ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Instructor: Dr. Manisha SharmaContact: manisha.sharma@unc.eduOffice Hours: By appointment, online, on Tuesdays

Prerequisites: Full admission to the School of Art And Design Low-Residence MA program.

Course Description: A critical review and analysis of cultural, social, philosophical, and theoretical art issues. Educational, museum, gallery and visual culture contexts including studio and post-studio practices are interpreted and evaluated

ART 649 is a critical analysis of cultural, social, philosophical, and theoretical art issues including studio and post-studio practices. The course examines and re-examines the forms, contexts, purposes and roles of contemporary artmaking for art and art education students. Connections are made between art making and art teaching to social, cultural, economic and political contexts.

Students will apply philosophical ideas and understanding of current social discourse to artmaking, art teaching and other arts practices. ART 649 is a graduate level class requiring independent exploration and analysis of concepts and synthesis of ideas presented in this class with other learning.

Course Goals and Learning Objectives: During this class a student can expect to:

Identify and explain the theoretical development of major art ideas and expressions in the 21st centuryDescribe the cultural contexts of artmaking and visual idea in the 21st century Understand and apply terms and philosophical ideas used in current art criticism and discourse Apply concepts of semiotics (signs, signifiers, signified) to verbal, visual and auditory textsExamine and discuss the diversification of artistic media (installation, sound), the impact of new technologies (video art; interactive media), and the interdisciplinary nature of current artmakingExamine political and philosophical forces in the current global art worldReflect on the place of art in cultural and personal identityArticulate awareness of personal and cultural positioning in art interpretation

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Synthesize new learning about global artmaking, contexts and purposes to previous understandings of ones’ self, community and place in the global environment.Practice and refine skills used for personal interpretation of contemporary imageryParticipate in class dialogue, accepting and encouraging differing interpretationsRead and respond to current essays on contemporary art and ideasRe-examine purposes for artmaking in 2018 and examine various ways of meeting personal art making and art teaching goalsApply advanced research skills applicable to contemporary art history, criticism and artmakingApply new concepts and ideas to curriculum development and teaching practiceApply new concepts and ideas to current teaching practice

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Image source: http://pablohelguera.net/2009/02/artoons/

ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Tentative Schedule*:

*ARTISTS DISCUSSED and ASSIGNED READINGS MAY CHANGE TO REFLECT AND ENHANCE COURSE DISCUSSION

Week One: Jan 12th-15th

Concepts: An Orientation to Contemporary art and theories.Guiding Questions for your readings: How is art made and valued, how does it happen? what are the institutional conditions? how does the artworld as a system work? what is the artworld network, its nodes, and effects?

Read:Lecture Notes- Week One.

Artist Focus: Consider these artists who have defined current directions in art: Barney, Cattelan, Currin, Gursky, Hirst, Koons, Mehretu, Murakami, Ofili, Rist, Ruff, Sherman, Struth, Wall. (See Artist Case studies PDF).

Use the Case Studies artists info and links for discussion.

See also: Gursky: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2001/gursky/

Week Two: Jan 15th-22nd

Concepts: An Overview of Contemporary Art, 1950s-presentGuiding Questions for your readings: How are Contemporary Art: the "modern" and the "contemporary" defined as institutional categories?

Read:Lecture Notes for Week Two (Visual Arts intertextual system) +1. Donald Kuspit, "Introduction: A critical History of 20th Century Art," Artnet,

12.14.05.2. Donald Kuspit, "The Contemporary and the Historical." Artnet, 4.14.2005.3. Defining art after conceptual art: Joao Ribas review of Martha Buskirk, The

Contingent Object of Contemporary Art (MIT Press, Cambridge, 2003). Artnet, 1.12.04.

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 20184. Danto, A. Master Narratives, Critical Perspectives, from After the End of the

Pale of History (pdf)

Artist Focus: View the Visual Systems Matrix Images and Notes. Use the images and artists info and links for discussion.

Week Three: Jan 22nd-29thConcepts: 1960s to the present: Modern Ideologies. Focus on Abstract ExpressionismGuiding question for your readings: Why and how (in the western world, & in particular American art history) is Abstract Expressionism viewed as a culmination of modernism?

Read:1. Arthur Danto, After the End of Art (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1997):

Chap. 1, "Introduction: Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary," pp. 3-19 (pdf)

2. O'Doherty, Inside the White Cube (Web version): http://www.societyofcontrol.com/whitecube/insidewc.htm

3. Fineburg, Art Since 1940:Strategies of Being 2nd Edition. PP154-156 (pdf)4. Essays by Clement Greenberg:

1. Avante Garde and Kitch (1939)2. Modernist Painting (1960)3. Modern and Postmodern (1979)

Artist Focus: Artist Case study: Clement Greenberg. See: http://www.theartstory.org/critic-greenberg-clement.htmhttps://unco.instructure.com/courses/29112/modules/items/825620

Week Four: Jan 29th-Feb 5thConcept: Approaches to PoMo Guiding Questions: How might we understand the key distinctions between Modernity and Postmodernity, in art? What are some ways to work with the term postmodernism?

Read:1. Harrison & Wood: Introduction to Postmodernism section: 1013-17. Pierre

Bourdieu, 1020-25; Peter Halley, "Nature and Culture," 1042-45. Artists' discussion, "From Criticism to Complicity," 1051-54. (pdf)

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 20182. Fredric Jameson: "Postmodernism and Consumer Society" from E. Ann

Kaplan, ed. Postmodernism and its Discontents (London and New York: Verso, 1988): 13-29. (pdf)

3. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCdGoYEvWXw

Artist Focus: Major Women Photographers Since Postmodernism

Cindy Sherman (multiple identities, breaking the iconography of the female image and the "indexical" function of the photograph)

Cindy Sherman, Art 21-Masks & Mannequins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtATCPCC8b8 Cindy Sherman, Art 21-Characters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiszC33puc0 Cindy Sherman: studio visit at Tate: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/studio-cindy-sherman

Nan Goldin:(snap shot aesthetic, intimacy, blur between direct and staged shots, image and identity)

Gallery and Info: http://www.artnet.com/artists/nan-goldin/Mia Fineman: The Nan Goldin Story: http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/fineman/fineman12-12-96.asp Jerry Saltz: Memory lost review: http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/saltz/saltz2-7-01.asp

Week Five: Feb 5th-Feb 12thConcept: Approaches to Visual Culture, New Media in Contemporary Art Guiding Question: How do artists and art educators use semiotics and visual culture to enable us to read & write the world as a text?

Read:1. Nicholas Mirzoeff, "What is Visual Culture," from The Visual Culture Reader,

ed. Mirzoeff. (pdf)2. W.J.T. Mitchell, "Interdisciplinarity and Visual Culture," Art Bulletin, 78/4,

Dec. 1995 (pdf) 3. Manovich: The practice of everyday (media) life (pdf)4. Amaris: Fragmented Self Portraits (pdf)5. View slideshow on the basics of Semiotics (pdf)

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018Arts Focus:

Frida Kahlo: Appearances can be deceiving: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/6gICPDLcNAzkJA Mexico via airmail: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/7ALi2E_UaM5RIA

Week Six: Feb 12th-19thConcept: Street Art, Post Graffiti and Public Intervention.Guiding Questions: Is Street Art the New Art ?

• What is an Intervention?

Read:1. Materials posted under Street Artists and Public Interventions Module/

Readings

Week Seven: Feb 19th - 26thConcepts: The OtherGuiding Questions: Is the European/American Art Canon dependent on an assumed “other”? Does femaleness signify “Other” in traditional Western Art?What images “interrupt” or “deconstruct” cultural norms?Read:Materials under “the Other” Module/Readings

Week Eight: Feb 26th-March 5th

Concepts: The Art of Conflict: Political and Visual Tensions in the 20th & 21st centuries through the lens of selected contemporary artists & visual culture images

Guiding Questions: How is art used in supporting or resisting political power?How does language or the deconstruction of language support or resist political power? Do we need art to tell war stories?

Read:Materials under “Art of Conflict ” Module/Readings

Week Nine: March 5th-March 12th

Concepts: Postcolonial & Decolonial Art: The Art of Resistance & Activism

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Guiding Questions: How is art used in supporting or resisting political power?How does language or the deconstruction of language support or resist political power? Do we need art to enact change ,or just it just tell stories?

Read:Materials under “Postcolonial Art ” Module/Readings.

MARCH 10-18 UNC SPRING BREAK

Week Ten: March 19th-March 26th

Concepts: Contemporary Art and Multiculturalism/ Globalization

Guiding Questions: What do art fairs around the world tell us about the nature of multiculturalism? IS the contemporary art world truly globalized or is it still a uni-directional narrative?

Read:Materials under “Contemporary art and Multiculturalism/Globalization” Module / Readings.

Week Eleven: March 26th-April 2nd : Classroom Applications. Read: Classroom applications from: Marshall, J. and Donahue, D. (2014) Art Centered Learning Across the Curriculum: Integrating Contemporary Art in the Secondary Classroom. NY: Teacher’s College Press (pdf).

Please post on the Discussion board by April 2nd: the topic you are working on, for your participant led presentations on classroom applications of integrating contemporary art into the curriculum.

Prepare to Discuss : What ideas agree with my previous priorities, experiences and opinions? What ideas contradict my previous priorities, experiences and opinions? What vocabulary is new? What do I want to think about more? What could I possibly apply to a classroom (specify age level) What could I apply to my current classroom?

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Week Twelve: April 2nd-9thParticipant led discussionsWeek Thirteen: April 9th - 16thParticipant led discussionsWeek Fourteen: April 16th - 23rdParticipant led discussionsWeek Fifteen: April 23rd - April 30thParticipant led discussionsWeek Sixteen: April 30th - Please submit final papers by April 30th. Participants share and respond to final papers during the final week (till May 4th).

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

Course Requirements:

Participation: • Preparation demonstrated by participation in Canvas Discussions• Weekly readings, PowerPoint reviews and Blackboard discussion

responses. • Continuing dialogue with other’s responses to posted questions

Article Reviews:• Four Article Reviews from a contemporary art journal corresponding to

significant times in your life • Reviews will be posted weekly January 29th, Feb 5th, February 12th, 19th.

Midterm Assignment:Research and prepare material for discussion on a particular topic or practice in contemporary art. To do this:

Analyze an Artist, Artwork or Idea current to your lifetime. Chose a currently working artist from those referenced in any of the ART 21 Seasons, any of the recommended texts, or from a current art periodical such as ARTNEWS, ART in AMERICA, ARTFORUM. Or chose a concept or idea addressed by current artists (environment, race, gender.) Another choice is to analyze imagery found in popular culture (media, social media, Star Wars , advertising etc)

Chose an artists or concept underlying contemporary art or within popular culture that you want to further pursue. If you are unsure of a topic, you may discuss different options with Dr. Sharma.Identify your questions, themes, big ideas that could be derived from the work of your chosen artists Review other writers that have discussed the idea or artist. Create questions derived from readings, personal logic, and imagery.Reference any connections or disconnections with your own life during the same time periodPrepare a paper that can be used as resource material for others to use for this class and for different age groups : Summarize readings, provide researched information for discussion, images, websites, video links, etc… * the researched information is not lists of biographical information but the type of information that will inform discussion.

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 2018

5-10 sources, 5 -10 pages; This length is a guide for those who like to have a stated requirement. Actually do what it take to provide well rounded discussion material DUE April 2nd: Post on Discussion Board

Lead one Online Class Discussion: Prepare information and questions to guide an online BB forum discussion The discussion may be about the artist (s) or ideas you have chosen for your final assignment. Participant lead discussions in April, so prepare a powerpoint presentation and choose questions to lead a class discussion in April.

Final Assignment:Create an artwork connecting ideas in the class with your own work. New media and various multi media should be explored. This is an opportunity to explore new ideas and new forms for expressing them.To be presented online (post as a youtube / vimeo video, or as a presentation, or image file etc). Concepts and Connections explained in a 3-5 page paper submitted with photos of the artwork Due April 30th, online.

Grading: Preparation for discussion (Readings, PowerPoint reviews, Personal Research)

as evidenced by: 200 points: Weekly (by Monday) Response to Blackboard questions – 10

pts per week + Weekly dialogue with others – 10 points per week

25 points: Review and discussion leadership on potential applications in classroom practice

25 points: Discussion leadership: Well-prepared research, thoughtful questions and appropriate follow-up posts for online discussion

150 points: Midterm Paper/Resource Bank100 points: Final Art Work & paper.

Plus and minus grades will be used94%-100% A90-93% A-87%-89% B+

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ART 649-900 Contemporary Art (3 cr) Spring 201884%-86% B80%-83% B-77%-79% C+74%-76% C70%-73% C-60%-69% Dbelow 60% F

Disability Statement: Any student requesting disability accommodation for this class must inform the instructor giving appropriate notice.  Students are encouraged to contact Disability Support Services at (970) 351-2289 to certify documentation of disability and to ensure appropriate accommodations are implemented in a timely manner.

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