ARTHIST 334
Ways of Seeing Contemporary Art
Please note: this is archived course information from 2019 for ARTHIST 334.
Description
Contemporary Art and Theory has been offered before but this is a newly designed course that aims to be provocative, sometimes controversial and at all times exploratory and transformative. It is a single semester course and a direct and methodical way to acquire knowledge about contemporary art’s current themes, concepts, critical theories, buzzwords, techniques and processes that engage the imagination of artists, curators, writers and cultural theorists worldwide.
The course asks us how we can create new ways of thinking by engaging with contemporary artworks that spark unexpected ideas and encounters. From this broad knowledge, students are encouraged to dig deeper into particular aspects and themes.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course students will have acquired the skills to discuss contemporary art meaningfully and to personalise encounters with works of art, channelling these experiences into new and creative ways of thinking and being.
Students will learn how to structure arguments and compose thoughts in spoken and written form that add strength and clarity to communication and presentation.
Students will gain a deeper understanding of how art is an essential medium for the exploration and expression of diversity - of ideas, lifestyles, attitudes, social and cultural identities and political perspectives.
Students will gain confidence in exercising independent and critical thought and will learn how to acquire the most important "C-skills" valued by employers, academics, designers, artists, psychologists and theorists: communication, creativity, curiosity, collaboration and caring not only about others, but also about the freedom that emerges from questioning dogma, tradition and prejudice.
Availability 2019
Not offered in 2019; planned for 2020
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Professor Gregory Minissale
Recommended Reading
Claire Bishop, Participation, London : Whitechapel ; Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 2006.
Amelia Groom, Time. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, 2013.
Antony Hudek, The Object. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2014.
Stephen Johnson, The Everyday. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2008.
Clare Doherty, Situation. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2009.
Petra Lange-Berndt, Materiality. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2016.
Charles Merewether, The Archive. London : Whitechapel Gallery ; Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2007.
Gregory Minissale, The Psychology of Contemporary Art. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Robertson and McDaniel, Themes of Contemporary Art (Oxford University Press: 2010)
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Points
ARTHIST 334: 15 points
Prerequisites
At least 15 points from FTVMS 203, HISTORY 206, PHIL 212 and 15 points at Stage I in Art History or 15 points at Stage II in Art History, and 60 points passed
Restrictions
ARTHIST 204
