Art and Life: Where They Intersect

Catalog description

This course addresses where art and life meet; how life influences what artists make, and how art influences our lives. "Art and Life: Where They Intersect" focuses on interdisciplinary areas that address notions of creativity, critical thinking, and studio practice as well as how these perspectives can influence what an artist creates. The essence of the course examines how life influences what an artist makes, and conversely how what we create influences how we live. Themes and ideas draw from interdisciplinary perspectives such as contextual approaches to creativity that are linked to themes in sociology, material theories of art as related to distributed views of cognition, expressive aesthetics that are connected to introspective perspectives of psychoanalytic theories, and other forms of creative agency found in the human sciences. The content of the course includes both studio practice and critical studies. This combination of experiential learning and critical theory is designed to give students a greater understanding and comprehension of the creative process from the point of view of individual interests and a variety of cultural contexts. The course includes students writing autobiographies in relation to their artwork. This reflective analysis is referenced to seminal essays that focus on different disciplinary perspectives on creativity. Creative studio projects will be undertaken to complement textual analysis and seminar discussion. By integrating studio practices with critical studies the creative process is more fully understood. The course curriculum relies on active student participation in class discussions and a willingness to share and take risks in the spirit of contributing to a collaborative learning experience. Art is by nature multidisciplinary and increasingly teaching art means teaching about life. The course is designed for students with a desire to acquire a deeper understanding of their creative research in the context of contemporary culture.