 Photoshop is a Table Saw by Joshua Field | 2012 As an undergraduate student at an art college, I distinctly remember the dilemma of selecting a major. In a world that would increasingly be described as post-disciplinary my classmates and I found ourselves making this crucial decision not based upon the quality of the faculty, course offerings, mentoring opportunities, or even personal interest. Instead, our primary concern was access to facilities. The declaration of a major in painting would have meant utter banishment from the sculpture facilities... Read More |
 A Place for Procedure in Creativityby Joshua Field | 2012 We sit on the floor, staring at the textless instructional manual that came with the box of mostly unidentifiable parts. This same box of parts which will hopefully come to resemble the object that we saw just hours before on the showroom floor. The manufacturer has given us a procedure for accomplishing this task and yet, there are many ensuing strategies for following or ignoring the prescribed procedure... Read More |
 Art and Skill: Emphasis rather than Abandonmentby Joshua Field | 2011 A strategy known as deskilling has taken college and university art departments by storm of late, particularly in upper-level coursework. It is a term that seems oddly out of place in an academic environment purportedly focused on the acquisition and application of knowledge (the latter being the very definition of skill). This unusual approach appears to be almost exclusive to the execution of studio art as it has not been adopted with such rapidity by the other arts or the broader humanities... Read More |
  Authenticity Crisis: Deskilling, Amateurism, Pluralism and Reality Television by Joshua Field | March 2011 | Lecture Slideshow - PDF [5mb] This lecture explores the conflation of amateurism and authenticity beginning with the cultural cataclysm of the devaluation of skill brought about by the industrial revolution and leading up to the high valuation of faux authenticity in contemporary culture. The slideshow culminates with a photo of a number written on the floor of an Armory Show booth that I happened to point at, resulting in an viewer leaping over it to avoid stepping on the “art”. [Originally a powerpoint lecture, video clips are displayed only as stills] View PDF [5mb] |
 New York Art Fairs in Reviewby Joshua Field | BerkshireFineArts | March 2009 After arriving in New York by way of MTA Metro North out of Poughkeepsie (round trip = $25), we made our way down to Chelsea to do a quick "gallery hop" before hitting the Bridge Art Fair. Coincidentally, the first two people that we saw on exiting our cab were artists Lana Z. Caplan of Boston and Jason Brinkerhoff from San Francisco, both participants in MCLA Gallery 51's "Woodshed II" exhibition in January. Just a few minutes later we bumped into BFA's own Charles Giuliano on 25th Street. It is truly a small world... Read More |
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umass semester calendar First day of classes - Jan 18 Last day to add/drop - Jan 31 Presidents Day - Feb 21 Spring break - Mar 12 - 21 Patriots Day - April 18 Last day of classes - May 3 |
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Learning Resources for Art Courses Taught by Joshua Field - All materials Copyright © Joshua Field |Contact Information |
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