Be sure that you read the chapter on Neo-Classicism in the Nineteenth Century Art textbook and view my video lecture BEFORE you respond to this discussion prompt. In the lesson on Neo-Classicism, we learned that much of the aesthetic and compositional elements of the Neo-Classical style, especially where associated with Jacques-Louis David and his students, were affiliated with an aspirational desire for a new more democratic political system defined in large part by a rejection of the over-the-top character of the Rococo style that came before it.

1) We currently live in equally politically uncertain times to those of the 1780s. Pretend you are a contemporary artist living and working right now in 2021 (PS: I know many of you already are!). What kind of aesthetic and compositional elements are needed right now to help create a new, ideally better, political reality? What stories and subjects need to be told with visual media? How does this relate to the issues that were at play and aesthetics that were deployed in the time of David and his followers (i. e. the Neo-Classical Era).

2) Based on your comments above, describe how you might go about making a specific work that reflects your own political beliefs (be detailed in terms of content and appearance; in particular, explain how the visual aspects of this imaginary work are related to your political aspirations for the future (and be careful, for those of you that really are artists, if you take this assignment seriously, you might even end up with a strong Artist Statement that you could use to describe your artwork outside of this course ... hint/hint).

Note: There are no right answers here. I am just looking for good arguments based on what you have learned and to get you thinking about the relationship that contemporary art has to the politics of today.

remember 150 min word counts