Portfolio Opportunities #1 & 2: Tibor de Nagy Gallery Painters and Poets

Exhibition Site:
http://www.tibordenagy.com/exhibitions/tibor-de-nagy-gallery-painters-and-poets/

Event (1/31) Site:
http://www.newschool.edu/eventDetail.aspx?id=58420



Opportunity #1:

          On account of pure serendipity, the Tibor de Nagy Gallery -- the gallery responsible for publishing Ashbery, Koch, O'Hara, and Schuyler's first chapbooks and being the first to identify the poets by the moniker, The New York School of Poetry -- just recently opened an exhibit, lasting until March 5th, that concerns the relationships among the NYS poets and painters (filmmakers, too, I believe) as well as detailing the pivotal role that the gallery itself served during the late '40s to the late '60s, the period which we happen to be studying during this semester. So, not only is this an incredible coincidence, but it will provide fantastic grounding for the discussions ahead and the materials to be read/watched.
          If you choose to go to the exhibit, you have a couple of options with which to record your experience and let me know that you've been, you got something out of the exhibit, etc.:

1) Write a short essay (3-4 pages, double spaced) on the exhibit, deriving a thesis from your perception of the relationship between the artists and the poets, paying specific attention to the role that the gallery had in the facilitating of these relationships and citing particular works that either exemplify bridges between artist and poet or can be used to detail an exchange of influence (look to your course materials if you need to for poems and inspiration). Concise exegesis of the work is a necessary and ancillary concern as is a proper works cited page. If you'd like, you may (and are recommended to) focus your attention on the relationship between two individuals (such as Frank O'Hara and Larry Rivers) rather than try to tackle the essay by making partisan generalizations.
2) Write a series (3 or so) of "yolk" poems, each taking inspiration from two separate pieces, using verse to explore the relationship (explicit, implicit, or imagined) between the two pieces. These poems can riff off of the work that you've chosen, reappropriate lines (as long as they are not being used in an exacting fashion), collage, poke fun at, denounce, or mash the two into a headlong, atomic explosion. It's up to you. At the bottom of each poem, make sure to properly cite the work from which inspiration is taken along with a short exegesis (half a page each), in prose, of each work.
3) Write a short (2-3, single spaced pages) imagined discussion or play between an artist and a poet. I say imagined to mean that the discussion does not need to have actually happened or even appear realistic, the conversation does not have to be a jib-jab about art or the meaning of something or a discussion about one another's work, and the respective personas that you conjure do not have to be entirely in line with the historical identity of the person (who the person is/was in reality). Meaning, you don't need to worry about speaking through the artist, his or herself; instead, I want you to focus on constructing an identity by way of the person's art. At the bottom of your short dialogue/play, list the work that you used to construct these "identities" and detail your reasoning behind why you've imagined these individuals as such in a couple of short paragraphs per artist/poet (double spaced, please).

You may do up to two of these for credit in your final portfolio.

The creative pieces will be graded mostly on the ancillary material -- the exegeses, etc.

Due: Before/on Friday, March 4th

Opportunity #2:

          In concord with the Tibor de Nagy Gallery's exhibit, on Monday, January 31st, 6:30 PM at the New School (specifically, the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor), there will be a panel discussion between a handful of important figures that were writing, painting, and making films during the heyday of the New York School. Even if the subject matter were not pertinent to this class, I'd recommend going just to hear Ashbery, Berkson, and Padgett. This discussion will surely blow your socks off while providing some necessary, primary information -- the kind of stuff that nobody else can really give you.
          If you are considering attending, make sure that you get there very early (5:30 at the latest -- Ashbery alone is near impossible to see without having to feel like you're being smothered to death by the crowd). Next, bring pen/pencil and paper. Take notes. Write down quotes that interest you. Do your best to transcribe what is happening. Take particular note of any poems that are read/mentioned or any films that are shown/mentioned. Try to find these things (especially the poems...sometimes finding films can lead to incredibly frustrating dead-ends) so you can read/watch them again. Lastly, write a short review of the panel (2-3 pages, double spaced) that uses direct quotes (well, as direct as you can get them) in service of enlightening a trend, poem, work of art, film, attitude, etc. mentioned in the panel. What would be best is picking a single quote from the discussion and use it as a guiding principal in your review. In this review, try to not let your criticism drift toward making "good/bad" generalizations and judgments. I'm more interested in what you learned from the experience and what tidbits of unique information you took from the panel and how you apply that information in resonance with a greater theme. This review can be expository or narrative, whichever you feel is appropriate.

Due: Friday, February 18th.