Seminar in Contemporary Art

Catalog description

Trends in contemporary art investigated within the framework of studio visitations, museum tours, and through other related avenues of encounter. ART 411 Seminar in Contemporary Art (3) This seminar on contemporary art exposes students to artistic practices and to the advanced-level critical discourses accompanying them. It is relevant to all students interested in expanding their knowledge of contemporary art and essential to BFA students who are encouraged to take the course more than once. The only prerequisite for this course is ART 122 The seminar's intimate format allows for discussions and a convivial examination of the pluralistic expressions of contemporary art while articulating it with theory and criticism.From an international perspective, this seminar focuses on art since the 1960s. Besides more traditional artistic expressions such as painting, sculpture, photography, installation, performance and video, the course examines networked collaborations before and after the Internet, art and social activism, and a range of new media and new genre artistic practices. The conceptual issues these works raise include among others the dematerialization of the art object, issues of site-specificity and public art, and institutional critique. The course approaches these developments through artists' writings and essays in contemporary theory and criticism. Works of art are presented through videos, power points, films, performances, gallery visits, field trips, and discussions of related essays. Critical "reading" includes an extensive introduction to the work's historical contexts, readings from primary source materials, and the exploration of critical methods of analysis. From a cross-disciplinary perspective - including historical, esthetic and philosophical approaches - this course examines principles, assumptions, and tensions inherent in artist's works as well as in our responses to them.Student evaluation is based on short written papers such as an exhibition review or an interview, participation in class discussions, and a creative project (ranging from a web site to an installation, artist's book, or a performance), which must reflect a general understanding of the issues addressed in the course. The course is offered at least once a year with the enrollment of 15 students.