International Avant-Garde Networks

Catalog description

This seminar will examine the historical avant-garde and neo-avant-garde movements of the twentieth century in an international context. We will begin by considering how the historical avant-garde emerged both as a reaction against the militarized nationalism of World War I and as a response to new forms of collective identification rooted in leftist politics, feminist discourse, anti-colonial struggle, and mass migration. Particular attention will be paid to how the avant-garde rejected traditional artistic mediums and engaged instead with performance, film, photography, and other media. We will then trace how international networks of artists formed through communication technologies, the transfer of institutional models (e.g. the Bauhaus), and the travels of influential figures (e.g. Marcel Duchamp, John Cage). Finally, we will turn to the neo-avant-garde movements of the post-World War II era, taking a comparative approach that will consider how various avant-garde strategies and concepts—such as happenings, assemblage, mail art, Pop, and Fluxus—were deployed to address specific local circumstances in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In parallel with weekly readings and seminar discussions, students will spend the semester preparing a research paper on a relevant topic of their choosing.