Visual Archives: Picturing the Present and Past

Catalog description

What is an archive? This course tackles that complicated question as we investigate the role that visual archives—how they are assembled, curated and used—can play in shaping knowledge production and historical narratives. As scholars Joan Schwartz and Terry Cook argue, “they are not passive storehouses of old stuff, but active sites where social power is negotiated, contested, confirmed.” Our case studies of historical visual archives question: Which images matter and why? Who has the power to make such decisions? What might absent images reveal? As Taryn Simon has observed of archives, “Something is said in the gaps between all the information.” In addition to exploring archives positioned as historical repositories, we turn our eyes to collections that emphasize artistic value, with the opportunity to explore portions of the Grey Art Gallery artwork, asking critical questions about authorship and curatorial practice. Students will have the chance to research this museum’s visual holdings and both break down the current archive curation and build it back up anew, prioritizing different “ways of seeing.” Ultimately, for this seminar, we create a “Generation Archive”—an online time capsule, reflective of students’ thoughts, experiences, and images, as the class is taught skills for personal archiving, with emphasis on equitable, ethical curatorial practice. Readings for this course include theory and cultural criticism, and delving into online archives and related visual projects; in addition, our study includes physical visual archives in NYC. Guest speakers may include archivists and the Grey Gallery’s Head of Education and Programs Leah Sweet. Students will write reflective and analytic papers, produce visual work, and ultimately, as a class, will generate a group archive.