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''The Art Assignment'' is a
PBS Digital Studios PBS Digital Studios is a non-profit organization through which PBS distributes original educational web video content. Based in Arlington, Virginia, it comprises both original series and partnerships with existing YouTube YouTube is ...
webseries focused on
contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
that debuted in February 2014.Lindquist, David. (24 September 2013)
Sarah Green exiting IMA to develop PBS series
''
The Indianapolis Star } ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, whe ...
''
''The Art Assignment'' is hosted by
Sarah Urist Green Sarah Urist Green (née Urist; born October 3, 1979) is an American art museum curator, author, and creator and host of PBS Digital Studios program '' The Art Assignment'' and ''Ours Poetica''. Green spent seven years curating exhibitions at the ...
who was a curator of contemporary art for the
Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Garden at Newfields and more. It is located at the corner of No ...
from 2007 to 2013. Green's goal for this web series is to demystify the art making process and educate people on contemporary art and how it can be “accessible and social, rather than distant or intimidating”.(24 September 2013)
PBS DIGITAL STUDIOS ANNOUNCES NEW COLLABORATION WITH YOUTUBE STAR AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JOHN GREEN
''PBS Press Release''
Green travels the United States to meet and talk with various artists about their art; the artists then give an "assignment" to the audience. The series teaches its audience about contemporary art while providing historical context for the art. The audience is asked to participate by completing the "assignments" and continuing the conversation about art in the comments and on social media.(24 September 2013)
PBS YouTube Series Demystifies the Meme Creation Process
''
Mashable Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...
''
Robertson, Lindsay. (24 September 2013)
INTERVIEW: SARAH AND JOHN GREEN TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW WEB SERIES 'THE ART ASSIGNMENT'
, ''Tribeca''
The artists included in the series explore art history through the lens of the present with framing by Green. These artists include: Jesse Sugarmann, Alex Soth, Sonja Clark, Hope Ginsburg, Maria Gaspar, Molly Springfield,
Michelle Grabner Michelle Grabner (born 1962 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) is an artist, curator, and critic based in Wisconsin. She is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has curated sever ...
, Kim Beck,
Jon Rubin Jon Rubin is a contemporary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Projects Fruit and Other Things ''Fruit and Other Things'' (2018-2019) is a project created in collaboration with artist Lenk ...
, Jonn Herschend & Will Rogan, Allison Smith,
Tameka Norris Tameka Norris, also known as T.J. Dedeaux-Norris and Meka Jean, is an American visual and performing artist. Norris uses painting, sculpture, and performance art to create work about racial identity and the simultaneous visibility and invisibili ...
, Lee Boroson,
Nina Katchadourian Nina Katchadourian (born 1968) is an American interdisciplinary artist and educator. She works with photography, sculpture, video, and sound—often in playful ways. She is best known for her "Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style," a ...
, Kate Gilmore, and
Deb Sokolow Deb Sokolow (born 1974) is an American visual artist who lives and works in Chicago. Sokolow's work uses both image and text to conjure connections among historical events, celebrities, politicians, and her own personal history in order to spur new ...
. Green's husband
John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...
is executive producer of the series.


Assignment episodes

There are over 50 videos in the Assignment Episodes playlist, and each one features one or more artists, their styles, and a brief biography of how they developed their particular aesthetic. Their assignments relate to either their style or a valuable topic to them. Each video features a clip called "Who's Done Stuff Like This Before" to examine the art history behind the ideas the contemporary artists present. The audience sees what the artists did as their assignment, from the methodology to the execution and final result. The artists often reflect on their choices and the trial and error process in the project. The final step in each assignment is to document the experience in any form, and upload it to any form of social media with the hashtag #TheArtAssignment, and it could be featured in the show.


Assignments

Episode 1: Meet in the Middle with
Douglas Paulson Douglas Paulson (born 1980 in Pennsylvania) is an artist based in New York City. He graduated from the Tyler School of Art with a B.F.A. in 2003. His work is often collaborative and interactive, falling into the new Social Practice (art), Social P ...
and
Christopher Robbins Christopher Robbins (19 November 1946 – 24 December 2012) was a British writer and journalist. He is best known for his 1978 bestseller '' Air America'', a non-fiction book which was made into a film in 1990. It is about the secret air ...
The first official Assignment in which Sarah Urist Green and John Green introduce artists Douglas Paulson and Christopher Robbins. The two artists have collaborated in the past, and the video mentions their previous work and how they met personally. The instructions are to pick a friend, and calculate the exact midpoint between the two participants. After participants decide on a date and time to meet, they don't communicate until then, and document the experience using any medium of their choice. Episode 2: Stakeout! with
Deb Sokolow Deb Sokolow (born 1974) is an American visual artist who lives and works in Chicago. Sokolow's work uses both image and text to conjure connections among historical events, celebrities, politicians, and her own personal history in order to spur new ...
Green talks with the Chicago-based artist Deb Sokolow about her style and how she developed it over time. Her pieces are huge and layered with text, images, and diagrams to tangle and de-tangle stories. This assignment plays with the relationship between the observer and the observed. The instructions are to find an object, place it in a public spot so strangers can interact with it, and pick a location to observe. Similar to the first episode, people record their observations using any medium of their choice.


The Case For

This video series features various artists and art movements and delves into the impact and value they have in history. The narrator includes how the style of a movement or individual creators began and the following positive and negative reception. This segment covers artists from both past and present stemming from various ethnicities and nationalities. The videos cover a wide range of mediums, and the playlist includes
minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
, abstraction, and
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
and highlights creative minds such as
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...
,
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
,
Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
, and
Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...
.


Art Trip

Another playlist called Art Trip delves into the art history and culture in cities around the world. Currently the Art Assignment team has visited London, Tijuana, Los Angeles,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, Washington D.C., the
Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...
, and Chicago. The videos overview many national and local museums, current exhibits, and local artists.


We Think Art is Interesting

This playlist is a collection of miscellaneous topics and behind the scenes videos. Some deconstruct a bit of the mystery within the art world such as "What's a Curator?" and "How to Learn About Contemporary Art" while others give tips for art assignments and showcase a variety of artists like "Fierce Women of Art 1".


Artline

This segment has an "art hotline" with an actual phone so viewers can call in their questions about art. The number is 901-602-ARTY (2789). The questions range from personal advice to opinions on current issues in the art world and much more.


Reception

There are 24 assignment response videos which can feature over a hundred creations per video. The ''
Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''Phoenix'' ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, arts, cannabis, as well as longform narrative journalism. A ...
'' and ''
Indianapolis Star Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of ...
'' both covered the show after the first episode aired on February 20, 2014. Despite its birth on the internet, The Art Assignment made it into real life with a physical exhibit in August 2016 that ''NUVO'' reviewed. It featured the work of three Indianapolis artists – Brian McCutcheon, Nathaniel Russel, and Lauren Zoll – who have previously given out assignments.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Art Assignment, The 2014 web series debuts American non-fiction web series Works by the Green brothers PBS Digital Studios shows YouTube channels launched in 2014 Education-related YouTube channels Mass media in Indianapolis 2010s YouTube series Art history