PBS_TheArtAssignment

We review some of the best responses to the 'Quitest Place' assignment.

We continue our exploration of ArtPrize and meet with Brooklyn-based artist Diana Shpungin. Diana's work and her assignment for you are both based on empathy -- it's a feeling we usually have for other people, but Diana wants you to direct your empathy towards objects instead.

She's probably the most famous artwork of all time, but what do you know about her? It's time to better know the Mona Lisa.

Was your Art History class an endless succession of names and dates and movements? Art History doesn't have to be that way! We discuss new (and much more compelling) approaches the study of art.

The Art Assignment visits artist collective Dignicraft during their residency at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Omar Foglio, José Luis Figueroa, and Paola Rodriguez give us the assignment to facilitate an Encounter / Encuentro.

We review some of the best responses to the 'Never Seen, Never Will' assignment.

You've probably seen a few cubes sitting in an art gallery and questioned why they were there. How could cubes be important? How did we get here? This is the case for Minimalism.

We ventured into the Utah countryside to visit some of the best loved Land Art works of the 1970s, Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty and Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels, and check out the art that is happening there now. Also featured: William Lamson's Mineralogy, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, and lots and lots of salt.

This kissing couple is one of the best loved paintings in history, but what do we really know about it? Let's learn about its creator (Gustav Klimt), the historical moment it sprang from (turn-of-the-century Austria), and what it means when we look at it today (dubious consent?).

Laurel Nakadate makes art by connecting with strangers, and she wants you to do this, too! She gives us the challenge of finding little known family members and making their photographic portrait.

Art and Architecture Conservator Richard McCoy joins us to discuss when it's appropriate to touch art, when it's not, and why.

What's the deal with Warhol, and is he worth your time and consideration?

This week we we head to Tijuana, Mexico to talk with John Ewing, Carmen Montoya, and Christopher Robbins of Ghana Think Tank, who are working on a project to encourage communication at the U.S-Mexico border.

We visit Fritz Haeg in Los Angeles and receive the assignment to make a rag rug!

If you were a shape, what shape would you be? This week we meet with Tschabalala Self, whose work explores ideas surrounding the black female body, and her assignment asks you to consider your own body as a symbol too.

Ai Weiwei has been called an iconoclast, a radical, a voice for the voiceless, and was once named the most powerful artist in the world. Who is Ai Weiwei? And why is he considered one of the most renowned artists of our time?

Yoko Ono was an established artist before most of the world heard of her in 1968, and she continues to make groundbreaking work to this day. Who is Yoko Ono? What is her work? And why should you take her seriously? This is the case for Yoko Ono.

You’ve heard of Jackson Pollock and know of his infamous “drip paintings,” but what is it that you’re supposed to do when you look at his work today? Why did it cause shockwaves in 1947, and what does it mean now? We explore the life, evolution, and legacy of Jackson Pollock.

Where do the worlds of ART and FOOD intersect? GEORGIA O'KEEFFE was a groundbreaking artist, but also a serious health food enthusiast. We make: 1) Whole Wheat Bread, 2) Tiger's Milk smoothies, and 3) Green Chile with Garlic and Oil + fried eggs.

Ai Weiwei has been called an iconoclast, a radical, a voice for the voiceless, and was once named the most powerful artist in the world. Who is Ai Weiwei? And why is he considered one of the most renowned artists of our time?

Illustrator and artist Christoph Niemann joins PBS Digital Studios' The Art Assignment to give out the challenge of finding the emotion in furniture.

Over the past 3 years, 60 artists have offered art assignments, and thousands of artworks have been made in response. Here's a brief glimpse of what we've all made together over the course of this series so far. So KEEP ASSIGNMENTING!

This week's assignment comes to you from Chicago based artist Geof Oppenheimer. Geof's work reflects personal experience and the social and political atmosphere they were created in, and he wants you to make an object that does the same.

Jan Tichy gives us the assignment to create an Expanded Moment.

Comedian and writer April Richardson shares with us five of her favorite works: 1) Billy Bragg's 1988 album “Workers Playtime” 2) Any zine made by Molly Kalkstein 3) Robert C. Wiles' 1947 photograph The Most Beautiful Suicide 4) One particular scene from the 1988 John Waters' movie Hairspray 5) Siouxsie Sioux's face!