Visual Arts, Spirit & Place

Catalog description

Taught by GTU. American artist Nancy Holt remarked in 1977 that the landscapes she chose for "Light Tunnels," 1977, recalibrated her understanding of the human experience as it related to space and time. Much of the contemporary art in the Americas shares in Holt's broader aesthetic investigation. In this seminar, we will survey how several prominent contemporary artists (from Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, the US, and Venezuela), have creates artworks that-while undoubtedly steeped in a Western secular milieu-have also functioned as a locus for theological inquiry. By analyzing these artist's work, writings, photo documentation, interviews, and ephemera, students will reflect on how such works may be seen as engaging contemporary religious imagination while also contesting the assumption that contemporary society has undergone a definite decline in religiosity and modes of spirituality. In-class presentation and written reflection, final research paper; Intended audience: M.A., M.Div.