San Diego City College Baroque Period and Rococo Arts Discussion

Find & upload an image of something in our 21st century contemporary culture that can be described as having the aesthetic traits of Rococo or Baroque. The most interesting images come from students interpretations of how you would define these two styles, before conducting an online-image-search. So be careful, not to choose the first image you find.

The best way to approach this assignment is to first describe, in your own words, the meaning of Baroque and Rococo, and then try to come up with something that you may already be familiar with. Remember to consider for whom and why these artworks were originally made, and how they would have been displayed.

Now, armed with with a general understanding of these stylistic periods of the Rococo or Baroque, let these terms act as adjectives, which can be used to describe an aesthetic today. Remember not to choose something from the 17th century as your example, limit your age-range to visual art made in the last 100 years. (Much like we can describe someone as being a “Renaissance man” as today being a “ jack of all trades” today, the term refers back to 15th century Renaissance artists that throughly researched and then produced work in a style that referenced the Greco-Roman tradition of the 4th century BCE through the 5th century CE.)

1. Your (1) image selection can be from any visual source: a film still, clothing/accessory brand logo, celebrities, home décor, fashion, contemporary arts, etc. (All images must be contemporary examples, there more current the better)
2. Describe to us the image and how it can be considered or inspired by the aesthetics of Baroque or Rococo.

SOME TIPS: Use the traditional forms, ideas, and class distinctions of art found during the Baroque & Rococo era as a starting point for your contemporary example.

• We can see the dramatic lighting of the Baroque paintings: could this be similar to dramatic lighting in movies?
• Extreme religious drama: Images of a lively baptist or evangelical preacher. Any religious person in a dramatic trance, images of movie voodoo trances, etc. Or, even a lively politician.
• Rococo’s gilded forms of rocks and shells: found often in furniture. Furniture, fashion, lifestyle, music, and home media publications are good place to start. Think about gilded ornamentation, filigree, high-end clothing brands, luxury goods (like automobiles, watches, trends, and so on).
• Rococo’s frivolity and its relation to wealth: There are many reality television shows, dedicated to the housewives/basketball wives of: Orange County-Altanta-NY-New Jersey or to single families that have turned there who existence into a brand, all this media showcases the lifestyles of the wealthy (modern aristocrat).