Abstraction and Artistic Purpose
• Describe specific elements of Picasso's Guernica and explain how effective you think the painting is as a protest against the horrors of war. Be specific in your descriptions.
• Pablo Picasso once wrote "painting is not done to decorate apartments; it is an instrument of war." Explain what you think Picasso meant in this quote about artists and their paintings, regardless of whether a war scene is the subject of the painting. Identify and describe an example of an artwork being studies that represents this viewpoint. Explain how it does represent the same viewpoint.
• Explain whether you believe that art has the power to influence thought and action - what people think and what people do. How does it influence and move to action. Be specific.
Discussion 2: Pop Art and Consumer Culture
• Describe a specific element of Hamilton's collage, Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? that you find particularly intriguing, interesting, offensive, or humorous and explain why. Be specific.
• After WWII, prosperity in the U.S. generated a consumer culture that dominated the second half of the 20th century. Explain whether you think Hamilton's collage celebrates or ridicules consumer culture - or whether it conveys something else to you as a viewer.
• Explain whether you think Pop art is an artistic critique of the culture of consumerism - or just a perpetuation of an obsession with material things, especially trendy brands and labels. Explain why you think this.
• Describe what items you would include if you were to create a 21st century collage similar to Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? What makes your collage so unique and what does it represent?