objectives

Medium is Message Challenge Tasks

Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message,” a phrase he first used in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man(1954), helps us understand the frontiers and limits of the tools we use. Artistic mediums are not only extensions of our creativity but avenues that help define changes in scale. For example, the introduction of painting greatly increased the possibilities of the type of artwork that could be created.

Using the course art resources links or any link or resource of your choice, find one example of each two-dimensional medium (drawing, painting, printmaking, and collage). In the course topic discussion forum, write a short summary of how the nature of each medium dictates the expression of the artist using it. In other words, what makes each medium unique, and how does it limit or expand what the artist is able to do with it?