Focus:
Iconographic symbols like the Golden Arches of McDonalds’ and the Nike Check Mark
are deeply rooted in modern society. Such symbols have become iconic logos that
quickly identify the company and the product(s) they sell to the consumer. Like these
modern logos, art has a long history using iconographic symbols or visual images that
hold cultural meaning and are symbolic definitions used to convey the artist’s concept
or meaning to the viewer. For example: in Christian iconography, the skull (when
depicted at the base of Jesus’ crucifixion scene) is symbolic of death, man’s original sin,
and the burial place of Adam. The focus of this art project will be on the development
of personal iconography.
Criteria:
The assignment is to create a set of personal iconographic symbols that would be
included in a visual narrative artwork of your life. Each student should divide your
narrative into no fewer than seven phases with at least one symbol for each phase.
Then using your seven or more personal iconography, combine/arrange the iconography
to create one symbol for the narrative of your life. Be creative, the symbols are purely
subjective and can be either preexisting or invented symbols. Once completed, take a
digital photograph of your work and insert it in a word document. In the word
document, accurately explain what symbols you used, why you used them, and what
stage of your life does each symbol represent.
