READINGS - The University of Texas at Dallas of... · Web viewSyllabus 2016 Art of Observation - UTSW – Med 1039 January – April, 2016 Course Directors: Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished

Syllabus 2016Art of Observation - UTSW – Med 1039

January – April, 2016

Course Directors: Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, University of Texas at Dallas Heather Wickless, MD, (faculty sponsor) Assistant Professor of Dermatology, UTSWAmanda Blake, Interim Director of Education, Dallas Museum of ArtCourtney Crothers, UTSW Art Curator

Departments: UTSW Department of Dermatology, UT Dallas, Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, and the Dallas Museum of ArtRATIONALE

The Art of Observation is a preclinical elective focusing on developing skills for clinical diagnosis through looking at works of art. Through experiences with artwork, students in the course will improve visual literacy skills, which is the ability to observe, analyze, interpret, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image and relates to both examining patients as well as artwork. The course uses the power of art to promote the analysis and communication necessary in addressing ambiguity in the physical exam and patient interaction.

We will discuss factors influencing what we see, and how we interpret visual information. Other topics include artists with disease, empathy and cultural influences, with their implications for medical practice. Participants will cultivate habits of close observation, inspection, and cognitive reflections to shape his or her early medical career. Students will learn to synthesize observations and one’s own knowledge and experiences as well as an awareness of the collaborative thinking process of the group, a skill vital to successful clinical practice.

The class will engage students in discussions, drawing and writing exercises, lectures, and interactive experiences that will foster communication. This is not an art history class and students need no previous training in art to participate. The course meets in accordance with the schedule at the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Garden, and UT Southwestern Medical Campus.OBJECTIVES

- Expand students’ abilities in observation, description, interpretation, and analysis of visual information.

- Gain an awareness and understanding of the conscious and unconscious factors that influence observation and interpretation of visual information along with the implications for decision making.

- Provide opportunities for students to work in teams, similar to teams working in clinical settings; listening, analyzing, and further developing one another’s observations and hypotheses.

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- Deepen an awareness of the arts as a means to understand the human condition.

FORMAT- 7 two-hour sessions THURSDAYS 4-6pm- Small group discussions and lectures- Drawing, writing, and journaling activities each week- Minimum of 20 students, capped at 30- Classes are held at the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Garden, The

Warehouse, The Crow Collection and UT Southwestern Campus

COURSE STRUCTUREEach class meets at the designated museum for that date. We will discuss the agenda for that date and work in large and small groups directly with works of art in the galleries to develop visual literacy skills through observation, description, analysis, collaborative interpretations, and presentations of their findings. Each session has a wrap-up discussion for students to provide feedback and discuss how the activity might apply to clinical practice. Sessions will incorporate drawing, photography and writing.

READINGS1. Pitman, Bonnie. The Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection; Dallas Museum

of Art, 2011.2. Elkins, James. The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. Harvest, Harcourt

Press, 19963. Naghshineh, Sheila, Janet P. Hafler, Alexa R. Miller, Maria A. Blanco, Stuart R. Lipsitz,

Rachel P. Dubroff, Shahram Khoshbin, and Joel T. Katz. "Formal Art Observation Training Improves Medical Students’ Visual Diagnostic Skills." Journal of General Internal Medicine 23.7 (2008): 991-97. Web.

4. Schaff, Pamela B., Suzanne Isken, and Robert M. Tager. "From Contemporary Art to Core Clinical Skills: Observation, Interpretation, and Meaning-Making in a Complex Environment." Academic Medicine 86.10 (2011): 1272-276. Web.

STUDENT EVALUATIONSStudents attending 6/7 sessions and completing a course evaluation will fulfill requirements for course transcript acknowledgment and a passing grade. Evaluations are used to improve future curriculum.

Shuttle Transportation to and From Southwestern campus will be providedMISSED CLASSES: Contact Betty Shaw, Electives Enrichment Coordinator 214-648-9176A courteous two-days-notice for missed classes with arrangement for a substitute student to attend in lieu of the absent student is the proper conduct for participants.

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ART OF OBSERVATION Enrichment Elective - MED -1039, 2016THURSDAYS from 4-6 PM

Session 1 Jan 7 Dallas Museum of Art Session 2 Jan 14 Dallas Museum of Art Session 3 Feb 4 Clements Hospital Session 4 Feb 18 Dallas Museum of ArtSession 5 March 10 Nasher Sculpture Center/Crow CollectionSession 6 March 17 The Warehouse Session 7 April 14 Dallas Museum of Art

There is a minimum of 20 Students with a maximum of 30 for this year’s elective. A wait-list for students beyond the maximum limit will be created and maintained by Betty Shaw.

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The Art Of Observation UTSW – Medical School 1039

Session 1 Jan 7, 2016 Dallas Museum of Art

Introduction to Visual Examination of Works of Art:OBSERVING and DESCRIBING

Faculty:Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, University of Texas at Dallas Heather Wickless, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, UTSWAmanda Blake, Interim Director of Education, Dallas Museum of ArtCourtney Crothers, UTSW Art Curator

I. Welcome and introductions to the course

II. Introduce the course and the value of looking closely at works of art and how it relates to developing diagnostic

skills. Dr. Heather Wickless and Bonnie Pitman

III: Practicing Observational Skill with Works of Art Bonnie and Amanda

Activity:

Visual Analysis and Timed Looking: Look and write about the work, then look and discuss after the analysis

Jean Antoine Theodore Giroust, The Harp Lesson, 1791

Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre, Abduction of Europa, 1750

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Abduction of Europa Gather as a large group in front of the painting and invite students to look

closely for 90 seconds Ask students to turn away from the painting a record everything that they

remember in their journals Invite students to return to looking at the painting and discuss what they've

written in their journalso What part of the painting first caught your attention?o Invite a volunteer to read their analysis to the group

o What was on everyone else's list?o What did your classmate see that you did not?o What have we missed?

Discuss the narrative/story as it relates to the painting Discuss - what happened before and after this moment? Discuss the artist's biography - what was happening in David's life at the time

of this painting

The Harp Lesson Gather as a large group in front of the painting and invite students to look Compare/Contrast with the Abduction of Europa

o Discuss stylistic choices - what are the similarities between the two paintings?

o What are some differences? Is the narrative different? Compare level of drama, feeling of characters, setting, etc

o What can we surmise about these characters?KEY POINTS

We all see things differently Looking as a team is beneficial and helps to gather more information,

interpretations, and observations

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Important to slow down and spend time looking at works of art

Move to Level 4

5-6 PM PRACTICE OF PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

ACTIVITY Focus on the Face: Drawers & Describer activity

Begin with large group discussion about physical examinations

o When does a physical examination occur?o What characteristics and qualities is a doctor looking for during the

initial examination?o What is challenging about doing a physical examination, or what

might you anticipate to be challenging? Drawers and Describers

o Partners will be assigned and works of art will be pre-selectedo Demonstrate basic description techniques for students; for example,

dividing the work of art into quadrants to describe, dividing up measurements based on inches or finger digits

o One student in each pair will be the describer and will face their selected portrait. The other student in the pair, the drawer, will sit facing the describer. The describer will describe the figure in the portrait, with a focus on the face. The drawer will draw the figure based on the verbal description given by the describer.

o After 15 minutes, the pair will take a moment to compare and contrast the drawing with the work of art.

o Partners switch roles and repeat the activity with a different portrait. Group Discussion

o Gather as a large group and discuss challenges about the activityo What did you notice about your abilities to listen during the activity?

What about your ability to describe during the activity?o How could you have been more precise or descriptive?

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READINGS – distribution of the readings and Handbook for the DMA Collection, Human Body, Session 2

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Compare and Contrast- Faces: selfies and friends

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Session 2 Jan 14, 2016 Dallas Museum of Art

Introduction to Visual Investigation with Art


I. Welcome and introductions to the courseII. Course overview

Briefly address course goals, the visits (activities and content) designed to address these goals, and course assessment.

Observation, visual inspection, with interpretation and verbal communication are essential in medical practice. These visual skills are also used in analyzing works of art.

Close visual inspection and cognitive reflection can help students learn to synthesize observations with one’s experiences as well as consider the collaborative thinking process of the group, a skill vital to successful clinical practice

Enhance students’ core clinical skills through guided instruction in observation, description and interpretation of visual arts

a. Class overview - explore the human body in different culture and over time, and artists who dealt with illnesses

III. LOOKING closely with mind and body-a. Group discussion on looking at works of art

i. Take time, open to new ideas, reflect, attendii. Focus attention, generate ideas and meaning, observe, discover,

learniii. Create multiple interpretations, respond with senses, looking

closely is never completely done, use imagination, intuition and create new ideas

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IV. Visual Investigations Human form from different cultures – COMPARE and CONTRAST PAIRINGS

GROUP 1 - ANCESTOR COUPLES John Singleton Copley, portraits of Sarah Langdon and Woodbury Langdon,

American Gallery, level 4 Jalisco Figures, Ancient American Gallery, level 4 Indonesian Ancestor figures – Batak, Indonesian galleries , level 3

GROUP 2 - Bodies in Motion Henry Moore, Second floor landing Greek Eros Lamp Shiva Nataraja, South Asian Gallery , level 3

GROUP 3 – POWER FIGURES Ralph Earl, Captain John Pratt, American Gallery, level 4 Fang ancestor, African Gallery Sakyamuni Buddha, Thailand

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GROUP 4 - BEAUTY Lawrence , Mrs. Seymour Bathurst African Cross River Region, Headcrest, Efut peoples; African Galleries , Level

3 Kuniyoshi's Bather, American Galleries, Level 4

GALLERY ACTIVITIESa. LOOKING and POSING ACTIVITIES b. Gather in small groups c. Invite students to view the work for 60-90 secondsd. Ask students to record in their journals a list/inventory of what they see

in the artwork and compare and contrast to the companion piece i. Where did your eyes go first?ii. What do you think this culture defined and depicted as beauty

iii. How is the figure posed and what do you think the meaning isiv. How is the figure adornedv. What would the figure do next if it could move

vi. Have someone read their list out loud to the group1. What are items on everyone’s list?2. What did your classmate see that you did not?3. What have we missed?

e. Posing

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i. Ask one student to take the pose of the figure and arrange themselves ias carefully as possible in that pose

ii. Have the other students assist in adjusting and arranging the posed student more precisely

iii. Take photos to document changes

f. Conclude the large discussion as a group. What are key points for us to take away?

i. We all see things differentlyii. Artist over time and in different cultures see and create beauty

differently iii. Benefits of looking together as a group; gathering more

information through visual observations and interpretationsiv. Slowing down; spending time looking at one work of art

V. Artists as Patients Large group discussion about artists and the impact of diseases on their art.

i. Selected artists- Monet, Matisse, Van Gogh, Pollock, Rothko etc and the impact of their diseases on their art

ii. Creative responses to making artiii. Artists representation of illness – Rembrandt and Eakins

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VI. Conclude and dismiss

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Session 3 Feb 4, 2016 Clements Hospital

Visual Exploration: The Color Red

Faculty:Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, University of Texas at Dallas Heather Wickless, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, UTSWAmanda Blake, Interim Director of Education, Dallas Museum of Art

I. Clinical: Dermatology Presentation a. Color perception; how are hues of color depicted and presented different

on various shades of skin tone?

II. Color Exploration: Joseph Albers’s Interactions of Color: Red a. Review Albers’s Interaction of Color and discuss visual perception with

color.

III. Color Interaction Activity: Select the color red exercise with Pantone chips

a. Distribute Pantone chips in various colors. Invite students to play with colors and reflect on various color value in different hues. Ask students to explore how the colors change and vibrate when placed next to different color selections. Groups of students may work with one another to change and refine color selections.

IV. Tour of the Clements Hospital – Red and beyond Looking and recreating; interpreting

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a) Students break into groups of 2 and study Hildur Jonsson’s large piece in the Education Center commons area

i. Study the work ii. Return to the Education Center classroom; pick a paint swatch

that best matches the main color featured in the artwork; sketch the work with your partner, using the colored pencils provided

iii. Reconvene as a group in front of the work and compare sketches to original

1. Does your paint swatch match?2. Does your sketch match or are elements missing or

incorrect?3. What did you observe about the medium?4. What do you see, if anything, in this work?

Collaborative problem-solving b) Students gather in front of Dornith Doherty’s series, Millennium Seed

Bank Research Seedlings and Lochner-Stuppy Test Garden.c) In groups of 4-5, analyze the work and develop a “diagnosis” for what is

being depicted. d) Elect a member to present the group’s diagnosis.e) Discussion and reveal [Provide title of work and copies of artist interview]

i. As you discussed the work, did group members offer perspectives you had not considered?

1. Differences in background and culture affect perspective and can offer more information in solving a problem or even alternative solutions

ii. Was your diagnosis correct?

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II. Identifying subtle differences; color and layering a) Gather around Spencer Finch mobile.

i. Quietly look at the work for 2 minutes.ii. Discuss what you see

1. Any differences in the panes of glass?a. 2 different sizesb. 3 levels of opacity

iii. How does this work make you feel? What was the artist’s intention?

b) Gather around the Liam Gillick piece i. Quietly look at the work for a momentii. Observe the effects of the layered Plexiglas

1. What new colors are created by layering?2. What effect does the colored Plexiglas have on the view

beyond?iii. How does this work affect the surrounding area?

III. Looking at and interpreting Contemporary art; 3rd floor: Kenn Kotara, El Ríoi. The two areas of braille are transcriptions of the original Spanish

and the English translation of Octavio Paz’s poem “El Rio,” a stream of consciousness poem.

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ii. What is the significance of the three languages used in this piece?iii. Why might the artist have chosen copper as his medium? Do you

note any tension within the work?

Extension Activity: 1. 20 Photos the same object from different perspectives – looking at

form, shadows and details, example and egg, and post on Instagram 2. Look at the Nasher Sculpture Center Web Site to prepare for the

visit on Feb 18, 2016


Session 4 Feb 18, 2016 Nasher Sculpture Center and DMA Looking Deeply: Sight, Perception, and the Unexpected


Guest Lecturer:Anna Smith, Curator of Education, Nasher Sculpture Center

I. Introduction to the Nasher Collection

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o Overview and scope of the collectiono Raymond and Patsy Nasher as collectors: why they pursued sculpture

II. How to look at sculpture: Jean Arp, Torso with Budso Movement – “360 different works of art”o Discussion: Point of view and subjectivity

III. Perception and the Senses: Ann Veronica Janssenso Introduction to Janssens – “Nothing is more beautiful than a person’s

own perception.”

o Extended looking activity: photography and sketching of Janssens’s Aquariums

o Writing and discussion: expectation and experience in Blue, Red, and Yellow

o Small group activity: altering perception of a space with mirrors

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IV. Concluding discussion and transition to DMA

V. DMA: Sound Design with Frank DuFour

Guest Lecturer:Frank Dufour, Associate Professor, Director, ATEC PhD Program, University of Texas at Dallas

a) Importance of Sounda) Reinvents our relationship with timeb) Another word for attention is CARE and sound is an interesting an

unexpected way to pay attention

b) Inter semiotic Translations of Sounda) Develop cognitive strategies to form images, images to sound, and textb) Memorize, categorize, and understanding sounds and music

c) Listening and Questioning the Context of Perceptiona) Auditory Perception: Sound and music are based on timeb) Listening: Listening: Five Pieces for Orchestra Op 16, Farben, by

Schoenbergi) the qualities of the soundii) dimensions of the soundiii) form of the soundiv) variation of the sound

d) Listening activity: short sound samples; trying to identify similarities between sounds Outcomes:

i) The process of searching for similarities supports the identification of auditory qualities

ii) criteria for primary retention.iii) These criteria allow for control directedness of auditory attention.

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iv) The identity of a sound resides at the crossroads of its intrinsic properties of sound and listener’s intentionality.

e) Applicationa) Applying these translations to look differently at the visual works and

making new categories and groups of visual works of art.b) How might this study of sound apply to our practice as doctors?

i) Listening to patientsii) Patient careiii) Interactions with medical devices


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Session 5 March 24, 2016 Dallas Museum of Art

The Science of Conservation and Objects of Healing


Guest Lecturers:Mark Leonard, DMA Chief ConservatorFran Baas, DMA Objects ConservatorLaura Hartman, DMA Conservation Fellow

I. Conservation presentations by DMA Chief Conservator Mark Leonard and DMA Objects Conservator Fran Baas

o Discussion of the connection between conservation science and medical practice, including technical resources and the documentation process of works of art.

II. Duel Tours of the DMA Conservation Lab with Mark Leonard and Object Conservation Lab with Fran Bass and Laura Hartman

o DMA conservators toured students through objects and the painting conservation labs learning about analyzing objects and the process for examination and repair.

o Students work in teams of 3-4 to select an object and work together to complete a condition report an object in the two conservation studios

o Come together as a large group to discuss experience of creating an object report as a team and how it relates to their conservation tours and healing and curing in medical care.

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Session 6 April 14, 2016 Rachofsky Warehouse

Introduction to Contemporary Art: Collaborative Thinking and Close Looking


Guest Lecturer:Thomas Feulmer, Director of Educational Programming

I. Collecting contemporary works of art: The Rachofsky Collection

The Warehouse is a project initiated by Howard Rachofsky and Vernon Faulconer to make their collections available to curators, scholars, critics and students, and to open new dialogues about postwar Modern and contemporary art. At the heart of the project is an adapted industrial building in Dallas, containing art storage facilities, an extensive library, and 18,000 square feet of flexible exhibition space. Here, The Warehouse presents carefully considered, original exhibitions of works from the Rachofsky and Faulconer collections, complemented by art acquired jointly with the Dallas Museum of Art and works on loan from other significant institutions and private collections. For more information about The Warehouse, please visit: www.thewarehousedallas.org

Additionally, leadership from Dallas’s cultural community, comprised of the Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Collection, the Cindy and Howard Rachofsky Collection, and the Collection of Deedie and Rusty Rose joined together in

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http://www.thewarehousedallas.org/

2005 to vest Dallas with their distinguished collections, securing the Dallas Museum of Art’s future, enhancing its encyclopedic collection, and further establishing the city of Dallas as a center for the study and enjoyment of contemporary art. The gifts to the Museum, which will include all future acquisitions and will enter the DMA’s collection over time, encompass more than 800 works from these three outstanding private collections of modern and contemporary art into the DMA’s permanent collection.

II. Visual Inventory and Group Interpretationa. Walk around Pierre Huyghe’s La déraison

i. Discussion of artist’s humanization of the figure.ii. What do you discover?

iii. Explore the differences between looking and touching an object.iv. Discuss the use of living moss and water in the work and its effect

on the sculpture.

III. Identify with a work of arta. Experience Mark Bradford’s Spiderman

i. What was your reaction?ii. Is your reaction to this artwork different than your colleagues?

How might someone else’s opinion influence your own?

IV. Deep Looking a. Explore narrative, study reactions, and conversation around Kara

Walker’s The Emancipation Approximation and the Identity Revisited exhibition at the Rachofsky Warehouse.

b. Conclude with a summary of the significance of cultivating a collection of art and investigations with Sigmar Polke’s Cook Up Art with a Culinary Flair.

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Session 7 April 21, 2016 Dallas Museum of Art Exploring Empathy and Compassion with Works of Art


VII. Empathy and Compassiona. Group discussion

i. Define empathy. Define compassion. What is the difference?ii. How might you use empathy and compassion in practice?

iii. Think about giving bad news, end of life situations, dealing with caregivers, etc.

iv. Brainstorm: how have you expanded your sense of empathy since being in medical school?

VIII. Visual Investigations: Empathy and Compassion with works of art

LEVEL 4Self-Portrait Very Ugly, Frida Kahlo, 1933. Fresco on Plasterboard, Private CollectionItzcuintli Dog with Me, Frida Kahlo, 1938. Oil on Canvas, Private Collection

How many of you have heard of Frida Kahlo? What do you know about her? Who has seen a painting by her in person?

Artwork is biographical. Consider Itzcuintli Dog with Me. Describe the person in the painting.

o “I paint self-portraits because I am the person I know best. I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to and I paint whatever passes through my head without any consideration.”

What might Kahlo be thinking in this scene? Clues? What words would you use to describe her?

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COMPARE Compare this painting to Self-Portrait Very Ugly. Similarities? Differences?

o Fresco as mediumo Kahlo was unfamiliar to the fresco technique, but was encouraged to

paint in it. What is Kahlo thinking in this artwork? What kind of things do you find to be beautiful in this artwork? Ugly? Kahlo used her artwork to tolerate and explore feeling associated with the

memory of her accident, pain, and not having children. Some say that an artwork is not complete until the viewer responds to it – do you agree?

LEVEL 4Gothic Bed, c. 1844, Crawford Riddell What are some words to describe this piece of furniture? What type of person would have this bed? Can a piece of furniture tell a story? What type of story might this one tell? What do people do in beds? Does this bed look comfortable? Would this bed go in your bedroom? What other types of furniture would you

want to have, if this were your bed? Compare an object’s history with a patient’s history

o Share object file info. What more did you learn about the history and care of this object by studying the files?

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LEVEL 3Standing power figure (nkisi nkondi)Late 19th-early 20th centuryWood, Iron, Raffia, Ceramic, Pigment, Kaolin, Red Camwood, Resin, Dirt, Leaves, Animal Skin, and Cowrie Shell Walk all the way around the sculpture to see all sides of the figure. How

would you describe this artwork to a friend? This sculpture is called an nkisi nkondi. It was made for a specific purpose,

and the materials that it is made from help it do its job. Take the pose of this nkisi. Do you feel powerful? What about this artwork do

you think is (or isn’t) powerful-looking? Identify something you find to be beautiful about this artwork. What connections do you have with this artwork? Review x-rays. How do these findings compare to those of a patient’s x-rays?

What more did you learn about the nkisi by studying the x-rays?

LEVEL 3Buddha Sakyamuni, c. 13th century, gilded bronze, 2006.21 What do you notice about this work of art? Discuss spread of Buddhism and t language of symbols and hand gestures. Listen to Thai chant and meditate Stand in the posture of the Sculpture—notice the placement of the body and

discuss the relaxed or alert status

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Level 2Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe, Jacques-Louis David, 1772.Oil on Canvas

Analyze the composition of the painting and develop a story from the clues that are in the image.

If you were a doctor in this scene, who would you treat first and why? Pick one person in this painting and explore what they might be thinking. What is going on in this scene?

CONCLUSIONConclude the large discussion as a group. What are key points for us to take away?

Benefits of looking together as a group; gathering more information through visual observations and interpretations.

Gained sense of empathy by spending time looking at works of art and making inferences about emotions, stories, and culture imbedded in an artwork.

Drawing connections between the history of an object and the history of a patient.

EVALUATION Invite students to complete course evaluation while gathered at the last stop on

Level 2.

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READINGS - The University of Texas at Dallas of... · Web viewSyllabus 2016 Art of Observation - UTSW – Med 1039 January – April, 2016 Course Directors: Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished

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