Kyle Guzik

1. Wednesday 4/14/14
Good morning class! My name is Mr. Guzik. Today we will be reading
about and discussing a work of art by conceptual artist Michael Craig-
Martin and an article about consumerism and still life paintings.

2. First we will read the art work An Oak Tree By Michael Craig-Martin
1) Please write your name in the blank space on the bottom of the
page with the table with nine empty spaces.
2) Look at the image and read the statements the artist wrote about
the work

3. 3) Instructions for Author Says…
Choose a statement from the text. The text should include an
argument or some kind of claim.
Q: Yes, of course. What I’ve done is change a glass of water into a full-
grown oak tree without altering the accidents of the glass of water.
A: The accidents?
Q: Yes. The colour, feel, weight, size…

4. 4) Instructions for I Say…
Elaborate on the statement. Do you agree with the statement? What
does the statement mean to you?
Is the artist running a scam? What does it mean to alter an object
without changing it’s physical form? Many Catholics believe in
transubstantiation where the Eucharist becomes the body and blood of
Christ. Is the artist making fun of religion?

5. 5) Instructions for And So…
This is where you register how you have pulled your thinking into ideas
you have learned from this text. It will be easiest to fill out this section
if you have read the full text. Discuss your Author Says… and I say…
entries with your partner. Write what you have learned from the text
in the And So… blank.
The author has created a work of conceptual art. The work
demonstrates that art can be an idea. The work is interesting because
it is intentional (the artist has made choices on purpose) and it plays
with the notion of subjective experience. Is the glass of water an oak
tree? I am not sure but the next time I see a glass of water on a shelf I
may look at it differently.

6. Evaristo Baschenis (1607/17-1677).
'Musical Instruments', oil.
(Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy.)

7. Jan (III) van de Velde.
'Glass of Wine with Cut Lemon', oil
on oak panel, 31 x 24-5 cm, 1649.
(Oeffentliche Kunstsammlung,
Basel, Switzerland.)

8. François Desportes (1661-1743).
'Nature morte', oil, 98 x 92 cm.
(Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.)
Nature morte au lièvre

9. FranFois Foisse.
'The Library', oil, 23-5 x 29 5 in.
(Courtesy the Wadsworth
Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., U.S.A.)

10. Georges Braque. 'Plums, Pears, Nuts and Knife', oil, 9 x 28-75 in.,
1926. (The Phillips Collection, Washing-ington, D.C.)

11. Giorgio Morandi.
'Still Life', oil, 14 i x 18-} in., 1955. (The
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)

12. Michel de Bouillon.
'Goldsmith's Sign', oil, 80 x 90 cm, 1707.
(Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.)

13. Floris van Schooten (1585/8 – 1656)
A Still Life with Copper,
Candlesticks, a Candle Snuffer, Pots
and Pans on a Stone Ledge
17th century

14. Richard Estes.
'The Candy Store‘
synthetic polymer and oil, 47-75 x
68-75 in., 1969.
(Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York. Gift of the Friends
of the Whitney Museum.)

15. Gerald Murphy.
'Razor', oil, 32 x 36 in., 1922.
(Dallas Museum of Fine Arts.
Foundation for the Arts Collection.
Gift of Mr. Gerald Murphy.)