Course Description
Different approaches to critical art practice, inquiry, and analysis. Includes a variety of topics according to the specialized interests of the visiting artist and scholars who are faculty-in-residence.
Athena Title
Topics Art Criticism Culture
Pre or Corequisite
ARHI 2400
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The content of this course will change from professor to professor and semester to semester depending on who holds the semester-long artist-in-residence position. Aspects of praxis, materiality, historic and cultural contexts, social practice, methods of criticality, and personal implications inherent in the pursuit of making art are highlighted. Seminar topics potentially include: Theory of Complex Systems in Art Studio Practice Invented Worlds The Real and Imagined in Photography and Visual Culture Painting and the Post Human Hybrid Forms in the Social Sphere Students will explore contemporary art practice, themes, and issues with special attention paid to the context, their culture, and the critical debates that surround them. The seminar will foster dialog and encourage divergent thinking while exposing students to a variety of topics in contemporary art and design practice. Connections will be drawn between ideas, theory, and practice as it relates to their own research and studio practice. Through seminar presentations, assigned readings, discussions, projects, and critiques students will learn how to articulate certain key concepts and become skilled at raising and discussing (in written and oral forms) theoretical questions prompted by this activity. This class will encourage students' expanding their understanding and role as developing artists in ways that are meaningful in the social context in which they live and work. Students are evaluated on the innovative interpretation and quality research of their projects and the strength of their improvement in their ability to engage in meaningful contemporary art discourse.
Topical Outline
Varies according to each seminar. This course will be led by visiting artists and scholars. Each semester these seminars shift in focus and subject matter. Students may be assigned critical readings to prepare for discussions as well as intensive writing exercises and seminar presentations. Group critiques and peer review will be integral components of the class. The last several weeks of class are given over to student presentations of their research projects.