Course Syllabus

ART 2220 Screenprinting

Course Description

This course explores screenprinting, also known as serigraphy, as a dynamic and thriving visual art medium. Students will create original works of art utilizing the stark, graphic, and rapid character of the photo screen-stencil process as the catalyst. Study will include the evolution and historical significance of this versatile process as well as theory and application of contemporary approaches in the expansive world of printmaking. This course will include studio applications printing on rag paper, fabric, panel, and will include multiple artists’ book studies utilizing screen printing technologies. A studio fee is required.

Justification

This is a studio course in process, history, and production utilizing the screenprinting process. Printmaking is included in most higher education curriculums as a prominent visual arts medium. The course is essential for many 2D art majors and is required for many bachelor's degree programs in the visual arts as part of an art major’s curriculum.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Material Proficiency (demonstrate a proficiency in materials and techniques): The theory and application in the balance of form and content is an innate part of this course. Students will be encouraged to apply meaningful content to their own creative output in print. Evidence of proficiency will culminate with a physical portfolio of screenprinted work, documenting progress and providing a dialog to discuss potential for improvement.
2. Principles of Concept (demonstrate an integration of conceptual principles): Students will be exposed to a myriad of possibilities for the application of screenprinting to their visual vocabulary. It will be utilized as both a technique to create distinctive visual output by combining it as part of a mixed media application, and as a reproductive process to create multiple originals. Each student will be required to maintain a portfolio documenting development and proficiency in a broad range of screenprinting applications. The portfolio will be reviewed throughout the course to provide feedback for improvement.
3. Historical Context (demonstrate fluency in historical content and context): In addition to researching contemporary examples, student will be introduced to the historical context of the screenprinting process—both as a new technology and as a means to the creative process. This knowledge will provide students with a broad understanding of why this process was so influential during the 20th century and continues to thrive both in industry and as a visual art medium today. This understanding will be evident in the final portfolio and in each student’s articulation during critique and in written assessments.
4. Critical Theory (demonstrate the ability to critically analyze a work of art): Students will learn the vocabulary, context, and experience the practical application of the screenprinting process. This literacy will provide a catalyst by which to speak in an articulate manner while analyzing prints made by their peers as well as their own creative endeavors. Group critiques will employ oral strategies designed to promote critical insight. In addition to group sessions, a reciprocal dialog will take place frequently in the collective studio where critical feedback is utilized and filtered as a mechanism to inform development, identify weaknesses, and foster improvement in current and future work.
5. Creative Process (demonstrate the application of the creative process): As part of a collective studio environment, students will work collaboratively in the Printmaking Studio to create work and solve creative problems and technical issues. Through experimentation of the screenprinting process students will develop an aesthetic sensibility and understand how to effectively use the formal qualities of the process to embed meaningful content into their prints.

Course Content

Through theory and the practice, students will learn to utilize the screenprinting process to create original works of art and to supplement other media with this dynamic print medium. This course will include lectures, class discussions, critiques, demonstrations and applied studio projects as they apply to the screenprinting discipline: demonstrations of screenprinting process, including preparing positive transparency images for exposure, coating the screen with photo emulsion, and printing utilizing the stencil process; discussions of practicing ethics in printmaking, editioning, signing, and framing fine art prints, and other printmaking specific concerns; slide lectures directly related to the process, history, and contemporary application of the screenprinting discipline, class discussion and critiques designed to inspire students to critically evaluate historical print examples, their own prints, and those created by their peers; readings from the text supplementing information provided during demonstrations and lectures; applied studio projects designed to provide students the opportunity to create original works in the screenprinting medium including utilizing the multiple character of printmaking to create limited editions, mixing the process with other media, and the conception, printing, and binding of artists' books; utilizing raster imaging and vector software to aid in the creation of hard-edge images appropriate for the application of photo screenprinting; implement the design process to problem solve each studio project including, but not limited to, formal compositional structure/spatial organization and the introduce of meaningful content in their work; a focus on maintaining a high level of craftsmanship applicable to the medium; written assessments analyzing newly created works of art.