Expressionism and Cognitivism

a. What is the difference between Expressionism and Cognitivisim? To answer this question you must define each word first.
Expressionism is when an artist purposefully distorts or manipulates an image to give an emotional effect. Cognitivism is when a piece can teach something new about the world. The difference between Expressionism and Cognitivism is simply that Expressionistic pieces make a person feel, and Cognitive pieces make a person think. Expressionism is the reason the artist creates, the experiences the artist has had. It doesn't involve the viewer, but instead the artist's own feelings. Cognitivism is what the artist wants the art to achieve, what they want to teach or influence the viewer to do. It involves both the artist and viewer's opinions. From my understanding, Expressionism could involve themes such as hate, love, or fear, while Cognitivism could explore love for humanity, environmental concerns, or social wrongs.

b. Without quoting Tolstoy, what is his definition of art?
Tolstoy sees art as a cooperative experience where the artist shares his feelings with artistic symbols, and the viewer then experiences the same feelings as that of the creator. He also believes that art should not be made purely for the sake of art, but that it should be both "clear and sincere" and express high morals. Art should not be used as a teaching tool, but as a way to understanding the feelings of others.

c. What is the role of the viewer in Collingwood’s definition of art?
Collingwood believes the artwork comes to life, has meaning, and becomes itself solely in the viewer's mind. The viewer's job is to find what the artist was trying to say, and by doing this, they assist the artist in the creation process. This causes the viewer to understand themselves better.

d. Discuss the use of metaphor in Louis Bourgeois and Kiki Smith’s art?
Louis Bourgeois uses symbols as metaphors in her work. Her "Cell" series seems to represent a kind of prison where she had to learn to grow up, and fast. Since viewers weren't allowed to go inside, it seems to me, to be a metaphor for growing up without any outside help. The parent's room is covered in red, especially the bed, suggesting blood or sin. The children's room is full of objects, suggesting creativity and life. From knowing about her home life as a child, the symbolism in her work is noticed. Kiki Smith also uses symbols as metaphors in her work, but not from a personal level. She uses skin as a metaphor for boundaries, moths to symbolize sexuality, birds as a metaphor for nature's fragility. Kiki also takes symbols from fairy tales and even the Creation story and uses them to tell her own story in her artwork. A metaphor Kiki uses a lot in her work is Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. She often uses the red cape to symbolize sexual insecurity, and the aggression of the Wolf. Together, these concepts symbolize the loss of innocence. Everything Kiki Smith creates uses well-known ideas and subjects, sometimes from nature, and mixes them to show an altogether different point.

e. Find an artist on The Drawing Center’s Viewing Program Web site that relates to your drawing for this project. How does there art relate to your concept, subject and style?
I think Nancy Linden's work represents much of what I was trying to show in my series of drawings. Her work is largely lone figures, and she expresses the damages of time through her use of line. She says that she used her family members who contracted Altheimer's disease as inspiration for her drawings, showing as how time passed, the people she knew disappeared, but left traces of them behind. She uses charcoal, as well as mixed media to create these pieces. In my drawings, I wanted to show that even though my friends are dead and gone, and much of my memory of them is already fading, there are still some parts I can remember, traces of what was. I used both charcoal and colored pencil to show this, only having bits and pieces of them, what is still in my memory after time has taken its toll. Unlike Nancy's work, color shows the one thing I remember most about each of these people. Nancy uses simple outlines to show absense, and I show absense too, but with missing pieces, like an incomplete puzzle. Both Nancy Linden and I are inspired to create by our memories of people we loved and lost. More of her work can be found at: http://www.nancylinden.com