods of specialized writing and research in Art History with the object to construct this virtual gallery. Working in groups, students constructed a cluster of online exhibits meditating on the connection between art and identity using objects from the Ackland Art Museum.
In thinking through the relationship between art and identity, each group selected their own theme around which to collect and organize their research and analysis of the art objects. Though seemingly disparate, these themes–Struggle, Nature, (Dis)Unity, and Domesticity–contain a common thread that resonate within each exhibition you see before you. For in seeking to examine how art or the discourse surrounding its production and consumption participates in shaping or reflecting our identity, we ultimately recognize our own character reflected and refracted in these images and themes. They disclose an interest in relationships–whether familial, communal, national, or global–and the attendant obligations and rewards those relationships alternately require and ultimately realize.
Sarah Blythe
4/25/11
Struggle ~ Domesticity ~ Nature ~ (Dis)Unity