Visual Theory II Dives Deeper into what it Means to be an Artist

The color red project for visual theory 2 class featuring Shannon Clark. Photo by Maggie Kretzmann

By Maggie Kretzmann

Being a Communications major one of the requirements is taking Visual Theory, a class that helps students look further into visual media. New this semester is Visual Theory II, taking everything learned from the previous class to the next level.

With three students taking the class, it’s a smaller class, which is somewhat good as this is the first time that Visual Theory II has ever been offered in the Communications department. The main objective of Visual Theory II is for students to better their critical eye as well as improving their critical thinking skills by looking at what seems like ordinary objects and images and better themselves when it comes to creating whether that be video, graphic design/art or photography. “I like Visual Theory II because it’s a small class and it’s tailored to us,” Lauren Babcock said, a student in the Visual Theory II class, “Visual Theory I was fun and we got to do a lot of stuff, but in Visual Theory II we get to go deeper and I’m really excited for it.”

“The goal of Visual Theory II is to make students be truly aware of their surroundings and the messages that the art world is trying to tell you, whether it’s on purpose or down to the subconscious level, and another part of it is that I want them to think outside the box,” said Carlos Ruiz, the professor of the class. “It was really difficult to come up with a curriculum because I wish I had an entire year to do this, because there is so much I wish we could get into that I could teach and get into a higher level than what we can only get into for a semester. We’re almost rushing into it which doesn’t do the class justice.”

Projects in the class include The Color Red, Emotions, creating an infographic resume and more graphic-related projects. “I’m looking forward to seeing the explosion of creativity and thinking within our students in Visual Theory II,” Ruiz said, “I can already tell that they are thinking outside their comfort zones from Visual Theory I and are starting to think like a true artist, which is overall the end goal.”