Step 1

  

Carl Weese
Untitled
toned black and white photograph on paper
11 in x 13 1/2 in (27.94 cm x 34.29 cm)
Gift from the Collection of David S. Rosen MD, MPH

Let's start by considering these three artworks as a group.

See

1) What similarities do you see between these works in their use of materials?

Think/Feel

2) What moods or feelings do the materials in these works evoke? What thoughts do they generate?

Step 2

Let's now consider each of these works individually. For each work, answer these questions.

See

3) Describe the work in detail. What do you see? Pay attention both to what's depicted but also all the choices that the artist made about how to depict these things. Ask yourself about the artists' use of line, shape, texture, color, space, and perspective.

  

George Vargas
Michigan Worker
welding goggles, metal, hanging bells, rusty bottle cap, pulleys, chains, and padlock mounted on plywood
20 7/8 in x 10 3/8 in x 2 9/16 in (53.02 cm x 26.35 cm x 6.51 cm);20 7/8 in x 10 3/8 in x 2 9/16 in (53.02 cm x 26.35 cm x 6.51 cm)
Gift of the artist

4) What do you think about when you look at the work? How does it make you feel?

  

Tyree Guyton
Untitled (Paint Cans)
paint cans, wooden crate, American flag, rearview mirror, and ceramic figurine
33 1/2 in x 28 1/8 in x 12 in (85.09 cm x 71.44 cm x 30.48 cm)
Gift of H. David Zucca

Connect

5) How does the artwork connect to your class's discussion of labor in the period of deindustrialization? How are workers represented (even when not visually depicted)? 

6) Why does it make sense to characterize these artworks as art of the Rust Belt? Read about the Rust Belt here and respond.